Gadget1945
Registered: 07/23/04
Posts: 134
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Reply with quote | #1 |
I was born and raised in Burbank Il.. Which is located five miles s.w. of Midway airport. If want to see something very interesting take 95th street till it ends... which will take you out in the forest preserves go left on Archer ave. route 171. On your left you will come to a big forest preserve ( I cannot recall the name ) the best I can find on the net is Red Gate woods. It's parking area sits up a hill a pavilion is on the left go to your right and park. There are three trails that will take you to the site, depending on what time of year you visit , hiking boots might be advisable. It is about a half mile till you will start to see some signs of what looks like to be old bunkers. If you see an old road follow it, then you know you are on the right trail when you get to the top of the hill it will flatten out. To your left there will be a big open field marked by six granite markers. In the center of that field there is a bigger marker that states to the effect DANGER DO NOT DIG RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL WAS BURIED HERE BETWEEN ... the dates I don't recall. This is not the original marker as someone built a fire next to it and it cracked circa late 1970's. It was my understanding as a young man that this is the place they moved to when they realized that they could control a reaction. If anyone has more info I would like you to post it.
Username: Gary Turner Userstate: U.S.V.I. St. Croix UserEmail: ernie1956@comcast.net
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model110
Registered: 07/30/04
Posts: 108
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Reply with quote | #2 |
Dear Gadget,
It sounds like you are describing the burial ground for the Met Labs in Chicago. Those markers sound exactly like the ones I've seen warning folks not to dig in those areas. I've seen pictures of the garbage cans they used to haul the stuff away. Some of it was pretty "hot". Very interesting times indeed!! It's too bad someone has not provided a detailed account of the work that went on. I have spoken to three fellows who worked at the West Stands, Thompson Hall and the other lab I can't remember. Great stories but way to incomplete to adequately understand how it was. Glenn Seaborg's secretary lives near by and I've been meaning to interview her. Should get that done soon as she is in her 80's
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model110
Registered: 07/30/04
Posts: 108
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Reply with quote | #3 |
Dear Gadget,
It sounds like you are describing the burial ground for the Met Labs in Chicago. Those markers sound exactly like the ones I've seen warning folks not to dig in those areas. I've seen pictures of the garbage cans they used to haul the stuff away. Some of it was pretty "hot". Very interesting times indeed!! It's too bad someone has not provided a detailed account of the work that went on. I have spoken to three fellows who worked at the West Stands, Thompson Hall and the other lab I can't remember. Great stories but way to incomplete to adequately understand how it was. Glenn Seaborg's secretary lives near by and I've been meaning to interview her. Should get that done soon as she is in her 80's
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Bongopete
Registered: 09/18/06
Posts: 17
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Reply with quote | #4 |
Wait a sec...you mean hot material is buried that close to the surface and remains unsupervised? |
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model110
Registered: 07/30/04
Posts: 108
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Reply with quote | #5 |
Dear Bongo, There would not be hot material close to the surface. That stuff is well below the ground level. As far as being unsupervised I do not believe that to be the case. And this was only a burial site not a laboratory or an area to control a "reaction". There were two reactors in Chicago the CP 1 and CP 2. CP 2 was made from CP1 graphite. CP two was used to irradiate uranium to produce plutonium for the separation techniques being developed and basic properties of plutonium. model 110 |
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vsonic
Registered: 11/23/06
Posts: 1
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Reply with quote | #6 |
Hi,
In response to your request for information, there were two operating reactors in Red Gate Woods, CP-1 and CP-2. They operated at Site A. There is a monument there with a brief description of them. CP-1 was moved from the University of Chicago and assembled there. The reactor operated there from 1943 until 1949 when it was retired and the new Fermi Lab was begun. The sites are ringed with monitoring weels which are checked regularly. If you want more info on the site go to
http://www.lm.doe.gov/documents/sites/il/site_a/inspecrpt/site_a_inspect2005.pdf
I hope this is of help
My avitar is the monument where I frequently walk my dog.
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LeeK
Registered: 01/01/07
Posts: 1
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Reply with quote | #7 |
I know this is a late response concerning the original site of Argonne National Laboratory know as Site A, but I just wanted to say that I have been researching that site for over a year now and am in the process of writing a book about it. Unfortunately there is very little on the Internet and what there is is repeated on many different sites. I'm writing the book because I feel that Site A, whether good or bad, deserves its place in the history books. All you find are small blurbs about it. I also feel that it should become a historical site as well. What I am in need of is photos of the site when it was active. I first came upon it in the early 70s and was amazed to see the rusting hulk of a Quonset hut and other building foundations and such. I wish I had taken pictures of what I saw. If anyone has photos of what remained back in the 60s or 70s please let me know. I have contacted ANL several times for information but never got an answer. If anyone has contacts with or works with ANL I could use your help. There are several publications I'd like to see as well as negatives of some aerial photos of the site. I live in the Dallas area now and can't easily visit them. Hopefully I will be up in Chicago this spring to visit the site again as well as ANL. Please pass the word out. I'm looking for any story or oral history of the everyday work and life of those who worked there before there isn't anyone left to tell. Thanks! |
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schlim
Registered: 12/05/08
Posts: 1
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Reply with quote | #8 |
I too am interested in Site A. I grew up in the area and often "hung out" at Site A during the late sixties/early seventies. I have only been able to discover a single photo of the place in operation.
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