The Apocalypse Factory

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by Steve Olson


  Genereaux, Raymond, 103

  Gerber, Michelle, 218

  Germany, Nazi, See Nazi Germany

  Ghost Dance religions, 70

  Gilman Hall (UC Berkeley), 29–33, 33

  Goddard, Don, 192

  Gorbachev, Mikhail, 245–47

  Gosney, Cecil, 96

  Goudsmit, Samuel, 118–21

  Grand Coulee Dam, 1, 68, 251

  graphite (graphite blocks), 26–27, 57, 91, 95, 211, 225–26, 243, 245

  Graves, George, 98–99

  Great Artiste, The, 153–54, 158, 160

  Great Britain, 38–39, 225

  Greenewalt, Crawford, 56, 58, 87, 97, 101, 106, 118, 272

  Green Run, 252

  Groves, Leslie Richard, 83

  on atomic bomb as “not inhumane” weapon, 184

  atomic bomb targeting considered by, 128, 129, 139–44, 208

  background and early career, 78–81

  on benefits of building and using atomic bombs, 198

  compartmentalization favored by, 88

  concerns about German development of atomic bomb, 118–21

  and creation of designed town near Hanford, 107–10

  death of, 264

  determination of, to use atomic bombs, 141, 194

  downfall of, 206–7

  and Farrell, 149, 150, 152, 159

  and Hanford in postwar period, 204

  and Interim Committee, 125

  and Matthias, 65–67

  and May-Johnson bill, 201–2

  and McMahon bill, 206–7

  meeting with Truman, 124–25

  and Met Lab petition, 146

  and need to speed up plutonium production, 122

  and Oppenheimer, 112, 196

  personality, 81–82, 207

  and Purnell, 141, 156

  and radiation safety issues, 106

  selection of, for Hanford project, 82–84

  and selection of Hanford site, 65–66

  and Soviet Union, 117, 210

  and Szilard, 88–89, 146, 199–200

  and “third bomb,” 192

  and Trinity test, 146–50, 152

  Guinness Book of World Records, The, 9

  gun-type bombs, 114, 116–17, 124

  hafnium, 227

  Haigerloch, Germany, 120

  Handy, Thomas, 144

  Hanford, Wash., 1, 2, 4, 5, 60

  climate of, 72–73

  eviction of residents from, 64

  Indian settlements in, 69

  Hanford Advisory Board, 266–68

  Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council, 235

  Hanford Camp, 71–78

  Hanford Engineer Works, 67–68

  Hanford Family, 250

  Hanford nuclear reservation, 6, 141, 239

  arrival of workers at, 71–78

  and Atomic Energy Commission, 209

  B Reactor at, 89–101, 99

  cleanup efforts, 255–56, 266–69, 278

  construction of new reactors at, in 1970s and 1980s, 238–40

  construction of site, 65–69, 71–78, 74, 87

  decline of, in 1960s, 233–34

  50th anniversary celebration at, 265–66

  first shipment of plutonium from, to Los Alamos, 111–12

  and hydrogen bomb, 211–12

  Japanese balloon-bomb attack on, 135–36

  Kennedy’s visit to, 221–23, 222

  minority employees at, 74–75, 89, 218–19

  as “most contaminated site,” 3, 4

  need to speed up plutonium production at, 122–23

  nuclear waste contamination of, 248–52, 267–69

  as part of Manhattan Project National Historical Park, 256–59

  in postwar period, 204–5, 211–20

  quantity of plutonium produced at, 116–17

  radiation-induced illness from, 259–65

  reactor sites at, 89

  Seaborg’s speech on 25th anniversary of, 232–33

  secrecy surrounding, 68–69

  security issues at, 106

  selection of site, 1–2, 65–66

  significance of, 4–6

  Soviet infiltration of, 211

  T Plant at, 90, 101–7

  Hanford Reach National Monument, 269

  Hanford Thyroid Disease Study, 260–62

  Harrison, George, 125, 132, 133

  Harvard University, 12, 41, 124

  Hastings, Doc, 257–58

  health concerns, 259–65

  health physics, 52

  heavy elements, 14–16

  heavy water, 120, 216

  helium, 25, 212

  Hevly, Bruce, 109

  hibakusha, 186, 187

  Hirohito, Emperor, 180, 193

  Hiroshima atomic bomb and bombing, 2, 5, 116, 140, 142, 143, 145, 153, 154, 156–59, 174, 176, 191–96, 198–99, 202, 203, 205, 210, 261

  Hispanics, 218–19

  Hitler, Adolf, 2, 22, 40, 42, 49, 86, 120

  Hofdi House meeting, 246–47

  Hopkins, James, 158–60

  Horse Heaven Hills, 1, 4, 111

  House Military Affairs Committee, 83

  H Reactor, 213, 214, 234

  hydrogen, 11, 25, 90, 136, 212

  hydrogen bomb, 176, 211–12, 240

  hypothyroidism, 16

  “If the Bomb Gets Out of Hand” (Morrison), 203–4

  illness, radiation-induced, 259–65, 272

  imaging, radioactive, 16

  Imperial Hotel (London), 21–22

  implosion (implosion-type bombs), 114–17, 124–25, 126, 137–38

  incendiary bombs and bombings, 128, 129, 136, 140, 144, 159

  Indian tribes, 69–70, 262, 268

  indium, 16

  information theory, 21

  inspections, 127, 132, 208

  Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), 264

  intercontinental ballistic missiles, 202, 224, 241

  Interim Committee, 125–30, 133, 135, 146

  International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, 277

  iodine, 104, 252

  iodine-131, 16, 260

  “Iron Curtain” speech (Churchill), 208

  irrigation (irrigation canals), 64, 251, 278

  Ishpeming, Mich., 9

  isotopes, 11, 15

  radioactive, 15, 16, 21

  separation of, 56–57

  Italy, 21

  Iwaya Club, 179, 180

  Iwo Jima, 121

  Jackson, Henry “Scoop,” 238, 239

  Japan

  air raid shelters in, 169

  balloon-bomb attacks by, 135–36

  bomb demonstration considered as warning to, 128, 132

  civilian casualties in, 129–30

  commemoration of atomic bombing of, 241, 242

  fire-bombing of, 128, 129, 140, 144, 159

  imminent defeat of, 139, 144, 194

  Interim Committee and decision to use atomic bomb on, 128–29

  Pearl Harbor attack, 42, 45, 67, 130, 193

  possible land invasion of, 194–95, 198–99, 213, 273

  surrender of, 180, 193

  US Army censorship in, 184–85

  weather conditions in, 139, 155, 160

  Japanese, media’s treatment of, 130, 193

  Japanese-Americans, incarceration of, 257

  jet stream, 136

  “Joe-1,” 211

  Johnson, Edwin, 201

  Johnson, Lyndon B., 237

  Joliot-Curie, Frédéric, 15, 20

  Joliot-Curie, Irène, 15, 20

  Jones Hall (University of Chicago), 45, 50

  Jornada del Muerto, 138, 146, 150

  Kadlec, Lieutenant Colonel, 108

  Kadlec Hospital, 218, 234

  Kaltenborn, H. V., 192

  Kazakhstan, 210

  K-East Reactor, 215, 216, 234, 237, 239

  Kelly, Virginia, 219

  Kennedy, John F., 221–24, 222, 226, 231, 233, 234, 275

  Kennedy, Joseph, 3
0–31, 43–44

  Kennewick, Wash., 67, 107, 204, 217–19

  Kennewick Courier-Reporter, 68

  Khrushchev, Nikita, 220

  King’s Crown Hotel (New York City), 20–23

  Kistiakowsky, George, 116, 146, 151

  Knoxville, Tenn., 59

  Kokura Arsenal, 140, 143, 158–62

  Korean War, 212, 235

  Kotex, 91

  Kuharek, John, 161, 162

  K-West Reactor, 215, 216, 234, 237, 239

  Kyoto, Japan, 140–43

  Kyushu, 159, 161

  Laggin’ Dragon, 158

  lanthanide series, 226–27

  lanthanum, 226–27

  Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, 269

  Latimer, Wendell, 31, 227

  Laurence, William, 148

  Lawrence, Ernest, 12, 13, 14, 15, 37, 39, 41, 126–28, 133, 147, 197, 228, 264

  lawrencium, 264

  Leckband, Susan, 265–68

  Levittown, N.Y., 110

  Lewis, Gilbert, 12, 14, 16

  Lewis, Meriwether, 69, 269

  Lewis, Warren, 55–56

  “L houses,” 108

  Libby, Willard, 17

  Life After Nuclear War (Southard), 185–86

  Life magazine, 202, 203

  Lilienthal, David, 209

  Lincoln, Abraham, 37

  lithium, 25

  Little Boy, 116

  Livingood, John, 16, 260

  Los Alamos, N. Mex., 2, 5, 138, 146, 149

  Los Alamos laboratory, 111–17, 123, 126, 133, 134, 137, 139, 147, 149, 196, 201, 211, 258

  Los Angeles, Calif., 111

  loyalty oaths, 219–20

  “luck of Kokura,” 161

  lutetium, 226

  MacArthur, Douglas, 185

  MAD, 224

  Maiak plutonium plant, 211

  Manchuria, 156

  Manhattan Engineer District, 47, 201

  Manhattan Project, 90, 195

  Atomic Energy Commission and, 209

  continuous operation of sites in, 111–12

  deaths of members of, 263–64

  and debate over “demonstration” bomb, 128, 133–34

  discovery of plutonium as key to success of, 39

  establishment of National Historical Park commemorating, 257–59

  and Fermi’s reactor demonstration, 54–56

  and future role of nuclear weapons, 127, 275–77

  Groves as leader of, 78, 82–84, 206, 207

  and implosion technology, 117

  lack of attention paid to role of Hanford in, 2, 4–5

  and Nazi atomic bomb efforts, 118, 120

  “need to know” culture of, 248

  origin of name, 46–47

  plutonium production for, 59, 89

  postwar activism, 199–204

  radiation exposure by participants in, 53, 263

  reaction to dropping of second bomb, 196–97

  Roosevelt and, 144

  security precautions at, 94, 110

  and separation of uranium-235, 95

  Soviet infiltration of, 211

  trial and error approach, 95

  and Trinity test, 146–50

  Truman and, 123–24

  Manhattan Project National Historical Park, 5, 99, 256–59, 271

  Manzanar War Relocation Center, 257

  Mao Zedong, 212

  MAR (code name), 211

  Mariana Islands, 140

  Maris, Buena, 75

  Marquette University, 241

  Marshall, George, 40, 120, 127, 141, 144

  Marshall, John, 86–87

  Masonite, 90

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 36, 55, 56, 80, 81, 125

  mass spectroscopy, 241

  matter, constituents of, 10–11

  Matthias, Franklin, 1–3, 4, 6, 60, 65–68, 70, 72, 74–77, 81–82, 89, 97, 106–8, 111, 122, 123, 146, 191, 205

  May, Andrew, 201

  May-Johnson bill, 201–2, 205–6

  McCarthy, Joseph, 212

  McMahon, Brien, 205–6

  McMahon bill, 205–7

  McMillan, Ed, 28–29

  McNamara, Robert, 224

  mess halls, 77–78

  Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab), 43–56, 58, 86–89, 92–93, 96, 126, 130–31, 145–46, 199, 211, 214, 226, 227, 228, 264

  Mid-Columbia Symphony Guild, 217

  Middle East, 239

  military intelligence, 205

  Milwaukee Journal, 192

  MIT, See Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Mitchell, Archie, 136

  Mitchell, Elsie, 136

  Mitsubishi, 162, 173, 178

  Moriguchi, Mitsugi, 270–73

  Morrison, Philip, 202–4

  Morrison, Sid, 256, 257

  mosquitoes, 251

  Mount Kompira, 168–69

  Mount St. Helens, 243

  Mulliken, Robert, 85

  Murphree, Eger, 41, 56

  Murray, Patty, 258

  Mussolini, Benito, 21

  MX missile, 241

  “My Earliest Memory Preserved on Film” (Dillon), 223

  myelodysplastic syndrome, 253, 265

  NAACP, 218

  Nagai, Takashi, 172–73, 177, 186

  Nagasaki, Japan, 4, 142, 186, 242

  Nagasaki atomic bomb and bombing, 2–3, 5, 116, 155, 192, 261

  casualties from, 174–76, 179–81, 183–86

  choice of target, 143

  delivery of bomb, 153–63, 155

  destruction caused by, 174–76

  dispute over necessity of, for Japanese surrender, 193–95

  events commemorating, 187

  Manhattan Project scientists’ reaction to, 196–98

  map, 163

  Mitsugi Moriguchi’s experience of, 270–73

  Raisuke Shirabe’s experience of, 167–74

  Seaborg on, 195

  Nagasaki International Culture City Construction Law, 186

  Nagasaki Medical College and Hospital, 165–72, 170, 174–75, 175, 177–81, 183, 185, 187

  National Academy of Sciences, 37–41, 55–56, 85, 147–48, 187, 197

  National Air and Space Museum, 257

  National Carbon Company, 26

  National Defense Authorization Act, 258

  National Defense Research Committee, 36–41, 55–56

  National Park Service, 257–59, 272

  National Reactor Testing Station, 216

  National Register of Historic Places, 256

  National Research Council, 187

  Native Americans, 69–70, 262, 268

  Nazi Germany, 2, 18, 19, 22, 34, 37, 39–40, 42, 45–49, 86, 107, 118–21, 129, 139, 200

  “need to know” culture, 88, 202, 248

  neptunium, 28–32

  neutron(s)

  creation of radioisotopes with, 21

  and critical mass, 112–14

  discovery of, 9–11

  from fission, 23–28

  in heavy elements, 14–15

  from Nagasaki explosion, 174

  in pile, 57

  Nevada Test Site, 216, 219, 261

  New Mexico, 13

  New Production Reactor (N Reactor), 221–23, 226, 234, 239, 239–40, 252, 255

  newspaper coverage, 68–69

  New York City, 20–23, 84, 198, 202–4, 203, 206, 240–41; See also Columbia University

  New Yorker, The, 229, 274

  New York Times, 148, 184

  Nichols, Kenneth, 146

  nickel, 137

  Niigata, Japan, 140, 142–43

  Nike missiles, 220

  nitric acid, 102, 104

  Nobel Prize, 12, 17, 21, 37, 85, 227, 230, 263

  Northern Pacific Railroad, 74

  North Korea, 212

  N Reactor, 245

  nuclear arms race, 131–32, 197

  nuclear exchange, climate effects of, 176

  nuclear freeze movem
ent, 240–43

  nuclear power, 130–31, 276

  nuclear proliferation, 127, 223–24

  nuclear reactor(s), 35, 38; See also specific reactors, e.g.: B Reactor

  first, 54–59, 59, 91

  first commercial, 225

  radiation from, 51–52, 90

  safety issues with, 59

  Soviet, 211

  water-cooled, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 211, 214, 215, 222, 243

  Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 250

  nucleonics, 131

  nucleus, atomic, 11

  Nuplex, 233, 238, 243

  Oakland, Calif., 17

  Oak Ridge, Tenn., 2, 5, 111–12, 114, 116, 121, 141, 146, 201, 258

  Obama, Barack, 258

  Obninsk, Russia, 224–25

  Office of Scientific Research and Development, 124

  Ohashi ammunition factory, 173, 178

  Ohio River, 225

  Okinawa, 121, 139, 160–62

  One World or None, 202

  Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 5, 12–14, 13, 112, 115, 116, 126, 133–35, 138, 146, 149–52, 196, 209, 219, 264

  Oregon, 268

  Othello, Wash., 3, 4

  Our Friend the Atom, 225

  Pacific Northwest Laboratory, 236, 241, 269

  Pacific theater, 193, 195–96, 213

  Paducah, Ky., 216

  Pantex Plant, 216

  Pasco, Wash., 67, 71, 74, 75, 107, 108, 204, 217–19, 242, 257

  Pasco Herald, 68

  Pasco Kiwanis Club, 214

  Pearl Harbor attack, 42, 45, 67, 130, 193

  Pehrson, Gustav, 108–9

  Pentagon, 82, 126, 128, 139, 141

  periodic table, 19, 226–28, 230

  Perle, Richard, 239

  peroxydisulfate, 31

  pesticides, 251

  Petcher, Harry, 77

  Petcher, Maxine, 77–78

  Physical Review, 16

  pile, 27; See also Chicago Pile 1 (reactor)

  pipefitters, 76–77

  platinum, 33

  plutonium

  and abolition of nuclear weapons, 276

  code word for, 106

  from conventional nuclear reactors, 245

  development of means for producing, 44–55

  discovery of, 30–36, 41

  extraction of, 100, 102–3, 122–23, 215

  first shipment of, from Hanford to Los Alamos, 111–12

  fissioning of, 112–14

  in hydrogen bombs, 212

  in Nagasaki atomic bomb, 116

  naming of, 34

  need to speed up production of, in 1945, 122–23

  overproduction of, in postwar period, 233–34

  pollution resulting from production of, 104–6, 122–23, 214, 248

  as potential component of atomic bombs, 32–35, 38–40

  purity of, 54–55, 103

  quantity produced at Hanford, 116–17

  safety concerns with, 107

  Seaborg as champion of, 231–33

  Soviet efforts to produce, 211

  for Trinity test, 137

  waste produced from creation of, 104–6, 122–23, 214, 248, 249, 249, 255–56, 267–69

 

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