The world’s first atomic bomb test—code-named Trinity and conducted in New Mexico on July 16, 1945—had an unintended outcome that was only recently discovered.
K-25 viewing platform takes shape at Oak Ridge
Crews are making significant progress on the construction of the K-25 viewing platform at the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental...
Berkeley Lab’s titanium beam targets one goal: Making the heaviest element yet
A plutonium target bombarded with a beam of titanium-50 in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 88-Inch Cyclotron for 22 days has yielded two atoms of the superheavy element 116, in a...
Argonne National Laboratory’s fast reactors in Idaho
Idaho’s nuclear energy history is deep and rich. The National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS) began its history as an artillery testing range in the 1940s.1 Following World War II, Walter...
Argonne to investigate Pu chemistry to aid Hanford cleanup
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory are investigating the details of plutonium chemistry with the goal of aiding the cleanup of the Hanford Site in...
Clementine—The world’s first fast neutron reactor
In March 1949—75 years ago this month—the 25-kilowatt reactor known as Clementine reached full power. As an experimental reactor, it had a rather long and successful run. It was the...
How is Cold War–era radiation shaping the nuclear conversation today?
The Manhattan Project may have begun more than 80 years ago, but it’s still in the news—and not just because of Oppenheimer’s recent haul at the Academy Awards. On March 7, the Senate...
DOE offers “Fact vs. Fiction” quiz about Manhattan Project
Oppenheimer won all sorts of awards last Sunday at the Oscars, but how much Manhattan Project history do you really know?Take the quiz now!...
Japanese gangster charged with trafficking nuclear materials
U.S. officials have brought charges of nuclear materials trafficking against a Japanese gangster who has been in federal custody since 2022.In a case filled with international espionage, along...
Radioisotopes target cancer, improve imaging, and have myriad other medical uses
On August 2, 1946, 1 millicurie of the isotope carbon-14 left Oak Ridge National Laboratory, bound for the Barnard Free Skin and Cancer Hospital in St. Louis, Mo.That tiny amount of the...
Richland critiques “home, safety, [and] whiteness” of proud nuclear company town
The documentary film Richland, which won awards at the Tribeca Festival and Sheffield (U.K.) DocFest last year, continues to gain exposure. Directed by Irene Lusztig, a self-described...