Seeing the “80’s Ladies” and the outward, bowling-league normality of their pictures makes me want to compare them to their slightly younger contemporaries just outside, moved by intense religious fervor or Baby Boomer-era ideal to gather in protest, throw blood on the walls, etc. Dan Zac’s “Almighty” gives a good treatment of that other side.
One could almost write a drama series comparing and contrasting both groups in that Cold War-era setting.
Pantex is pretty remote. My dad rode to work on a bus about 45 minutes from our home in Amarillo. There is a LOT of nothing between the plant and its nearest neighbor. So they didn't get much in the way of protests.
During a strike by the guards' union in the early '80s, my dad was pressed into service as an auxiliary guard. He said that from the towers that surround the plant he could watch a jackrabbit eating dinner 10 miles away--the terrain was that open and their sensors were that good. So someone might have splashed blood on the main gate, but no protestor was getting close enough to a wall to do anything.
I'm glad you followed up on this mundane angle, it is indeed interesting. On one hand it's all perfectly rational and practical, and on the other it's totally insane. Both at the same time. We human beings are "weird", as the current saying goes.
This was in my substack recommendations and I actually know a bit about this. The Dept. of Energy managed all the nuke weapons plants including mine in Largo, FL. I understood Pantex to be the final assembly location.
Our site was called GE Neutron Devices and we made neutron generators and RTG's or Radioisotopic thermoelectric generators. We also had Tritium and Plutonium at our site.
GE got out of the business in 1994 and we became employees of Martin Marietta and then Lockheed Martin in 1995-6. Our plant was built in 1957 and they closed it and moved production to Sandia labs in NM. Like these people (pictured) we had golf leagues and other events throughout the year. I was an Industrial Hygienist and t was great environment for that type work. DOE closed the site in 1997 and now it houses Raytheon and other smaller businesses. Our director was a physicist and there were all types of engineers and chemists. I would add that DOE is having me do physicals every three years as a follow up.
My dad was a Quality Control Engineer at Pantex from about '77 until around '84, and my sister was one of those interns (in the Chem lab) in, iirc, the summer of '78. It was to all accounts a great place to work.
When one thinks of what a nuke can do and its impact upon mankind (i.e. eliminate man from the earth)... such photos seem crazy... and yet here we are at the brink of WWIII. F'en nuts! Pax
These brought back vivid memories of my grandfather, who worked at TRW designing missile guidance systems in the 60s and 70s. His office was decorated with photos of the missile tests he participated in, including some striking images of warheads on re-entry, but also more mundane photos like these.
I was able to visit Pantex for a field experiment and must say, the feeling there and knowing all the eyes rifles, and camera on you is wile and eerie feeling. Very cool pictures. Thanks!!
Seeing the “80’s Ladies” and the outward, bowling-league normality of their pictures makes me want to compare them to their slightly younger contemporaries just outside, moved by intense religious fervor or Baby Boomer-era ideal to gather in protest, throw blood on the walls, etc. Dan Zac’s “Almighty” gives a good treatment of that other side.
One could almost write a drama series comparing and contrasting both groups in that Cold War-era setting.
Pantex is pretty remote. My dad rode to work on a bus about 45 minutes from our home in Amarillo. There is a LOT of nothing between the plant and its nearest neighbor. So they didn't get much in the way of protests.
During a strike by the guards' union in the early '80s, my dad was pressed into service as an auxiliary guard. He said that from the towers that surround the plant he could watch a jackrabbit eating dinner 10 miles away--the terrain was that open and their sensors were that good. So someone might have splashed blood on the main gate, but no protestor was getting close enough to a wall to do anything.
I'm glad you followed up on this mundane angle, it is indeed interesting. On one hand it's all perfectly rational and practical, and on the other it's totally insane. Both at the same time. We human beings are "weird", as the current saying goes.
This was in my substack recommendations and I actually know a bit about this. The Dept. of Energy managed all the nuke weapons plants including mine in Largo, FL. I understood Pantex to be the final assembly location.
Our site was called GE Neutron Devices and we made neutron generators and RTG's or Radioisotopic thermoelectric generators. We also had Tritium and Plutonium at our site.
GE got out of the business in 1994 and we became employees of Martin Marietta and then Lockheed Martin in 1995-6. Our plant was built in 1957 and they closed it and moved production to Sandia labs in NM. Like these people (pictured) we had golf leagues and other events throughout the year. I was an Industrial Hygienist and t was great environment for that type work. DOE closed the site in 1997 and now it houses Raytheon and other smaller businesses. Our director was a physicist and there were all types of engineers and chemists. I would add that DOE is having me do physicals every three years as a follow up.
I grew up in Los Alamos in the 70s/80s and one of the things I try to highlight when people ask me what it was like is the sheer mundanity of it all.
My dad was a Quality Control Engineer at Pantex from about '77 until around '84, and my sister was one of those interns (in the Chem lab) in, iirc, the summer of '78. It was to all accounts a great place to work.
When one thinks of what a nuke can do and its impact upon mankind (i.e. eliminate man from the earth)... such photos seem crazy... and yet here we are at the brink of WWIII. F'en nuts! Pax
These brought back vivid memories of my grandfather, who worked at TRW designing missile guidance systems in the 60s and 70s. His office was decorated with photos of the missile tests he participated in, including some striking images of warheads on re-entry, but also more mundane photos like these.
I was able to visit Pantex for a field experiment and must say, the feeling there and knowing all the eyes rifles, and camera on you is wile and eerie feeling. Very cool pictures. Thanks!!
Fallout draws heavily on the 50's/60's, but there's something very Fallout about these photos.