ABSTRACT
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory was started during World War II primarily as a site for the production of uranium isotopes for bomb production. The uranium in one of the bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War II came from Oak Ridge. Radioecology at Oak Ridge, led by Stanley Auerbach, developed primarily in regard to radioactive waste disposal from the lab and it involved a number of then-novel research techniques, including the large-scale experimental injection of radiocesium into a temperate deciduous forest for tracking cycling pathways and rates of movements. Computer models were developed from the work that were used to simulate movements of radionuclides through the ecosystem.
