Manhattan Project to Covid-19: Argonne National Laboratory, Then and Now

A major setting in my novel The Mystery at Mount Forest Island is the former site of Argonne Laboratory Site A. Not only did Site A conduct major research that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, but today the laboratory is figuring prominently in the fight against Covid-19.

In 1939 Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Roosevelt about Nazi plans to develop an atomic bomb. He asked the president to fund an American research program. In short order, the first advisory commission for American atomic research was founded.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, chemists and physicists working on the project assembled at the University of Chicago. The Army Corps of Engineers leased 1025 acres of land in July, 1942 from the Cook County Forest Preserves in Palos Woods, near Archer Avenue, to build a nuclear research facility. However, due to a labor strike, the facility could not be completed quickly and time was of the essence. Therefore the project was temporarily moved to the University of Chicago, under the bleachers at Stagg Field. It was there that CP-1 (Chicago Pile 1), the first nuclear reactor, was constructed, and the first sustained nuclear reaction took place on December 2, 1942.

For safety and secrecy, Site A in Palos Woods was completed, and in early 1943 CP-1 was dismantled and reassembled on 19 acres of forested land. The reassembled reactor was named CP-2. The facility was named Argonne for the French forest in which a major World War I battle had taken place, but was also referred to as “The Country Club,” referring to the golf course that had previously been nearby.
(Click https://www.patcamallierebooks.com/2020/05/the-abandoned-golf-course-of-palos-woods/ for my previous article about the golf course.)

Site A contained reactors, a control room, research labs, a library, machine shop, cafeteria, dormitory, and recreational spaces that included tennis, basketball, football, hiking, and golf on the former golf course. Scientists could live on the property, as strict secrecy was required by the military. This led to some conflict between the military and scientists.

Until the end of the war, nuclear research was focused on beating the Nazis to the bomb. At Argonne, no materials for nuclear weapons were produced, but the lab provided knowledge that led to creation of the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

CP-3 was constructed, and the first water-cooled reaction took place on May 15, 1944. It was here also that effects of radiation on human bodies became known, and where the first studies were made.

After the war, the facility was designated as the nation’s first nuclear lab and named Argonne National Laboratory. In 1946 the Atomic Energy Commission assumed control over the Army Corps of Engineers. Because the land was only leased from the Forest Preserves, it was moved a couple of miles to the north side of the Des Plaines River, and in 1955 and 1956 Site A was dismantled. At that time radioactive fuel and coolant was removed to Oak Ridge National Lab, the reactors were buried on the site, and nearby low level waste was encased in concrete and buried deep at another site in Red Gate Woods (Site M).

Today both Site A and Site M are now deep in Red Gate Woods and identified with monuments and signage near recreational trails. Since the burials, a number of cleanups have taken place. The area is measured annually and shown to be safe since 1995.

This information is from the website of the Cook County Forest Preserves, written by Dr. Theodore Karamanski and a team of graduate students from Loyola University. The excellent article with detailed information is available here: https://fpdcc.com/site-a-the-worlds-first-nuclear-reactor/.

Today Argonne National Lab conducts basic research. It provides access to over 10,000 scientists needing specialized instruments and expertise on materials, chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, advanced energy systems, computation and analysis. Among the resources are:

• The Advanced Photon Source – a ring-generated x-ray beam for research in almost all scientific disciplines
• Computing Facility – among the world’s fastest supercomputer capability
• ATLAS – the world’s first superconducting linear particle accelerator
• Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Facility – the world’s largest climate research facility.
• Center for Nanoscale Materials – nanotechnology research

Why do we care? Well, aside from being impressive, Argonne is playing a key role in research into the current Covid-19 crisis, including analyzing the virus, finding new treatments and cures, and studying and forecasting the effect of Covid-19 on the population.

It is interesting to see how Argonne’s unique resources are utilized to study the problem of Covid-19.

SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus that causes the disease Covid-19. Understanding the make-up and structure of the virus helps to identify agents that inhibit it. There are literally billions of possibilities. The Advanced Proton Source can help to limit the possibilities by determining which are more likely to block viral entry into human cells, to block the proteins needed for the virus to replicate, and to show how the human host responds to the virus.

Argonne has joined a consortium of sixteen supercomputing systems from government, academia, and industry to coordinate and analyze results, identify proteins for vaccines, and models to predict risks. Combining results with analysis by supercomputers helps to limit the potential options. Nine thousand potential drugs are already on the market, so they are studied first to see which may work. Already thirty potential possibilities have been identified. These can be further refined by study with the Advanced Proton Source.

A number of treatment drugs have been identified, but none are ideal yet. The answer is likely to be a combination, or drug cocktail.

Many of us have been asking questions like: What outcomes can we expect? When will we hit a peak? Will social distancing affect virus spread? What else can we do? Do masks help? What do the statistics really mean?

Supercomputers help by creating models, plugging in variables, and forecasting what will happen based on collected statistics. Virus spread can be measured on a variety of behaviors to give answers to decision-makers. For example, one scenario compares stay-at-home to lax behaviors, and establishes that stay-at-home would result in 95% reduction of spread and no second peak, versus 50% and a second peak with lax behaviors. Decision-makers need to know this!

There is an excellent article on Argonne’s website with details on their Covid-19 studies. You can access the article by clicking this link: https://www.anl.gov/article/argonnes-researchers-and-facilities-playing-a-key-role-in-the-fight-against-covid19.

This article is already long, although there is much more I could say. I hope my summary is accurate, but I am not a scientist. For questions, details, or errors please refer to the websites I have included above.

Doesn’t it inspire pride and hope to know that right here in Lemont top dedicated scientists with the world’s most advanced technological resources are working hard to save not only our country but the world from the disaster that has affected us all?

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