Ever since November and December of 1942, when survey teams identified Los Alamos, New Mexico and Hanford, Washington as new sites for two key components of the Manhattan Project, the West has been valued by America's atomic programs for its remoteness, its supposed emptiness, and its natural resources. Although western states had become wary of involvement with the nuclear industry by the 1980's, for much of the period after 1942 they welcomed their association with the production of atomic energy and weapons because it hastened their growth. The Federal government spent billions of dollars on western laboratories and towns, production and assembly facilities, and test sites. It brought more scientific and cultural sophistication to a region that had been regarded as relatively backward in cultural terms, and it gave some Westerners a greater sense of belonging by seemingly incorporating them more closely into a national purpose. In order to examine the history of the atomic industry in the West, Drs. Findlay and Hevly are organizing a scholarly meeting, "The Atomic West: Federal Power and Regional Development" to be held 25-27 September 1992 in Seattle. The conference's goal is to bring historians of science and technology together with historians of the American West, along with other scholars, in order to stimulate a consideration of the regional context in studies of the Federally-sponsored development of nuclear technology. This conference will help historians of science and technology situate their work in the social, political and environmental contexts of the West, and encourage historians of he West to integrate an understanding of history of science into regional history. Public and educational outreach are also part of this conference.
