The Girls of Atomic City (67 page)

accident at,
206

adding machines at,
119
–20,
247
,
301

basketball team of,
141

calutron cubicle operators at,
103
,
109
,
112
–17,
120
,
189
,
262

clerks at,
119
–22

closing of,
277
,
295

codes used at,
119

construction of,
100

cost of,
206

electromagnetic separation process at,
101
,
102
–5,
106
,
109
,
192

name of,
105

scale of operations at,
104
,
105
,
106
,
119

York, Ken,
180
–81

Touchstone

A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright © 2013 by Denise Kiernan All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

Map on pp. xviii–xix reproduced from
Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb
(Vincent C. Jones, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1985).

All photos are by James Edward Westcott, courtesy of the National Archives, with the exception of: insert
page 1
, top left, courtesy of Celia Klemski; insert
page 1
, top right, courtesy of Colleen Black; insert
page 1
, bottom, courtesy of Jane Puckett; insert
page 16
, top left, courtesy of the author; insert
page 16
, top right, courtesy of the author; insert
page 16
, bottom, courtesy of Jack Parker.

First Touchstone hardcover edition March 2013

TOUCHSTONE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
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.

Designed by Ruth Lee-Mui

ISBN 978-1-4516-1752-8

ISBN 978-1-4516-1754-2 (ebook)

Table of Contents

Introduction

Principal Cast of Characters

Map—Clinton Engineer Works, Tennessee, 1943–1945

Revelation, August 1945

1: EVERYTHING WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF : TRAIN TO NOWHERE, AUGUST 1943

Tubealloy: The Bohemian Grove to the Appalachian Hills, September 1942

2: PEACHES AND PEARLS: THE TAKING OF SITE X, FALL 1942

Tubealloy: Ida and the Atom, 1934

3: THROUGH THE GATES: CLINTON ENGINEER WORKS, FALL 1943

Tubealloy: Lise and Fission, 1938

4: BULL PENS AND CREEPS: THE PROJECT’S WELCOME FOR NEW EMPLOYEES

Tubealloy: Leona and Success in Chicago, December 1942

5: ONLY TEMPORARY: SPRING INTO SUMMER, 1944

Tubealloy: The Quest for Product

6: TO WORK

Tubealloy: The Couriers

7: RHYTHMS OF LIFE

Tubealloy: Security, Censorship, and the Press

8: THE ONE ABOUT THE FIREFLIES . . .

Tubealloy: Pumpkins, Spies, and Chicken Soup, Fall 1944

9: THE UNSPOKEN: SWEETHEARTS AND SECRETS

Tubealloy: Combining Efforts in the New Year

10: CURIOSITY AND SILENCE

Tubealloy: The Project’s Crucial Spring

11: INNOCENCE LOST

Tubealloy: Hope and the Haberdasher, April–May 1945

12: SAND JUMPS IN THE DESERT, JULY 1945

13: THE GADGET REVEALED

14: DAWN OF A THOUSAND SUNS

15: LIFE IN THE NEW AGE

Epilogue

Photographs

Reading Group Guide

About Denise Kiernan

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Table of Contents

Introduction

Principal Cast of Characters

Map—Clinton Engineer Works, Tennessee, 1943–1945

Revelation, August 1945

1: EVERYTHING WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF : TRAIN TO NOWHERE, AUGUST 1943

Tubealloy: The Bohemian Grove to the Appalachian Hills, September 1942

2: PEACHES AND PEARLS: THE TAKING OF SITE X, FALL 1942

Tubealloy: Ida and the Atom, 1934

3: THROUGH THE GATES: CLINTON ENGINEER WORKS, FALL 1943

Tubealloy: Lise and Fission, 1938

4: BULL PENS AND CREEPS: THE PROJECT’S WELCOME FOR NEW EMPLOYEES

Tubealloy: Leona and Success in Chicago, December 1942

5: ONLY TEMPORARY: SPRING INTO SUMMER, 1944

Tubealloy: The Quest for Product

6: TO WORK

Tubealloy: The Couriers

7: RHYTHMS OF LIFE

Tubealloy: Security, Censorship, and the Press

8: THE ONE ABOUT THE FIREFLIES . . .

Tubealloy: Pumpkins, Spies, and Chicken Soup, Fall 1944

9: THE UNSPOKEN: SWEETHEARTS AND SECRETS

Tubealloy: Combining Efforts in the New Year

10: CURIOSITY AND SILENCE

Tubealloy: The Project’s Crucial Spring

11: INNOCENCE LOST

Tubealloy: Hope and the Haberdasher, April–May 1945

12: SAND JUMPS IN THE DESERT, JULY 1945

13: THE GADGET REVEALED

14: DAWN OF A THOUSAND SUNS

15: LIFE IN THE NEW AGE

Epilogue

Photographs

Reading Group Guide

About Denise Kiernan

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index