Building a Nuclear Ordnance Engineering Lab:

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Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. SAND NO. 2011-XXXXP

Building a Nuclear Ordnance Engineering Lab:A History of Sandia

Rebecca UllrichCorporate Historian

SAND2005-6126C

What’s in a Weapon?

3

Origins: Creating Z Division

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Jerrold R. Zacharias

Origins: Choosing a Site

Origins: Building a Lab

6

JTF-1 Operation Crossroads

Operation Crossroads

21 kt Baker Shot; July 24, 1946

Building 800—Kruger Design

Early Assembly Facilities

Transition in Sandia Lab Status

First Sandia Corporation President, George Landry

Main Sandia Tech Area: 1949

Los Alamos

Sandia

Oak RidgeY-12

Rock Island

HanfordBurlingtonKansas City

Mound

PicatinnyInyokern

Oak RidgeK-25

The Nuclear Weapons Complex1949

Los Alamos

Sandia

Oak RidgeY-12

Rock Island

HanfordBurlington

Kansas City

Mound

PicatinnyInyokern

Oak RidgeK-25

Pantex NTS

SavannahRiver FernaldRocky Flats

The Nuclear Weapons Complex1950-1951

Los AlamosSandia

Oak RidgeY-12

Albuquerque

HanfordBurlington

Kansas City

Mound

PicatinnyInyokern(Salt Wells)

Oak RidgeK-25

Pantex Nevada(NTS)

SavannahRiver FernaldRocky Flats

Livermore

Paducah

Portsmouth

The Nuclear Weapons Complex1952-1953

From: Linking Legacies: Connecting the Cold War Nuclear Weapons Production Processes to Their Environmental Consequences, DOE/EM-0319(U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management, 1997), 122.

Pushing for Variety in Weapons Designs

Laydown Weapons

Fat Man

Result of Growth: Complex

Result of Growth: Complex

1958 Employee Brochure

Reflecting Policy and Place (1958)

Result of Growth: Sandia

Result of Growth: Albuquerque

24

Populations

25

Year Albuquerque Population

Bernalillo County

Population

Sandia Workforce

Base Workforce

1930 26,570 1940 35,449 69,391 1946 100 9791949 1,740 1,6271950 96,815 145,673 >2,100 2,7231954 185,800 >5,600 6,0251955 150,000 205,500 5,725 5,4141957 7,064 1960 201,189 262,199

Sandia Purchasing in New Mexico

26

Housing Permits, 1940-1954

27

Year Housing Permit $1940 >2.3 million

1949 20.4 million

1952 >25 million

1954 <37.4 million

Conclusions

Questions?

Thank you!