They were called the Calutron Girls.
Calutron operators at their panels.
Each calutron consisted of a vacuum chamber sandwiched between two magnets.
Historian Ray Smith compares U-235 to a ping pong ball and U-238 to a golf ball.
Both balls will thus end up at different points at the top of the arc because of centrifugal force.
A Calutron Girl monitoring gauges and adjusting various controls.
Women workers leaving Y-12 complex after a change in shift.
The knobs were labeled with cryptic letters.
The women worked with utmost secrecy even though they didnt know what kind of information they were protecting.
I can only tell you that if our enemies beat us to it, God have mercy on us!
A billboard encouraging secrecy amongst Oak Ridge workers.
Dont tell your family.
Dont tell your friends.
All you gotta know is that youre working to help end the war.
Despite being kept in the dark, the women knew that something strange was happening.
Those who asked too many questions or were caught talking about their jobs soon disappeared.
Calutron Girls at their panels.
We were producing uranium.
I still think about it.
