Congressional Record: September 30, 2003 (Senate)
Page S12194-S12203
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
[...]
By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Ms. Cantwell, and Mrs. Murray):
[[Page S12198]]
S. 1687. A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a
study on the preservation and interpretation of the historic sites of
the Manhattan Project for potential inclusion in the National Park
System; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Manhattan
Project National Historical Park Study Act. This bill authorizes the
National Park Service, in coordination with the Secretaries of Energy
and Defense, to undertake a special resource study to assess the
national significance, suitability, and feasibility of designating
various Manhattan Project sites and their facilities as a National
Historical Park. Specifically, the study will evaluate the historic
significance of the Manhattan Project facilities of Los Alamos and the
Trinity Site in the State of New Mexico, of the Hanford Site in the
State of Washington, and of Oak Ridge in the State of Tennessee. I am
pleased that my distinguished colleagues from the States of Washington,
Senators Cantwell and Murray, are cosponsoring this bill.
The significance of the Manhattan Project to this Nation--and indeed
the World--would be difficult to overstate. The project was initiated
as a desperate effort in the middle of World War II to beat Nazi
Germany to the construction of the first nuclear bomb. The effort was
of a magnitude and intensity not seen before or since: in a mere three
years, 130,000 men and women went to work on a $2.2 billion mission
that furiously pushed science, technology, engineering, and society
into a new age.
The magnitude of the effort is easily matched by its legacy. This
legacy includes an ending to the Second World War, as well as the
foundation for nuclear medicine and great advances in physics,
mathematics, engineering, and technology. A number of scholars have
argued that it also includes a dramatic change to a sustained era of
relative world peace. But this legacy also includes the deaths of
hundreds of thousands of Japanese, and the sacrifices of the
homesteaders that were forced off of the sites to make way for the
project, its thousands of workers and their families, and the uranium
miners, ``down-winders'', and others. This legacy has been the subject
of hot debate for decades, and this debate continues today--as it must.
There are historic facilities at the four Manhattan Project sites
that are absolutely essential resources for informing this important
debate, and there should be no question that they are of great national
and international significance. Pulitzer Prize-winning Manhattan
Project author Richard Rhodes has said that ``the discovery of how to
release nuclear energy was arguably the most important human discovery
since fire--reason enough to preserve its remarkable history.''
But while the enormous significance of the Manhattan Project makes
our obligation to preserve and interpret this history abundantly clear,
it makes it equally challenging. The greatest challenge has been--and
will continue to be--interpreting this history in a sensitive and
balanced way. This Nation is blessed with historic assets that praise
the best of humanity and some that mourn the worst, some that grace us
with glory and some that humble us with anguish, some that impress us
with brilliance and some that embarrass us with senselessness, some
that manifest beginnings and some that mark ends, some that inspire us
with awe and some that fascinate us with curiosities, and some that
grip us with the fear of destruction and some that give us the hope of
creation. But I don't know of any others that challenge us with
legitimate passions for all of these.
Preserving and interpreting this history also includes the challenge
of respecting the ongoing missions and responsibilities of the
Department of Energy and the Department of Defense at the Manhattan
Project sites. Access to some of the historic facilities must be
restricted--to some prohibited--and other precautions also may be
necessary. The Departments of Energy and Defense have begun to take on
these challenges, and they deserve much credit for doing so. The
Bradbury Museum in Los Alamos is a good example, as are the biannual
tours of the Trinity Site on White Sands Missile Range. They have
recognized that preserving this history offers great opportunities not
only for the public, but for their employees. Employees who better
appreciate this history will be more likely to appreciate their
careers, and they certainly will appreciate the boost interested
tourists give to their local economies.
This bill asks the question whether we will do better to preserve and
interpret the important history of the Manhattan Project by unifying
and promoting the various efforts at these sites as a National
Historical Park. It is appropriate that our Nation's leader in historic
preservation and interpretation--the National Park Service--lead the
effort to answer this question. In doing so, they will consult with the
Secretaries of Energy and Defense, as well as State, tribal, and local
officials, and representatives of interested organizations and members
of the public. The Park Service's expertise, experience, and enthusiasm
is critical to the endeavor.
In asking this question we are neither celebrating the Manhattan
Project nor lamenting it. But we are recognizing our responsibility to
society to ensure it is neither forgotten nor misunderstood.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 1687
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Manhattan Project National
Historical Park Study Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the Manhattan Project, the World War II effort to
develop and construct the world's first atomic bomb,
represents an extraordinary era of American and world history
that--
(A) included remarkable achievements in science and
engineering made possible by innovative partnerships among
Federal agencies, universities, and private industries; and
(B) culminated in a transformation of the global society by
ushering in the atomic age;
(2) the Manhattan Project was an unprecedented
$2,200,000,000, 3-year, top-secret effort that employed
approximately 130,000 men and women at its peak;
(3) the Manhattan Project sites contain historic resources
that are crucial for the interpretation of the Manhattan
Project, including facilities in--
(A) Oak Ridge, Tennessee (where the first uranium
enrichment facilities and pilot-scale nuclear reactor were
built);
(B) Hanford, Washington (where the first large-scale
reactor for producing plutonium was built);
(C) Los Alamos, New Mexico (where the atomic bombs were
designed and built); and
(D) Trinity Site, New Mexico (where the explosion of the
first nuclear device took place);
(4) the Secretary of the Interior has recognized the
national significance in American history of Manhattan
Project facilities in the study area by--
(A) designating the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in the
State of New Mexico as a National Historic Landmark in 1965
and adding the Laboratory to the National Register of
Historic Places in 1966;
(B) designating the Trinity Site on the White Sands Missile
Range in the State of New Mexico as a National Historic
Landmark in 1965 and adding the Site to the National Register
of Historic Places in 1966;
(C) designating the X-10 Graphite Reactor at the Oak Ridge
National Laboratory in the State of Tennessee as a National
Historic Landmark in 1965 and adding the Reactor to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1966;
(D) adding the Oak Ridge Historic District to the National
Register of Historic Places in 1991;
(E) adding the B Reactor at the Hanford Site in the State
of Washington to the National Register of Historic Places in
1992; and
(F) by adding the Oak Ridge Turnpike, Bear Creek Road, and
Bethel Valley Road Checking Stations in the State of
Tennessee to the National Register of Historic Places in
1992;
(5) the Hanford Site has been nominated by the Richland
Operations Office of the Department of Energy and the
Washington State Historic Preservation Office for addition to
the National Register of Historic Places;
(6) a panel of experts convened by the Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation in 2001 reported that the development
and use of the atomic bomb during World War II has been
called ``the single most significant event of the 20th
century'' and recommended that various sites be formally
established ``as a collective unit administered for
preservation, commemoration, and public interpretation in
cooperation with the National Park Service'';
[[Page S12199]]
(7) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation reported
in 2001 that the preservation and interpretation of the
historic sites of the Manhattan Project offer significant
value as destinations for domestic and international
tourists; and
(8) preservation and interpretation of the Manhattan
Project historic sites are necessary for present and future
generations to fully appreciate the extraordinary undertaking
and complex consequences of the Manhattan Project.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(2) Study.--The term ``study'' means the study authorized
by section 4(a).
(3) Study area.--The term ``study area'' means the
following Manhattan Project sites:
(A) Los Alamos National Laboratory and townsite in the
State of New Mexico.
(B) The Trinity Site on the White Sands Missile Range in
the State of New Mexico.
(C) The Hanford Site in the State of Washington.
(D) Oak Ridge Laboratory in the State of Tennessee.
(E) Other significant sites relating to the Manhattan
Project determined by the Secretary to be appropriate for
inclusion in the study.
SEC. 4. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.
(a) Study.-- ---
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct a special
resource study of the study area to assess the national
significance, suitability, and feasibility of designating the
various historic sites and structures of the study area as a
unit of the National Park System in accordance with section
8(c) of Public Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5(c)).
(2) Administration.--In conducting the study, the Secretary
shall--
(A) consult with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of
Defense, State, tribal, and local officials, representatives
of interested organizations, and members of the public; and
(B) evaluate, in coordination with the Secretary of Energy
and the Secretary of Defense, the compatibility of
designating the study area, or 1 or more parts of the study
area, as a national historical park or national historic site
with maintaining security, productivity and management goals
of the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense,
and public health and safety.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which
funds are made available to carry out the study, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that describes
the findings of the study and any conclusions and
recommendations of the Secretary.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are
necessary to carry out this Act.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today as a cosponsor, along with
my colleagues, Senators Bingaman and Murray of the Manhattan Project
National Historical Park Study Act.
This bill authorizes a special resource study to determine the
suitability and feasibility of developing a national park site at one
or more of the facilities that playing a major role in the Manhattan
Project--the Federal Government's top-secret effort during World War II
to develop nuclear weapons before its opponents, an initiative that
changed the course of world history. I believe it is tremendously
important for the citizens of our Nation to learn about the important
functions the various Manhattan Project sites served in defending our
Nation, from World War II through the cold war, and to recognize and
understand the complicated and weighty issues arising from the
production and use of nuclear weapons, their impact on world history as
well as their human and environmental costs.
In January of 1943, Hanford, WA was selected by the War Department to
serve as a part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Manhattan
Project plan. The site was selected for several reasons: It was
remotely located from population centers, which fostered security and
safety; the Columbia River provided plenty of water to cool the
reactors; and cheap and abundant electricity was available from nearby
Federal dams.
The history of this era is a complicated one--as farmers and tribes
were displaced, given 30 days to move from their homes in central
Washington. By March 1943, construction had started on the site, which
covers about 625 square miles. At the time, the priority facility on
the Hanford Reservation was the B reactor. Built in just 11 months as
American scientists and their allies engaged in what was then perceived
as a race with the Germans to develop nuclear capability, B reactor was
the world's first large-scale plutonium production reactor.
The need for labor for the project turned Hanford into an atomic
boomtown, with the population reaching 50,000 by the summer of 1944.
Workers at the sprawling Hanford complex were not even sure of what
they were producing, and tales of German rockets used during battles
led many workers to believe they were producing rocket fuel. In fact,
this secrecy continued even after the atomic bombs were dropped. One
worker recalled that many children who lived in the area didn't even
know what their parent who worked at Hanford did on the job.
Clearly, the B reactor at Hanford made significant contributions to
U.S. defense policies during its production run, from 1944 through
1968. Plutonium from the B reactor was used in the world's first
nuclear explosion, called the Trinity Test, in New Mexico on July 16,
1945. B reactor plutonium was also used in the ``Fat Man'' bomb dropped
on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. The blast devastated more than
two square miles of the city, effectively ending World War II. The B
reactor also produced plutonium for the cold war efforts until 1968.
The B reactor is simply a stunning feat of engineering. Built in less
than a year, the reactor consisted of a 1,200-ton graphite cylinder
lying on its side, which was penetrated through its entire length
horizontally by over 2,000 aluminum tubes. Two hundred tons of uranium
slugs the size of rolls of quarters went into the tubes. Cooling water
from the Columbia River, which first had to be treated, was pumped
through the aluminum tubes at 75,000 gallons per minute. Water
consumption approached that of a city with a population of 300,000. The
B reactor was one of three reactors that had its own auxiliary
facilities that included a river pump house, large storage and settling
basins, a filtration plant, huge motor-driven pumps for delivering the
water, and facilities for emergency cooling in case of a power failure.
It was the first of an eventual nine nuclear reactors that remain on
the banks of the Columbia River--a potent reminder of both the war
effort and the environmental burden with which we must contend.
The people of Washington State, and especially the residents of the
tri-cities, are proud of their contributions to the World War II and
cold war efforts. We are left with these irreplaceable relics of the
Manhattan Project--such as the B reactor--which are incredibly
important in understanding the engineering achievements that propelled
this country into the nuclear age, with all of the complicated moral
issues it poses for the possessors of such technology. As the
Department of Energy continues its work to clean up the Hanford site,
the country's most contaminated nuclear reservation, it is important
that we also honor the achievements of the important work done here, as
well as commemorate the tremendous sacrifices made by workers,
displaced families and tribes, and this era's environmental legacy.
There is already strong support in the communities that surround
Hanford for preserving the history of the Manhattan Project, and I
would like to commend the B reactor Museum Association and Bechtel
Hanford, Inc. for all this work to date. In recent years, they have
worked hard to decontaminate, clean, inventory, and spruce up B
reactor's interior so that people can walk in to see three chambers.
But more work needs to be done if we want to preserve the reactor for
future generations, which must learn about the Manhattan Project and
its impact on world history.
One such way to do that is to look into the possibility of adding the
B reactor as well as Manhattan Project sites in other parts of the
country as a new National Park unit.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure passage of
this bill, as the study it authorizes is a much-needed first step in
determining the best options for preserving this important piece of
American history.
______
