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Management of the Hanford Engineer Works in World War II: How the Corps, DuPont and the Metallurgical Laboratory Fast Tracked the Original Plutonium Works

Abstract

  • Combining in-depth research with first-hand interviews of key participants in the project, Thayer engagingly recounts an important aspect of America's race to develop atomic weapons. He describes the organization and management methods behind one of the major engineering achievements of the 20th century—the design and construction of the original plutonium-production plant at Hanford, Washington.

    Hanford's extraordinarily short and successful development is described and placed in the context of the contemporaneous crisis conditions: fear, urgency, and daunting uncertainties in science, engineering, procurement, and construction. The efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DuPont, and the Metallurgical Laboratory are described in depth, in addition to detailed discussions of the desperate nature of the crisis, labor conditions, technologies, and intangibles of those wartime years. Thayer pinpoints 38 principal reasons for Hanford's success; describes what the engineers, builders, and operators actually did; and presents figures and tables to illustrate the severely time-constrained problems of parallel development.

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Front Matter
i–ix
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    Chapter 1:
    Introduction
    1–4
      Chapter 2:
      Plant Characteristics
      5–17
        Chapter 3:
        Initial Uncertainties and Difficulties
        18–20
          Chapter 4:
          The Manhattan Effort
          21–29
            Chapter 5:
            The DuPont Effort
            30–74
              Chapter 6:
              The Metallurgical Laboratory Effort
              75–80
                Chapter 7:
                The Costs of the Hanford Works
                81–88
                  Chapter 8:
                  Labor Conditions
                  89–94
                    Chapter 9:
                    Technologies of the Forties
                    95–97
                      Chapter 10:
                      Intangibles
                      98–102
                        Chapter 11:
                        Why Hanford Succeeded: A Summary of Lessons Learned
                        103–107
                          Chapter 12:
                          Afterword
                          108–110
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                            Chapter 13:
                            Acknowledgements
                            111–112
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                              Chapter 14:
                              Endnotes
                              113–121
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                                Appendix A:
                                List of Figures and Tables
                                122–122
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                                  Appendix B:
                                  Abbreviations and Acronyms
                                  123–123
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                                    Appendix C:
                                    Glossary
                                    124–124
                                      Appendix D:
                                      Personnel
                                      125–126
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                                        Appendix E:
                                        References
                                        127–132
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                                          Appendix F:
                                          Chronology of the Hanford Project
                                          133–141
                                            Appendix G:
                                            Calculations
                                            142–157
                                              Appendix H:
                                              The Interviews
                                              158–220
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                                                Index
                                                221–224