"The mission of the National Atomic Museum is to serve as America's resource for nuclear history and science. The museum presents exhibits and quality educational programs that convey the diversity of individuals and events that shape the historical and technical context of the nuclear age."[6]
The museum was initially sited in 1969 on the grounds of Sandia Base (now Kirtland Air Force Base) in an old 90mm anti-aircraft gun repair facility, and named "Sandia Atomic Museum".[7] It was the result of a six-year effort to establish a museum to tell the story of the base and the development of nuclear weapons. It was staffed by United States Air Force (USAF) personnel with help from Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). In 1973, the museum's name changed to "National Atomic Museum", but it did not yet have a national charter.
In 1985, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) became responsible for the museum, and the staff became DOE employees. In 1991 the museum received its charter as a national museum, and its mission expanded to include aspects of nuclear science and history beyond manufacturing nuclear weapons. The museum also became affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. In 1992 the National Atomic Museum Foundation (NAMF) was a non-profit organization created to run and fund the museum and reduce the financial burden on taxpayers. DOE transferred the museum operation to SNL in 1995, and Museum staff became SNL employees.
After the terror attacks in September 2001, increased security restricted public access to the museum's on-base site and forced relocation to a former REI store in Old Town Albuquerque's museum district. In 2005, SNL transferred operational responsibility to NAMF. SNL employees working as museum staff moved to other positions within Sandia. The museum hired new staff who became employees of NAMF.
When the museum relocated to Albuquerque's museum district, the site had inadequate space for outdoor exhibits. In January 2005, NAMF asked DOE/NNSA (National Nuclear Security Administration) for 12 acres (4.9 ha) of land at the intersection of Eubank and Southern Boulevards in southeast Albuquerque for construction of a new museum. In October 2006, a formal Land Use Agreement was signed with SNL as Grantor and NAMF as Grantee. The museum broke ground and began construction, with staff documenting its construction project via a blog[8] and a Flickr gallery[9] where photos were posted weekly to show the building's progress.
The new museum opened on April 4, 2009, in its new location under the new name National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.[10]
Funding for construction came from multiple sources, including:
$5 million in Federal funds for design and construction
$1 million transferred from the State of New Mexico to the City of Albuquerque for infrastructure
$2.63 million from corporations
$25,000 from foundations
$500,000 from individual contributions
The new facility incorporates 16 permanent indoor exhibit areas, two classrooms, a theater, a combined library and conference room, a gallery for temporary exhibits, and the Museum's store in 30,000 sq ft (0.28 ha). of space. The site provides nine acres (3.6 ha) of outdoor space for exhibits of military aircraft, missiles, vehicles, and the sail of the USSJames K. Polk nuclear submarine.
Museum operating costs of approximately $1.8M annually are provided by NAMF through earned and contributed revenues associated with the operation of the museum from admissions, NAMF memberships, grants, summer camps, events/rentals, and Museum store proceeds. A contract for services between Sandia National Laboratories and NAMF exists as well.[7]
The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting information about scientific, historical, and cultural aspects of the Atomic Age. Permanent exhibits focus on the following:
Pioneers of the Atom– An interactive display that introduces the individuals who questioned and defined the matter which makes up the universe. Visitors can use the interactive kiosk to trace the study of the atom.
World War II– A display that teaches the history leading up to the creation and use of the atomic bomb and the countries that became involved.
Critical Assembly, the Secrets of Los Alamos 1944: An Installation by Jim Sanborn– A special exhibition, staged as a tableau, that recreates the laboratory environment in which the first atomic bomb was assembled. Based on scholarly and eyewitness accounts, this exhibit features many artifacts that would have been (or were actually) present at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1940s. (This exhibit replaced "Secrets, Lies & Atomic Spies" in 2017.)
The Decision to Drop– The dawn of the Atomic Age began with the design and testing of the world's first atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project. Visitors are introduced to the daily lives of the scientists who lived at Los Alamos and journey with them to the Trinity site, where the first explosion occurred in 1945. These exhibits include a series of displays striving for an objective examination of the history leading up to and the policy decisions regarding the deployment of the first nuclear weapons code-named Little Boy and Fat Man.
The exhibit includes the text of comments by Manhattan Project staff (including a contentious Edward Teller statement advocating a high-altitude night-time demonstration detonation over Tokyo to precipitate Japanese surrender), the text of statements by Japanese politicians and military leaders, a copy of the petition protesting use without warning submitted by nuclear physicist Leó Szilárd, and photographs from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The display also features video footage of the reminiscences of Col. Paul Tibbets (pilot of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan), and coverage of the emotion the surrender of Japan produced in the United States.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki– This exhibit pays tribute to the people affected by the detonation of the atomic weapons that the Manhattan Project developed. This exhibit features images of these cities before, during, and after the bombings and representations of the commitment to peace that these communities continue to uphold today.
Heritage Park– This 9-acre outdoor exhibit is complete with planes, rockets, missiles, cannons, and a nuclear submarine sail.
Nuclear Medicine– A display of early and modern medical equipment using nuclear physics principles.
Little Albert's Lab– An area presided over by an animatronic version of Albert Einstein, provides hands-on, family-friendly science activities for children.
Nano– An interactive exhibition where visitors can imagine and discover a world they cannot see and learn about big ideas from the small nanoscience world. (This display is now part of Little Albert's Lab.)
Energy Encounter– A series of displays focusing on the civilian use of nuclear power, including:
history of nuclear reactors and discussion of their engineering principles
examination of nuclear power accidents, safety engineering, and waste treatment/storage
a model of the NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship
nuclear energy as one part of a spectrum of alternative energy-producing methods
Radiation 101– A display of everyday items and activities that expose people to ionizing radiation as well as a free-standing case containing the companion exhibit to the online exhibition: Atomic Advertising
Atomic Pop Culture– Visitors may be entertained while viewing how American popular culture reflected the dawning of the Atomic Age. This includes vintage movie memorabilia, comic books, accessories, and more.
Nuclear Waste Transportation– The TruPact II container is on display in this exhibit–a type of transportation container used by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to transport transuranic waste.
What's Up With U(ranium)– An exhibit that seeks to engage visitors in answering questions like "where does uranium come from," "how does it move through the environment," "how does it affect us," and "is it radioactive?"
Uranium; Enriching Your Future– A partially interactive exhibit that explains how nuclear power contributes to the energy industry.
Dark Cube: Heisenberg's Race for the Bomb– A special exhibition where visitors can learn about Nazi Germany's futile effort to outpace the Manhattan Project's atomic weapons research featuring a "dense, two-inch charcoal-black cube made of pure uranium metal that Nazi scientists suspended with 663 other similar cubes."[12]
Nuclear by Mail– This exhibit displays the development of nuclear science and technology in the 20th century through these developments' appearance on stationery.
Temporary Exhibit Hall– An area devoted to different temporary exhibits.
Both self-guided and docent-led tours are available.[13]
Controversy arose when the Museum relocated to the Old Town museum district and erected its Redstone rocket at the corner of 20th Street and Mountain Road NW.[15][16] Some people saw the erecting of the rocket in an area of the city frequented by lovers of the arts and families with children as emblematic of pervasive military-industrial complex influence in Albuquerque and New Mexico. Others saw the rocket as relevant to an accurate portrayal of New Mexico's involvement in the nuclear age.[17] With the opening of the new museum, the Redstone rocket was relocated to the Eubank site.
Aircraft on display
Due to its colocation with Kirtland AFB, the museum has acquired several historically significant aircraft.
Formerly of the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing, later the Kansas Air National Guard. Retired in 1981 and assigned to Kirtland AFB as a battle damage maintenance simulator.[22]
In 2023, Jennifer Hayden became the President and CEO of the NMNSH, replacing Jim Walther, who was executive director of the museum for 26 years.[26] The museum is governed by a board of trustees of 23 members, including Sandra Biedron and Katrina Groth.[27] The board also includes persons honored as trustees by the museum, including Richard Rhodes, and once included Pete Domenici and Murray Gell-Mann.[27]
Science education and community activities
The Museum conducts year-round primary, secondary, and adult education programs both in-house and via outreach using the Up'n'Atom Mobile. Professional educator development programs support New Mexico school curriculum standards.[28] The museum hosts guest speakers, annual special events, and week-long youth science camps in the summer. Rental space is available for birthdays, weddings, conferences, and other occasions.[29]
In popular culture
The former museum site was used in the 2008 AMC television show Breaking Bad in a storyline as a drug drop area.[30] It appeared in several scenes in the season 2 episode Negro y Azul.
Los Alamos National Laboratory is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the American southwest. Best known for its central role in helping develop the first atomic bomb, LANL is one of the world's largest and most advanced scientific institutions.
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it has a second principal facility next to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, and a test facility in Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii. Sandia is owned by the U.S. federal government but privately managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International.
Sandia Base was the principal nuclear weapons installation of the United States Department of Defense from 1946 to 1971. It was located on the southeastern edge of Albuquerque, New Mexico. For 25 years, the top-secret Sandia Base and its subsidiary installation, Manzano Base, carried on the atomic weapons research, development, design, testing, and training commenced by the Manhattan Project during World War II. Fabrication, assembly, and storage of nuclear weapons was also done at Sandia Base. The base played a key role in the United States nuclear deterrence capability during the Cold War. In 1971 it was merged into Kirtland Air Force Base.
Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base. It is located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy C. Kirtland. The military and the international airport share the same runways, making ABQ a joint civil-military airport.
The United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and Technology Centers is a system of laboratories overseen by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) for scientific and technological research. The primary mission of the DOE national laboratories is to conduct research and development (R&D) addressing national priorities: energy and climate, the environment, national security, and health. Sixteen of the seventeen DOE national laboratories are federally funded research and development centers administered, managed, operated and staffed by private-sector organizations under management and operating (M&O) contracts with the DOE. The National Laboratory system was established in the wake of World War II, during which the United States had quickly set-up and pursued advanced scientific research in the sprawling Manhattan Project.
The W25 was a small nuclear warhead that was developed by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for air-defense use. It was a fission device with a nominal yield of 1.7 kt.
The Mk/B53 was a high-yield bunker buster thermonuclear weapon developed by the United States during the Cold War. Deployed on Strategic Air Command bombers, the B53, with a yield of 9 megatons, was the most powerful weapon in the U.S. nuclear arsenal after the last B41 nuclear bombs were retired in 1976.
The 1966 Palomares B-52 crash, also called the Palomares incident, occurred on 17 January 1966, when a B-52G bomber of the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refueling at 31,000 feet (9,450 m) over the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain. The KC-135 was destroyed when its fuel load ignited, killing all four crew members. The B-52G broke apart, killing three of the seven crew members aboard.
The Bradbury Science Museum is the chief public facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory, located at 1350 Central Avenue in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in the United States. It was founded in 1953, and was named for the Laboratory's second director (1945–1970), Norris E. Bradbury. Among the museum's early exhibits, artifacts and documents from World War II Manhattan Project were displayed upon declassification. Other exhibits include full-size models of the Little Boy and Fat Man atomic bombs. Admission is free.
Mark 7 "Thor" was the First tactical fission bomb adopted by US armed forces. It was also the first weapon to be delivered using the toss method with the help of the low-altitude bombing system (LABS). The weapon was tested in Operation Buster-Jangle. To facilitate external carry by fighter-bomber aircraft, Mark 7 was fitted with retractable stabilizer fins. The Mark 7 warhead (W7) also formed the basis of the 30.5 inches (775 mm) BOAR rocket, the Mark 90 Betty nuclear depth charge, MGR-1 Honest John rocket, and MGM-5 Corporal ballistic missile. It was also supplied for delivery by Royal Air Force Canberra aircraft assigned to NATO in Germany under the command of SACEUR. This was done under the auspices of Project E, an agreement between the United States and the UK on the RAF carriage of US nuclear weapons. In UK use it was designated 1,650 lb. H.E. M.C. The Mark 7 was in service from 1952 to 1967(8) with 1700–1800 having been built.
The W79 Artillery-Fired Atomic Projectile (AFAP), also known as XM753 (Atomic RA), was an American nuclear artillery shell, capable of being fired from any NATO 8 in (203 mm) howitzer e.g. the M115 and M110 howitzer. The weapon was produced in two models; the enhanced radiation (ERW) W79 Mod 0 and fission-only W79 Mod 1. Both were plutonium-based linear-implosion nuclear weapons.
The Mark 39 nuclear bomb and W39 nuclear warhead were versions of an American thermonuclear weapon, which were in service from 1957 to 1966.
The Mark 24 nuclear bomb was an American thermonuclear bomb design, based on the third American thermonuclear bomb test, Castle Yankee. The Mark 24 bomb was tied as the largest weight and size nuclear bomb ever deployed by the United States, with the same size and weight as the Mark 17 nuclear bomb which used a very similar design concept but unenriched Lithium.
Atomic tourism or nuclear tourism is a recent form of tourism in which visitors learn about the Atomic Age by traveling to significant sites in atomic history such as nuclear test reactors, museums with nuclear weapon artifacts, delivery vehicles, sites where atomic weapons were detonated, and nuclear power plants.
The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) is a USAF Named Unit, assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The AFNWC operates at the Center level of the AFMC. It is currently under the command of Major General John P. Newberry.
The Boeing NC-135 and NKC-135 are special versions of the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker modified to operate on several different programs.
The Mark 17 and Mark 24 were the first mass-produced hydrogen bombs deployed by the United States. The two differed in their "primary" stages. They entered service in 1954, and were phased out by 1957.
The 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash was an accident that occurred near Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, on 24 January 1961. A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3.8-megaton Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the process. The pilot in command, Walter Scott Tulloch, ordered the crew to eject at 9,000 ft (2,700 m). Five crewmen successfully ejected or bailed out of the aircraft and landed safely; another ejected, but did not survive the landing, and two died in the crash. Information declassified since 2013 has showed that one of the bombs was judged by nuclear weapons engineers at the time to have been only one safety switch away from detonation, and that it was "credible" to imagine conditions under which it could have detonated.
Rushmore Air Force Station, South Dakota, was a secure weapons administration, storage, and handling facility for atomic, and later thermonuclear weapons, located adjacent to Ellsworth Air Force Base on its north side, that was operational from 1950 to 1962. It was operated by Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) was under contract to provide oversight and technical responsibility of the weapons housed at the AFS.
The Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility (NWEF) operated through the Cold War investigating aircraft-weapon interfaces to provide United States Navy aircraft with nuclear weapons delivery capability.
References
↑ "Visit". National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
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