The Women ’ s History Hidden in America ’ s Nuclear Past
6 MINUTE READ
Calutron operators at their panels , in the Y-12 plant at Oak Ridge during World War II . 1944 . The calutrons were used to refine uranium ore into fissile material . During the Manhattan Project effort to construct an atomic explosive , workers toiled in secrecy , with no idea to what end their labors were directed . Gladys Owens , the woman seated in the foreground , did not realize what she had been doing until seeing this photo in a public tour of the facility fifty years later . Tennessee , USA . ( Photo by Galerie Bilderwelt / Getty Images ) Galerie Bilderwelt / Getty Images
BY JANET BEARD MARCH 8 , 2018 12:30 PM EST