Last week we held the second of three Atomic Cities final reviews at UK’s CoD. This Atomic Cities Research Studio is the second studio to consider the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah Kentucky, a contaminated Manhattan Project legacy site. The Atomic Cities Research Team presented three interrelated proposals including a comparative economic, environmental and energy analysis of nine Atomic Cities, including Paducah; multiple proposals for innovative remediation techniques; and finally a proposal for community and regional growth utilizing the present PGDP site as a catalyst.
Present on the review were representatives from US HUD and DOE, plus a broad variety of academics and citizens with different backgrounds including philosophy, geology, hydro-geology, communications, architecture, history, sociology, physics and more. Presentations provoked a long and thoughtful conversation, with contributions and constructive criticism equally from across all disciplines. Students should be congratulated on generating what could reasonably be cited as the most successful transdisciplinary conversation of its kind on PGDP. Next steps for the work include a simultaneous exhibition in Paducah and at the International Architecture Biennial Rotterdam, and preparations have begun for inclusion in an upcoming report to our Representatives and Senators in Congress.
