Critical Connections

The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge from the Dawn of the Atomic Age to the Present

Lee Riedinger, Allen Ekkebus, William Bugg, D. Ray Smith

• Publisher: Univ Tennessee Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781621906544
• eBook ISBN: 9781621906551
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: Technology & Engineering

The bombing of Pearl Harbor set off a chain of events that included the race to beat German scientists to build the atomic bomb. A tiny hamlet tucked away in the southern Appalachians proved an unlikely linchpin to win the race. The Manhattan Project required the combination of four secret sites—Clinton Laboratories, Y-12, K-25, and S-50—75, 000 workers, and the nation's finest scientists to create the Secret City, Oak Ridge. From the beginning, the effort was aided by the nearby University of Tennessee, which provided expertise to make the weapon possible. Following World War II, it was not clear what role this huge research and development program would play, but pioneering scientists and administrators were determined that one option—dismantling the whole thing—would not happen. Critical Connections chronicles how Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Y-12 National Security Complex, and their partners became outstanding examples of the military-industrial-educational complex from the Cold War to the present day. At the beginning of the 1950s, Oak Ridge became a flourishing, less-secret city, and the authors show how, decade by decade, ORNL became the source of major breakthroughs in physics, biology, computing, and other fields—and how these achievements required ever-closer connections with UT. By the mid-1990s, after many successful joint initiatives between UT and ORNL, UT was poised to compete to become the manager of ORNL. In 2000, UT-Battelle LLC won the bid from the Department of Energy: UT was charged with providing scientific direction and key personnel; its partner Battelle would oversee ORNL's operations and chart its technology direction.The authors highlight the scientific developments these connections have brought, from nanotechnology to nuclear fission, from cryogenic experiments on mice to the world's fastest supercomputer. The partnerships between a university, a city, and federal facilities helped solve some of the greatest challenges of the twentieth century—and point toward how to deal with those of the twenty-first.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword by Lamar Alexander
• Foreword by Homer Fisher
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. The Early 1940s: A World War and an Urgent Secret Project Bring Major Change to East Tennessee
• 2. The Late 1940s: A Symbiotic Relationship Forms between UT and Oak Ridge
• 3. The Decade of the 1950s: Oak Ridge Transitions to a City and Deepens Relations with UT
• 4. The Decade of the 1960s: From a Period Marked by War, Civil Unrest, and the Growth of the Environmental Movement, UT and ORNL Emerge Intently Focused on the Future
• 5. The Decade of the 1970s: The Nation Celebrates Its First Earth Day, DOE Is Established, and ORNL and UT Further Bolster Programs Aimed at Energy Efficiency and Environmental Protection
• 6. The Decade of the 1980s: The Partnership Comes of Age
• 7. The Decade of the 1990s: After the Cold War Thaws, UT and ORNL Launch Ambitious Joint Projects
• 8. The Decade of the 2000s: UT Enters the Big Leagues after Sixty Years of Steady Progress
• 9. The 2010s: Joint Scientific Expertise and Critical Leadership Build New Degree Programs and Bolster a Shared Future
• Epilogue: The Key to Predicting the Future Trajectory of the UT-ORNL Partnership May Lie in Its Past
• Appendix 1. Acronyms
• Appendix 2. Critical Connections in Building the UT-Oak Ridge Partnership
• Appendix 3. UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute
• Appendix 4. Directors of Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Notes
• Index