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The Argonne National Laboratory open house.
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The Detector on ATLAS
One of the world’s premier laboratories is just outside of the Chicago area, and is inviting the public in for a look. Argonne National Laboratory is an outgrowth of the WWII Manhattan Project. The initial development of nuclear energy, and nuclear weaponry, got it’s start at what was then called the University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory. Chicago was where the first ever nuclear reactor was built, and where Enrico Fermi and his team operated.
It was soon decided that the Metallurgical Laboratory (Metlab, as it was called) should be moved out of town, both for safety, and secrecy reasons. Eventually, the project was moved to the more deserted areas of New Mexico, Tennessee, and Washington state, which have forever become linked with the Manhattan Project. Still, the Metlab remained.
After the war, nuclear weapons development was carried on out west, with development of the new nuclear power reactors being carried on at Argonne. As a matter of fact, every nuclear reactor everywhere in the world was either designed here at Argonne, or based upon an Argonne design but there is so much more going on here.
Argonne has the Advanced Photon source, a nuclear accelerator used to feed what is in essence an X-ray laser. They have the Atlas machine – a sort of an atom smasher and atom accumulator. Then there are the electron microscopes, the nanoscience center and the Wakefield Accelerator. These will all be open to the public.
What makes a place like this fascinating is that it is a public lab. Anyone who wishes to submit a project to use any of the facilities may do so – anyone. If you think you are on the verge of a great discovery, or know the secret of the Universe, you can submit a proposal to Argonne, and it will be reviewed. Who knows? They may say yes. If that sounds crazy, high school students have submitted proposals, gotten them accepted, and had the opportunity to work alongside scientists at the lab. There is no charge to use the facilities, as long as you publish your work.
Transportation is by car, shuttle bus from the University of Chicago campus, or public transit. The gates open at 9:00 AM, Saturday August 29th, and guests are welcome until 4:30. There will be special presentations, refreshments, talks and tours. There will also be various demonstrations to try and remind younger people that science is fascinating, the Universe is an amazing place, and making a career out of exploration could lead anywhere, and to anything.
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