ORNL FCU 75 Years

In late 1942, families living in the area were mailed eviction notices with little more than a few weeks’ notice. (US Department of Energy)

Arguably the most significant and complex technology developed during the war was built in a sleepy part of East Tennessee when, in the fall of 1942, the US government purchased nearly sixty thousand acres of farmland in the Clinch River Valley (about ninety-two square miles within both Anderson and Roane Counties), some fifteen miles west of Knoxville. Immediately after, government officials began clearing the sparse population of over one thousand families that inhabited the area—some being given little more than a few weeks’ notice. No one was told why.

In the beginning, the area was so remote that only one paved road passed through it. But in just eighteen months, space had been cleared for laboratory facilities and a new planned community in a massive, unprecedented construction and development effort that would initially be called Clinton Engineer Works, or CEW. CEW was secured by gates on all roads and armed guards manning all entrances. Its location could not be found on any map, and its purpose was unknown to most. Only a handful of scientists and high-level government officials were

fully informed. Even the names of each facility were mysterious: K-25, S-50, X-10, and Y-12. Each destined for that location were to take advantage of the electricity generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) nearby dams. There they would be hidden in the quiet hills of Tennessee, far enough from the coast to avoid attention and potential air attacks. The city portion of CEW was named Oak Ridge for Black Oak Ridge as it was located on the south slope of that ridge and the name would not attract unnecessary attention. Later the terms “Secret City” and “Atomic City” were adopted to call attention to the top-secret work performed there.

DID YOU KNOW . . . When it was completed in 1945, the four story K-25 gaseous diffusion plant was the world’s largest building under one roof, with over 5,264,000 square feet of floor space.

8 | 75 YEARS ORNL FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

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