American Museum of Science and Energy

The American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) is a science museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, designed to teach children and adults about energy, especially nuclear power, and to document the role Oak Ridge played in the Manhattan Project. The museum opened as the American Museum of Atomic Energy in 1949[1] in an old World War II cafeteria on Jefferson Circle. It moved to its second facility in 1975 and was renamed AMSE in 1978.[2] As of June 2019, the museum is located in the shopping mall across the street from the old location.

American Museum of Science and Energy
Established1949 (1949)
Location115 East Main Street, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Coordinates36°0′45.29″N 84°15′10.08″W
TypeScience museum
AccreditationAmerican Alliance of Museums, Smithsonian Affiliations, Association of Science-Technology Centers
DirectorJulia Bussinger
Websiteamse.org

Exhibits and tours
Exhibit space, 2019

The museum has both permanent and rotating exhibits, including robots, science puzzles, a NOAA weather station, a timeline of atomic discoveries, a large Van de Graaff generator, a display devoted to nuclear weapons and the Y-12 Plant, and a solar energy demonstration project. Its flagship exhibit, titled "Secret City - The Oak Ridge Story", was completely redesigned and rebuilt in 2007. A World War II-vintage flat top house, one of many inhabited by Manhattan Project workers in Oak Ridge, opened as a walk-through attraction in 2009.[3] Several photos by Ed Westcott are on display.

The museum also provides bus tours of the local sites of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park including the X-10 Graphite Reactor National Historic Landmark, the Y-12 National Security Complex and the East Tennessee Technology Park, located on the site of the K-25 Building.[4]

The museum is open seven days a week. The museum was free to the public for many years when its operation was fully funded by the U.S. federal government, but now charges for admission.[5] The museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate.[6]

History
Former location

The museum was established in 1949 as the "American Museum of Atomic Energy". In 1975, the museum constructed a new building at 300 South Tulane Avenue. The museum was located there until 2018, when the museum moved to a new yet smaller building on Main Street. The one-story building has 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2).[7]

References
  1. Opening of AMSE Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, AMSE website, retrieved 12 June 2009
  2. History Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, AMSE website, retrieved 12 June 2009
  3. , AMSE returns Flattop house to Oak Ridge, retrieved 10 April 2013
  4. "Oak Ridge". Manhattan National Historical Park. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  5. AMSE - General Information Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 12 June 2009
  6. "Affiliate Detail". Smithsonian Affiliates. 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  7. https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2018/01/09/american-museum-science-and-energy-site/1016682001/
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