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Energy Records at the National Archives at Atlanta

National Archives at Atlanta

RG 326 - Atomic Energy Commission

Controlled development and production of atomic weapons. Directed research and development of civilian uses of atomic energy. Regulated privately owned nuclear fuels and production facilities, pursuant to Atomic Energy Act amendments of 1954 (68 Stat. 919), August 30, 1954, and amendments of 1964 (78 Stat. 602), August 26, 1964.

 

Atomic Energy Commission and the Secret City of Oak Ridge

The Oak Ridge Files contains mostly textual documents produced by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the city of Oak Ridge, colleges and universities participating in the Manhattan Project and the various offices located in cities across the United States. Most of the documents were produced between 1940 and 1948. There are some records that were produced in the mid-1960 and late 1970’s but few reach beyond 1972. The records are all in the same record group, 326, but are given different titles, accession numbers, and are typically cataloged according to the type of documents contained in the series. Some of these series were transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under Direct Offer (DO). These record series are more fragmented than other series. A word of warning concerning this record group: some of these documents are scientific in nature and require a strong grasp of physics and chemistry to understand them. However, these records contain many reports, maps, blueprints, and a few photographs that paint a picture of the inner workings of the Manhattan Project. Some series contain copies of the same documents. The record series that contain declassified documents generally give the most insight.

 

Master List of Series

This finding aid provides a listing of the available series in our Atomic Energy Commission records for accession 97-001/97-037. The finding aid also provides the total number of boxes available for each series along with the date range.

 

Clinton Engineer Works (ca. 1942-1947)

Clinton Laboratories Correspondence

This series contains mail and records from central files maintained by the Manhattan Engineer District, Clinton Engineer Works. The files consist of official file copies of correspondence. Topics include publicity, labor, law, taxation, public relations, and contracts. 

 

Columbia University Contract Records

This series contains correspondence, notebooks, bibliographies, blueprints, meeting minutes, memos, weekly reports, bi-weekly reports, monthly reports, and status reports. The series consists of records generated by Columbia University during research work at the Frick Chemical Laboratory while under contract with the Atomic Energy Commission. Although created by Columbia University researchers, the records were maintained by the Oak Ridge Operations Office. Topics include experiments, budgets, personnel, testing, policy, procedures, property, requisitions, and contracts. 

 

 

Construction and Engineering Division Correspondence

This series contains memos, correspondence, photographs, technical drawings, technical reports, progress reports, weekly reports, monthly reports, forms, handwritten notes, and organizational charts for contractors. Topics include personnel, utilities, facility construction and maintenance, recreation areas, housing, materials acquisition, policy, procedures, operations, and K-25 construction. 

 

Construction Branch Correspondence

This series contains memos, correspondence, photographs, technical drawings, technical reports, progress reports, weekly reports, monthly reports, forms, handwritten notes, and organizational charts for contractors. Topics include personnel, utilities, facility construction and maintenance, recreation areas, housing, materials acquisition, policy, procedures, operations, and K-25 construction. 

 

Contractor Correspondence

This series contains correspondence maintained by the Office Services Branch for the Manhattan Engineering District, Clinton Engineer Works. The files consist of official file copies of correspondence. Topics include property, labor, insurance, taxes, and billing. 

 

Contractor Records and Correspondence

This series contains correspondence, management issuances, contract documents, weekly reports, expense reports, and inspection reports. Several contracts and contractors are referenced. Topics include materials, accounting, personnel, testing, scheduling, procedures, reporting, safety, materials storage, and blueprints. 

 

Correspondence Relating to K-25, X-10, and Y-12 Facilities

This series contains official correspondence pertaining to the operation and administration of the K-25, X-10, and Y-12 facilities at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The correspondence covers a wide array of administrative, logistical, technical, personnel, engineering, and contracting issues. 

 

Formerly Classified Correspondence Files

These files were created as a separate classified filing system by the Manhattan District Engineering Office (later the Atomic Energy Commission) at Oak Ridge, Tennesse in order to document day to day operations during all phases of construction of facilities to be utilized in the production of atomic materials for national defense purposes. They document operations at the Manhattan Engineering District, Clinton Engineering works, facility K-25, facility X-10, facility Y-12, and the New York Operations Office.

 

Mail and Records Correspondence

This series contains correspondence between Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) employees, universities, contractors, and various other offices and government departments. Topics include personnel, logistics, reports, materials, equipment, security, and administration. 

 

New York Area Decimal Correspondence

This series contains reports, memos, correspondence, and handwritten notes. The series documents numerous administrative and logistical matters related to the Oak Ridge community and facilities. Topics include procurement, materials, contractors, equipment, shipping, and personnel. 

 

New York Operations Office Correspondence Files

This series contains memos, correspondence, telegrams, data sheets, technical drawings, and handwritten notes. Topics include property, civilian employees, recreation, healthcare, housing, and contractors. The records pertain both to the work done at Oak Ridge and affairs of the surrounding community. 

 

Records of Linde Air Products Contracts

This series contains technical records generated by Linde Air Products under contracts W-7404-Eng-14, W-26-021-Eng-46, and AT (30-1)-166 with the Atomic Energy Commission. Some of the records in this series were created in conjunction with the Manhattan Engineering District, New York Operations Office. The series also contains reports, memos, correspondence, production charts, schedules, shipping records, and requisition files. 

 

Technical and Administrative Records of the Tennessee Eastman Corporation

This series contains technical and administrative records accumulated by the Tennessee Eastman Corporation while under contract with the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) during operation of the Y-12 facility. 

 

Technical Files of the Tennessee Eastman Corporation

This series contains memos, handwritten notes, monthly program reports, meeting notes, organizational charts, correspondence, technical reports, and manuals. Topics include procedures, personnel, experiments, scheduling, building construction, administration, and industrial relations. 

Oak Ridge Operations Office (ca. 1948-1977)

Brown University Notebooks

This series contains notebooks documenting various activities and experiments. The handwritten notebooks contain schematics, graphs, data tables, and prose descriptions relating to a wide array of scientific experiments and engineering issues. The data recorded in the notebooks is highly technical in nature. 

 

Civilian Affairs Division Correspondence

This series contains correspondence, memos, handwritten notes, reports, and charts. Topics include budgeting, accounting, community management, contractors, health and safety, personnel, land, buildings, equipment, security, and transportation. 

 

Consolidated Contractor's Files

This series contains memos, letters, reports, graphs, charts, laboratory notebooks, data books, personnel cards and architectural drawings. The series documents the following activities: Fercleve Corporation operation of the s-50 thermal diffusion plant, Houdaille Hersey Company manufacture of gaseous diffusion plant components, Franklin Institute biomedical research into the effects of radiation, Maxon Corporation construction of the K-31 gaseous diffusion plant, Washington University biomedical research into the effects of radiation, Inter Chemical Company manufacture of gaseous diffusion plant components, National Research Corporation research into the gaseous diffusion process, Mallinckrodt Chemical Works files of Feed Materials Plant personnel, Carnegie Institute research for the plutonium project, Linde Air Products Company manufacture of gaseous diffusion plant components, National Lead Company records of the operation of the Middlesex uranium ore sampling plant, and General Electric Company records pertaining to the construction and operation of the Y-12 electromagnetic plant. 

 

Contract Division Correspondence Files 

This series contains correspondence chiefly regarding policy and procedures relating to materials priorities and control. Topics include insurance, transportation, procurement, employment, training, and contractors. 

 

Contract Files

This series consists of procurement files containing forms, reports, and correspondence associated with specific Oak Ridge - related contracts and contract modifications. The bulk of the files consists of routine financial and administrative materials relating to contract negotiation, awards, and financial accounting. Substantive information is located in narrative statements included in project proposals, correspondence, and periodic reports, which are not always present in the files for each contract. The contracts relate to all areas of Oak Ridge operation, including construction, manufacturing, administration, and research and development. Some files detail human experimentation activities. Significant gaps exist within the files due to material extracted during declassification. Noteworthy companies and corporations represented within the contract files are Tennessee Eastman; Mallinckrodt Chemical Works; Brush Beryllium; General Electric; Union Carbide and Carbon; E. I. Dupont; J. A. Jones Construction; Linde Air Products; Maxon Construction; Harshaw Chemical; Monsanto Chemical; Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill; Kellex; African Metals, U.S. Vanadium; Hooker Electro - Chemical; Metals Disintegrating; Houdaille - Hersey; and Roane - Anderson. 

 

Contract Records

This series contains procurement files documenting the initiation and development of transactions that were highly unusual with respect to general agency procurement or major procurement programs. The series includes contracts and subcontracts covering most aspects of daily life for that time period. The records relate to the construction and management of production, residential, and other facilities at Oak Ridge. 

 

Correspondence

This series consists of official file copies of correspondence for several units of the Oak Ridge facility. 

 

Engineering and Construction Directives 

This series contains directives regarding numerous facilities, construction, and engineering projects. Topics include infrastructure, housing, water treatment, construction scheduling, site surveys, material storage, laboratories, and building construction. 

 

Feed Materials Division Files

This series contains correspondence, memos, reports, graphs, and charts. The records document operations office oversight over contractors, especially National Lead of Ohio, which provided uranium ore feed material for the Oak Ridge, Paducah, and Portsmouth gaseous diffusion plants. It also contains information on Brush Beryllium plant operations. The series also contains weekly and monthly reports of feed plant operations and of the Oak Ridge production division. Topics include the cost of feed material operations. 

 

General Electric Engineering Drawings 

This series contains engineering drawings produced by the General Electric Company. The drawings pertain to various specific hardware components. The series also contains some photos. Topics include specimen assembly, fabrication, rupture specimens, and fuel element fabrication development. 

 

General Electric Project Files

This series contains memos, correspondence, reports, and handwritten notes. The records document activities regarding nuclear powered aircraft research. Topics include annealing, materials, meetings, and waste disposal. 

 

Insurance Files

Contained in these records are insurance policy files for Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) contractors, including Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, H. K. Ferguson Company, and Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Science (ORINS). Policy files detail liability coverage and premiums for staff, facilities, and automobiles. Information regarding workers compensation is also present. The ORINS file documents issues such as medical malpractice and clinical activities, including patient treatment and autopsy. Correspondence is present to and from the Oak Ridge Division of Research, Oak Ridge Insurance Branch, AEC Insurance Section, and Office of the Comptroller in Washington, DC. Correspondence subjects include insurance coverage and premiums, public liability, worker's compensation, and levels of needed coverage. These records appear to be fragments of a larger collection that existed at one time. 

 

K-25 Insurance Branch Files

This series contains organization and personnel monthly status reports, memos, and correspondence. Several of the reports have short sections on insurance activities, which contain claims and pending litigation against Oak Ridge Operations Office for work-related disabilities. The series also contains insurance code classifications for some individual workers, a summary of health and accident reports for the site, and automobile accident reports at Oak Ridge. 

 

Laboratory and University Division Official Files 

This series consists of correspondence, reports, directives, memoranda, contracts, budgets, surveys, research proposals, meeting minutes, mail logs, daily diaries, publications, speeches, and news releases relating to operations of the Research Division at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Records connect to the following operational categories: research and development; medicine, health, and safety; personnel; security and intelligence; information and publications; budget, accounting, and finance; communications; contracts; equipment and supplies; organization and management; and policy and procedure. This series also includes drawings, plans, and specifications for the construction of plants, laboratories, and buildings. Records pertain to the U.S. nuclear program in the post-World War II era and document the division's involvement in reactor development and isotope production. Records include information on research and development contracts between the Atomic Energy Commission and private research institutions and universities, including the University of Tennessee, the University of Georgia, and Emory University, among numerous others. 

 

Manager's Meetings Records

This series consists of agendas, minutes, reports, correspondence, and directives. The records relate to annual Washington meetings of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) field operations office managers. The series also contains Oak Ridge Operations Office Manager Sam Sapirie's notes and correspondence related to the meetings. These meetings covered broad aspects of AEC policies and operations, including security, budgets, public relations, congressional legislation, and civil defense. Records for each meeting are filed together. 

 

Mallinckrodt Project Research Notebooks

This series consists of laboratory type notebooks containing biomedical data on uranium ore refining operations and problems at the Mallinckrodt plant. The notebooks were compiled by various project researchers and scientists. 

 

Middlesex Sampling Plant Files

This series contains memos, correspondence, reports, notebooks, and handwritten notes. The records document the National Lead Company's operation of the Middlesex uranium ore sampling plant. Topics include gaseous diffusion plant construction. 

 

Monitored Retrievable Storage Project Records

This series consists of letters, memos, project reports, and technical reports. The records document Oak Ridge's participation in the monitored, retrievable nuclear waste storage project, including its evaluation of building such a facility in Tennessee. It includes files on problems of waste storage and transportation; public and congressional interest in the project; on project safety; and on university participation in the project. 

 

New Brunswick Area Office Files

This series contains fragments of correspondence files compiled to document the activities of the area office. They contain documentation pertinent to ore assay activities. The records include memos, letters, and reports. 

 

Nuclear Materials Control Files / Oak Ridge Contract Files

This series contains memos, handwritten notes, correspondence, telegrams, and Material Transfer Certificates. The records document the shipping and receiving of materials as related to the various contracts on which they are to be used. 

 

Nuclear Propelled Aircraft Records

This series contains scientific notebooks, log books, reports, and handwritten notes. The records contain scientific calculations, notes, diagrams, and formulas. 

 

Organization and Personnel Division Correspondence Files

This series contains the official correspondence files of the Organization and Personnel Division. Topics include official policy, surveys, delegation of authority, employment, security, staffing, regulations, facilities, contracts, and procurement. 

 

Photographs and Films

This series consists of photographs, films, and video recordings. The series documents construction of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor, the Portsmouth, Ohio gaseous diffusion plant, particle accelerators, laboratories, isotope production facilities, the Bonus reactor in Puerto Rico, and the experimental gas cooled reactor. It includes aerial shots of the Oak Ridge facility and pictures of modifications to the Portsmouth gaseous diffusion plant. 

 

Production Plant Construction Division Correspondence 

This series contains correspondence, memos, technical drawings, charts, work orders, and reports. The documents deal with construction and maintenance issues for various facilities. Topics include utilities, oversight, materials, scheduling, personnel, and costs. 

 

Public Information Correspondence

The series consists of correspondence, memoranda, copies of reports and studies, transcripts of speeches, press releases, newspaper clippings and copies of magazine articles about the Manhattan District, the Atomic Energy Commission and its contractors. The records reflect the post-war effort to inform the public of the secret effort to develop the atom bomb and the facilities and contractors involved. There is a great deal of correspondence from contractors asking for permission to publicize their role in the program during World War II. These records reflect the wide-ranging efforts of the AEC to educate the public about nuclear energy. Included are programs aimed at the general public and programs aimed at professional atomic scientists and engineers. 

 

Public Information Office Files

This series contains memos, correspondence, handwritten notes, transcripts, news releases, speeches, and contracts. The records document the handling of various issues by the Public Information Office. Topics include information released to news outlets, motion pictures, press interviews, labor relations, procurement, contracts, medicine, health, safety, accidents, and radiation exposure. 

 

Reactor Division Correspondence Files 

This series contains engineering drawings, memos, correspondence, handwritten notes, telegrams, reports, and meeting minutes. Topics include international conferences, external affairs, health and safety, budgeting, personnel, engineering, and research and development. 

The series consists of correspondence files of memoranda, letters, meeting minutes, and records of inspections of various components of nuclear reactors. Much of the material relates to contractors involved in the programs. 

 

Research and Development Division Correspondence Files

The series consists of correspondence files of memoranda, letters, meeting minutes, copies of reports and studies, and handwritten notes. There are also records dealing with the administration of contracts by universities engaged in nuclear research and development and in training in the atomic and nuclear sciences. The universities vary, including, the University of Tennessee and the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, and the Oak Ridge National Lab. 

 

Research and Medicine Division Files 

This series contains correspondence, reports, handwritten notes, forms, press releases, memos, graphs, and medical records. Topics include effects of radiation, safety, budgeting, expenses, personnel, and medical testing. 

This series contains reports, handwritten notes, correspondence, memos, maps, charts, and proposal reports. Topics include publicly available information, isotopes, equipment, supplies, procurement, contracts, organization, management, property, medicine, safety, and nuclear research in foreign countries. 

 

Research and Technical Support Division Correspondence

This series contains general correspondence files of the Research and Technical Support Division. The records document the administration and supervision of various assigned research and development programs. Topics include health, facilities, personnel, budgeting, equipment, procurement, contracts, international affairs, organization, and management. 

The series consists of correspondence files of memoranda, letters, meeting minutes, copies of reports and studies, and handwritten notes. There are also records dealing with the administration of contracts by universities engaged in nuclear research and development and in training in the atomic and nuclear sciences. The universities vary, including, the University of Tennessee and the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, and the Oak Ridge National Lab. 

 

Roehl Construction Company Files

This series contains daily reports, test reports, progress reports, and cost estimate reports. The records document various construction projects and contracts. 

 

Security Division Correspondence Files 

The series consists of correspondence, memoranda, bulletins and other policy issuances from Oak Ridge and other Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Operations Offices. In addition, reports, security breaches, requests to visit AEC facilities, and policy development documents are included. 

 

Security Division Files

This series contains letters, memos, reports, and security bulletins. The records document security policies, procedures, and activities at Oak Ridge. It includes evaluations of Japanese attempts to obtain steel for cyclotrons and of Japanese American students at the University of California, Berkeley and bulletins on the activities of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other groups then considered subversive. 

 

St. Louis Area Office Files

This series contains memos and fragments of correspondence with the St. Louis Area Office maintained by the Oak Ridge Operations Office to document the activities of the area office. Included are personnel and security subject files, materials supply reports, plant and equipment diagrams, communications security files, and materials control files. 

 

Y-12 Silver Removal Files

This series consists of memos and charts showing silver removal coil by coil. The records document the removal of silver from the Y-12 electromagnetic plant. They includes a report from the U.S. Assay Office check of the removal. 

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