Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Lynn McCardell grew up in Idaho Falls, and began working as a secretary at the Special Nuclear Reactor Test area (SPERT). Her job entailed typing up reports and preparing memos, first on typewriters and decades later on computers. McCardell’s husband, Richard McCardell, also worked at the plant, however, it was not preferable for husband and wife to be working in close proximity. McCardell was transferred in 1969 to Test Area North (TAN). In this area they build LOFT and tested LOFT.

Related Profiles

Madonna Elaine Thennes

Madonna Elaine Thennes was in born 1925. When she had just graduated from high school in Pocahontas, Arkansas, in 1943, her father told her the military had good-paying jobs for civilians in a new place in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

William “Bill” Ginkel

Idaho Falls

Bill Ginkel was born in Rochester, New York on August 14th, 1920. After graduating from Madison High School, Ginkel spent five years studying Chemical Engineering and Business at the University of Rochester, where he graduated in 1943.

Jean Rowe

Jean Rowe was born in Wise County, Virginia on June 17th, 1925. She worked at Oak Ridge at the age of 18 [or 19] from 1943-1944.

Dick Terry