Site A/Plot M

Disposal sight-
Cook County
1.
Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1)
Einstein's Letter and the Dawn of the
Atomic Age
Einstein’s Letter
August 19, 1939
▫ Einstein’s letter to FDR
▫ Fear of Nazi Atomic Bomb development
▫ Plea for American Nuclear Research Program
Chicago
▫ 1942- Core group of scientists put
together.
▫ Laboratory at the University of
Chicago
Primary Goals
1. Build uranium and graphite piles for
sustainable chain-reaction
2. Uncouple usable plutonium from
uranium
3. Measure heat and energy created by
the reactions
Created a “Pile” of calculations/ blueprints
to create world’s first nuclear reactor.
Creating Chicago Pile 1 Then-abandoned Alonzo Stagg Field 4
2.
Connection to
Manhattan Project
Nuclear Research at Site A
Safety Concerns
▫ Safety concerns → relocation from original Site
CP-1(ended 1943)
▫ July 1942- Army Corps of Engineers create research
facility on 1,025 acres of Cook County Forest Preserve
land
▫ “Site A”
▫ Meant to be original home of CP-1 but labor strike
caused relocation to Stagg field
 CP-2, CP-3…
“Site A”
CP-2
▫ Reactor from CP-1 dismantled,
transported, and reassembled
▫ 19 acre plot on leased land
▫ Known as “Argonne,” a battlefield
site during WWI
CP-3
▫ March 1943- Construction of
world’s first water-cooled reactor
▫ Functional on May 15, 1944
▫ Plutonium Production Reactor→
Research Reactor 7
Site A

8
Ugly
Consequences
Scientists reactions to
Site A
Radium and Beryllium
powder incident
▫ White blood count
drops for 3+ years
▫ Blistering of the
skin exposed to
the powder

9
Outcomes of Site A
Short term Long term
▫ First nuclear bomb ▫ Research led to more
▫ Advancement in powerful reactors on:
▫ Submarines
Technology. But is it
▫ Suburban power plants
really an
advancement?

10
on August 6, 1945…the first
Three days
atomic bomb,later, a second
leaving atomic
perhaps
bomb
Thosewas
100,000 dropped
Japanese
100,000 on in
dead,
killed the
andcity of
tens
Hiroshima
ofNagasaki,
thousands
were with
almost allperhaps
more slowly50,000
dying
civilians.
killed.
from radiation poisoning.
Post-WWII
Research New beginnings
▫ Argonne National
Laboratory(ANL) established.
▫ First Nuclear laboratory
in the U.S.
▫ Change in location needed
▫ Palos Park Site belonged
to Cook County Forest
Preserve District
▫ Mandated for
recreational use
▫ New location several miles
north of Site A
▫ DuPage County
▫ Post-Atomic Energy act of
1946
▫ Atomic Energy
Commision(AEC) took
control over ANL, away
from Army Corps of
Engineers. 12
3.
True Consequences
Impact of Nuclear Research
Site A with AEC
Removal
▫ CP-2 and CP-3 outlived estimated time of operation
▫ Decommission of both on May 15, 1954
▫ AEC set out to remove/destroy all hazardous materials from the
Site-A
▫ Reactors dismantled
▫ Radioactive fuel/heavy water coolant → Oak Ridge National
Laboratory(Oak Ridge, TN) for disposal
Further Disposal
Plot M Updated Policy Transfer of
Contaminated Materials secured Ownership
materials from site A inside steel bins prior Site A and Plot M
sent to new site to dumping. seeded/ transferred to
called Plot M Cook County Forest
▫ AEC placed and
Preserve District.
buried all
hazardous waste
inside a 1 foot thick
concrete box.
 16

CP-2 and CP-3 biological shield buried in concrete

The After

Removal/
Investigation Outcry
Reopening

▫ 1970s-Low ▫ 500 Cubic Yards of

▫ Recreational
levels of Tritium low-level radioactive
use of parks
present in 3 soil
▫ Greenpeace
wells study ▫ 32 Acre area opened
▫ “Radiation ▫ Distrust in in Sept. 1977
levels deemed government ▫ Annual monitoring
hazardous to
human health”

17
Thank
you
Any questions?
- Handout

18
Sources:
▫ Forest Preserve of Cook County. “‘Site A’ at Red Gate Woods & The
World’s First Nuclear Reactor.” Last Modified January 22, 2019.
https://fpdcc.com/site-a-the-worlds-first-nuclear-reactor./
▫ Krutka, Daniel G. “Technology.” In Keywords in the Social Studies:
Concepts & Conversations, edited by ed. Daniel G. Krutka, 279-292.
New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2018
▫ Zinn, Howard. A People’s History Of The United States.New York:
Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2015.