RV Squid: A Secret City

The Manhatten Project, responsible for the development of the atomic bomb in WWII, built three secret cities for that purpose. Hanford, WA, was where plutonium was made. The bombs were built at Los Alamos, NM. Oak Ridge, TN, was where uranium was enriched and by far where most of the project's funds were spent.

Imagine an entire town built in three years, in secret no less. That's what happened at Oak Ridge. Imagine receiving a letter dated November 11th that the government will be taking possession of your property December 1st for the war effort and that you needed to be moved out by then. That's what happened to some, and for some, that was the second time they were told to move. The first was when the Norris Dam was built by the TVA. The Norris Dam with its hydroelectric power plant was one of a number of reasons this 59,000 acre site, Site X, was selected.

Living in the secret city you have your ID badge at all times. Your children over the age of 12 have ID badges. The streets are patrolled by armed guards. Everything operates 24/7. Billboards and posters constantly remind you not to talk about your work.

Not that you necessarily knew what you were doing anyway. For example, the Calutron girls knew how to operate the machine, keeping the dials and gauges within certain parameters. They did not know they were operating vacuum chambers, separating uranium to make a bomb.

Now imagine living in nearby towns. You're on rations. You're seeing tons of resources going in behind those gates. Nothing really comes out. No tanks, no airplanes, nothing that looks like a product that can be used to fight the war. It makes you wonder. Only time and the dropping of the atomic bomb answered that question.

Now it's my time to wonder. Would something like building a secret city be possible in today's world? Zoom in on the third photo down to read just some of the fascinating construction facts.