With the rise of the Cold War, the Dayton Project became permanent , was relocated to Miamisburg, and renamed

 

 

 

 

 

The Underground Building.  The Underground Building was five stories below the surface, built into solid rock.  It was built to withstand anything the Russians had at the time.

 

 

(the famous Mound in the distance)

 

 

The Underground Building was two stories “high”, with one floor for mechanical equipment.  The other floor was divided into a “hot” (radioactive work) side and a “cold” side.

 

 

 

The Underground Building was used at first for the Polonium trigger assembly.  Later, when the technology changed, it was used for “other programs”.

 

 

 

Sealed gondolas ready to haul cleanup debris :”outtahere”

 

 

 

 

There is some sort of airlock in this facility

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The place is so deserted that the critters are returning

 

 

 

 

approaching cloud of fallout from the deserted parking lot

 

 

 

 

The Mound Museum.  Retired employees of the facility made heroic efforts to salvage things from the lab, keeping just ahead of the bulldozer.  They eventually want to set up displays in the Underground Building and open it for tours, which will be popular, as the place has been the source of a number of local urban legends here in the Dayton area.

 

 

 

I took a number of pix of the place.  Very few came out.  They had a trigger assembly workstation set up, which used microscopes, as the work was very close.  The place was a big assembly line of assembly stations, all handwork,  and employed mostly women as they had the dexterity for the work.  Here are some sample triggers:

 

 

A robot used to conduct highly radioactive work, operated via remote control:

 

 

Nuclear heat source for the Space Program.  This became a new line of business for the lab starting in the 1960s.

 

 

Atomic Valley.  Downvalley is the Fernald site.

 

 

Awesome.