Oak Ridge, TN

Oak Ridge is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 83,060 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Knox County. Oak Ridge is home to the Clinton Atomic Energy Center (CAC), which employs about 5,000 people and is the site of the world's first nuclear reactor, built in 1942 under Project Y-12. The city also has a large military presence with Fort Sanders and Joint Base Lewis-McChord nearby.

Oak Ridge was founded in 1917 as a company town for workers at the nearby Clinton Atomic Energy Center (CAC). The city's name comes from a ridge of oak trees that stood near where the plant was to be built. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) occupies much of Oak Ridge and employs about 10,000 people. ORNL conducts research in physics, chemistry, biology and earth sciences. Other major employers in Oak Ridge are Eastman Kodak Company and Associated Press; both have facilities there that support their worldwide operations.

The CAC began producing plutonium for use in nuclear weapons during World War II under Project Y-12; it became operational on July 1, 1942. In 1945–1946, it produced more than half of all plutonium used by America in World War II; as part of Operation Crossroads tests conducted at Bikini Atoll between 1946 and 1948, it also produced more than 90% of America's atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II