This photograph features one of the “Calutron Girls,” who operated complex machines called calutrons at the Y-12 Electromagnetic Isotope Separation Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during the Manhattan Project. The calutrons, or racetracks, used electromagnetic fields to separate isotopes of uranium, a key process in the enrichment of uranium and necessary for producing fissile material for nuclear reactions.
The Calutron Girls were largely young women, many fresh out of high school, and were recruited for this highly specialized work due to their attention to detail and manual agility. What makes this moment significant is that these women, despite having no formal scientific training, could efficiently manage the sophisticated machines.
However, even though they had a central role in operating the machinery, they were unaware of the full significance of their work. They were unknowingly enriching uranium for use in the world’s first atomic weapons.
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