RE: "historic" Los Alamos lab buildings destroyed by fire..

["Boston, Robert D" <bostonrd@id.doe.gov>]

According to a contact I have at LANL, it is true that a majority of V-site
was destroyed.

Robert Boston Nuclear Safety/Operational Readiness 
DOE-ID
850 Energy Drive MS 4160
Idaho Falls, ID 83401-1563
208-526-0356 pager 6-4444 #4413 Fax 6-7414
bostonrd@id.doe.gov

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Franta, Jaroslav [SMTP:frantaj@aecl.ca]
> Sent:	Wednesday, May 17, 2000 7:31 AM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	FW: "historic" Los Alamos lab buildings destroyed by fire..
> 
> 
> Could anyone please comment on the veracity of the statements concerning
> the
> destruction of the "historic" buildings ?
> ....this message was forwarded to me by a colleague.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Jaro
> frantaj@aecl.ca
> <><><><><><><><><><><>
> 
> > >From the international abolition listserver.......Bev
> > Janet Bloomfield wrote:
> > Forest fire razes bomb laboratories
> > Julian Borger in Washington
> > Tuesday May 16, 2000
> > The Guardian
> > 
> > The birthplace of the atomic bomb succumbed to the forces of nature at
> > the weekend when the site of the secret wartime Manhattan Project was
> > burned
> > 
> > down by a forest fire sweeping across New Mexico, it was reported
> > yesterday.
> > 
> > The complex of buildings where US scientists worked on the prototype
> > bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was razed as the fire -
> originally
> > started as a "controlled burn" - encroached on the Los Alamos nuclear
> > laboratories.
> > They had been earmarked by the White House as historic sites under the
> > "Save America's Treasures" programme.
> > 
> > Nearly a third of the 43 sq mile site was affected. According to a
> > damage assessment report quoted by Reuters: "The historic V-site complex
> > from
> > the Manhattan Project has been lost except for the high-bay building
> where
> > the Trinity high explosive assembly was configured."
> > 
> > The Trinity bomb was the first atomic weapon detonated, on a test site
> > in the southern New Mexico desert, on July 16 1945.
> > 
> > Officials at Los Alamos said firefighters had succeeded in keeping the
> > flames away from the current plutonium storage sites and radioactive
> > waste dumps. The energy department had assured nearby residents that
> there
> > was
> > never any danger of a nuclear accident because the storage sites were
> > protected by heavy concrete shells.
> > 
> > State officials said yesterday that the fire, which has already burned
> > 42,000 acres (16,800 hectares) of New Mexico forest, was "28%
> > contained", and 7,000 local residents were allowed to return to their
> > homes. But
> > they said the Los Alamos laboratories were not out of danger, because
> > anticipated high winds could fan the fire again.
> > 
> > The fire began last week as a deliberately set "controlled burn"
> > intended to clear dry bush along a cordon to limit the spread of future
> > forest
> > fires.
> > But high temperatures and strong winds fanned the blaze out of control
> > in an area suffering its worst drought for more than two centuries.
> > 
> > The blaze has already caused an estimated $1bn (£625m) in damage,
> > destroying 260 homes and sending 20,000 people fleeing for safety. The
> > national
> > parks official who ordered the "controlled burn" has been sent on leave
> > while
> > the fire is being investigated.
> > 
> > Yesterday the fire was reported to be to within half a mile of ancient
> > native American cliff dwellings and the small adobe town of Abiquiu, the
> > 
> > setting and inspiration for many of the paintings of the artist Georgia
> > O'Keeffe, who lived there for nearly 40 years.
> > 
> > Janet Bloomfield
> > 25 Farmadine
> > Saffron Walden
> > Essex
> > CB11 3HR
> > England
> > Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1799 516189
> > e-mail: janet@atomicmirror.org
> > 
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > 
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