Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

William Lowe was studying chemical and metallurgical engineering when World War II began.

He was appointed to the Special Engineering Detachment and arrived in Los Alamos and began assisting chemist Arthur Wahl. Lowe recalls working with Wahl on the process for purifying the plutonium for the Gadget and the bombs and talks about the safety procedures they used to minimize risk of radiation exposure. 

Lowe later worked on building new reactors, laboratories, and other support facilities at Hanford. He worked in the nuclear power industry for many years and was in the control room during the Three Mile Island Incident.

William Lowe’s Timeline
1942 Volunteered for military service.

19441945 Worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos on purifying plutonium.

1979 Mar Consulted on the Three Mile Island accident.

Related Profiles

James M. Anderson

Tinian Island

James M. Anderson served as a second lieutenant in the 393rd squadron. Although he was regularly assigned to the Up An’ Atom, he flew in the mission to bomb Hiroshima as the co-pilot of the Necessary Evil and in the Enola Gay during the Nagasaki bombing mission.

G. C. Houston

Hanford, WA

Beatrice Coleman

Y-12 Plant

Beatrice Coleman worked for the Tennessee Eastman Corporation at the Y-12 Plant.

Edward J. Baker

Los Alamos, NM