Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Meade, Roger Allen.
Millions of dollars were routinely spent on nuclear testing, particularly for test series conducted at the Pacific Proving Ground. Following the Castle-Bravo test of March 1, 1954, however, a small crisis involving only a few hundred dollars created a bureaucratic impasse that could not be resolved until Norris Bradbury interceded.
Two of the Laboratory’s major roads are named for Bikini and Enewetak Atolls, where sixty-six nuclear tests were conducted between 1946 and 1958. These signs honor the sacrifices made by the natives of both atolls, who left their ancestral islands to make room for Operations Crossroads, Sandstone, Greenhouse, Ivy, Castle, Redwing, and Hardtack I. Lost in the mist of time, however, are similar sacrifices made by the islanders of Wotho, Rongelap, and Utirik Atolls.
On April 1, 1946, an earthquake off Unimak Island, Alaska, generated a tsunami that raced across the Pacific. One of the islands in danger was Kwajalein, the logistical hub for Operation Crossroads. Commodore Ben Wyatt, the U.S. naval commander of the Marshall Islands, ordered the evacuation of “10 Red Cross workers, 19 USO women, 17 native women, 16 male [hospital] patients, four tiny babies, one small boy, and two navy doctors,” to the USS Rockbridge, which then steamed in deep water off the atoll until the danger passed. One of the Red Cross workers, Reva Hurwitz, played bridge in the ship’s wardroom until 2 a.m., a luxury since the island curfew, strictly enforced, was 10:30 pm. The tsunami bypassed Kwajalein, and everyone returned to the island less than twenty-four hours after being evacuated. Although the evacuation proved unnecessary, the women were grateful, said Hurwitz, because they had the opportunity “to use hot water and eat fresh fruit.”
I and my co-authors of Critical Assembly, Lilian Hoddeson, Paul Henriksen, and Catherine Westfall had the unparalleled opportunity to interview several of our wartime luminaries including Norman Ramsay, Emilio Segre, Hans Bethe, and Edward Teller. We also had the privilege of hosting each of them for lunch, usually at the Hilltop House Restaurant, a converted Army chapel directly across the street from the old LANL Archives.
In late 1948 the Atomic Energy Commission “designated Enewetak Atoll as a permanent proving ground.” Subsequently renamed, the Pacific Proving Ground (PPG), six nuclear tests, including Mike, were conducted on the atoll. When Mike vaporized an entire island, it became clear that Enewetak’s small islands were insufficient and Bikini Atoll, abandoned after Operation Crossroads, was made part of the PPG. Authority to create the PPG resided in a “Trusteeship” agreement between the United States and the United Nations. Following the first World War, the Marshall Islands became a “Mandate” of the League of Nations. After World War II, the League’s successor, the United Nations, converted the Marshall Islands to a “Strategic Trusteeship” with the United States as its administrator. The Strategic Trust designation gave the U.S. nearly unfettered control over the islands, including the right to establish the PPG.
On April 14, 1954, Laboratory employees were formally notified by a “Special Bulletin to All Employees” (Appendix A) that the Atomic Energy Commission had convened a Personnel Security Board, at the request of J. Robert Oppenheimer, to investigate “substantial derogatory information” about their former director. Long on procedural detail and short on specifics, the Bulletin served primarily as an announcement that “A board was accordingly established for the purpose of hearing the case and advising the Commission as to whether or not suspension of clearance of Dr. Oppenheimer should be made permanent.”
When the B-29 Superfortress with tail number 44-86292 rolled off the assembly line, no one could have predicted its role in history. Known as the Enola Gay, the bomber carried Little Boy to Hiroshima, helping to end World War II. After the war, largely forgotten and neglected, the Enola Gay once more achieved notoriety, this time at the center of a battle to define its legacy and that of World War II. Personally selected by Colonel Paul Tibbets, the commanding officer of the 509 th Composite Group, 44-86292 was flown to Wendover Airfield in Utah, the training base of Tibbets’ organization. In July 1945, 44-86292 was flown to the Pacific Island of Tinian, where it completed eight training and two combat missions. Tibbets, who seldom flew the bomber, took the controls on July 31 st for a simulated nuclear combat mission. On August 5 th , Tibbetts named 44-86292 the Enola Gay, in honor of his mother, and then piloted the bomber to Hiroshima on August 6 th . When publicity pictures were released, the Enola Gay became famous, ultimately destined for the Smithsonian.
At the onset of the pandemic, then C-NR Group Leader, Felicia Taw, asked Roger A. Meade to compile a timeline of covid events. The following entries are announcements, statements, and email messages from the World Health Organization, the LANL homepage, LANL managers and by C Division manager and staff. Although the entries have been slightly edited and streamlined to enhance readability, they retain many of the original markings.