Is there any information available on how uranium hexaflouride was shipped to Oak Ridge during the war? In what sort of container did it arrive there, and was it by rail or truck?
In the book The Making of the Atomic Bomb, on page 602 there is a mention of production at K-25, the gasseous diffusion plant at Oakridge, being charged with uranium hexafluoride on January 20, 1945. The hex was being made at a thermal diffusion plant called S-50 also at the Oakridge site, located next to the electrical plant that supplied K-25. S-50 utilized the steam generated at the electrical plant in the thermal diffusion process. The book states that initial problems with leakage at the thermal diffusion plant were resolved and all 21 racks were producing by March of 1945. This is the extent of the entry. From this I can only assume that no rail or truck travel was required since the source of the hex was a few yards from the diffusion plant. I suppose that it may even have been piped from one plant to the next, although I could find no information that stated that. I hope this is helpful. Have you checked out the great site Oakridge has on it\’s history at http://www.ornl.gov/hi
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