Ames Project
The Ames Project was a World War II research and production effort linked to the Manhattan Project, based at Iowa State College in Ames, Iowa. It was led by Frank Spedding and started as a Chemistry and Metallurgy effort within the Chicago-based Metallurgical Laboratory, but it grew into a separate project of its own. The goal was to develop a reliable way to make pure uranium metal, which was essential for building atomic bombs and for nuclear reactors.
Under the pressure of war, Ames helped solve a crucial manufacturing problem: how to produce large amounts of pure uranium metal and how to cast it into usable shapes. Early purification methods were dangerous or impractical at scale, and existing metal production options were too expensive or slow. Spedding and his team devised the Ames Process, which starts from uranium tetrafluoride and uses calcium metal in a special reactor to produce pure uranium metal. By August 1942 they had demonstrated a 20-gram button of very pure uranium and soon scaled up to larger ingots. The process proved to be practical enough to support a pilot plant aiming to produce about 100 pounds of metal per day, and soon the goal was expanded to much higher production.
The Ames Project grew rapidly. What began with a few staff at Ames expanded to more than 90 scientists and eventually more than 500 people. The team built new facilities, including a warehouse-like building on the edge of campus that became the Physical Chemistry Annex, and a small machine shop in town. Ames supplied the Metallurgical Laboratory with large quantities of uranium metal, including the material used to assemble Chicago Pile-1, the world’s first nuclear reactor, which reached criticality in December 1942. It also supplied the bulk of the uranium used in the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge. By early 1943, production had jumped dramatically, and the project’s cost-effectiveness improved as the process scaled up and other producers began using the Ames method.
In parallel with uranium production, the Ames team explored other related materials and metallurgical questions. They investigated thorium, cerium, and beryllium, metals that played roles in the broader Manhattan Project. For thorium, researchers looked at transforming it into fissile uranium-233, although the plan was not pursued on a large scale. Cerium and beryllium were studied for potential uses in crucibles and neutron-related components, and uranium alloys and various corrosion-resistant coatings were tested to improve reactor performance. The project also worked on recovering uranium from scrap to maximize materials efficiency.
By 1943-1944, the Ames Process was adopted by other contractors (Mallinckrodt, Electromet, and DuPont), and Ames gradually shifted away from direct production as industrial-scale facilities took over. The Ames Project recovered and recycled thousands of pounds of uranium scrap, further supporting the war effort. In 1945, Army Chief Leslie Groves visited Ames and presented the Army-Navy “E” Award for Excellence in Production—an unusual honor for a college to receive, reflecting the project’s wartime impact.
After the war, in 1947, responsibility for the project moved to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), and the Ames Laboratory was established as a national laboratory on the Iowa State campus. Spedding remained director until 1968, guiding the institution as it transitioned into a permanent research facility. The lab continued to specialize in chemistry and metallurgy, with a continuing emphasis on rare-earth elements. Permanent campus buildings were named Wilhelm Hall and Spedding Hall to honor the leadership and work of the Ames Project.
In all, the Ames Project produced more than 1,000 short tons (about 910 tons) of uranium metal and played a pivotal role in the wartime uranium program. Its success helped accelerate the development of the first nuclear reactors and the broader Manhattan Project, leaving a lasting legacy in the field of metallurgy and materials science through the Ames Laboratory.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 23:42 (CET).