Bandelier Superintendent Addresses Energy Community Alliance Saying Manhattan Project Sites Will Have to be Clear with Visitors

Bandelier Superintendent Jason Lott addresses members of the Energy Community Alliance this morning in Richland, Wash. He cautioned that the park service is in the business of telling stories, and it may tell stories that some in the community don’t want told. That could include Nagasaki and the environmental contamination left by plutonium production, Lott said, adding that the park service also can discredit the bad information that circulates. The Manhattan Project sites will have to be clear with visitors about what they will experience in facilities such as B Reactor before they go in, he said. The Manhattan Project park will need to give people many reasons to visit, Lott said. It needs to be relevant to children and to reach out to ethnic populations, possibly by telling the stories of the workers who lived in massive construction camps like those at Hanford. It also needs to tell a story that’s broader than the start of the Atomic Age, he said, although there’s a story to tell about the advances in medicine and science brought by splitting the atom. There’s an opportunity to look at social aspects of the Cold War, including the development of bomb shelters and drills to teach children to duck under their desks during a nuclear bombing. Photo by Kevin Holsapple

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