Explore "Quarantine" by George O. Smith on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
According to law, any building that housed a self-reacting nuclear pile employing uranium or any other fissionable material, must be not less than ten miles from the nearest dwelling. Green Metallurgical Laboratory was, therefore, ten miles by the best surveyor that the State of Indiana could supply, away from the outward corner of the last house in Ramball, Indiana. Greene Metals was connected to civilization by means of a road made of metal-alloy paving locks, a third-rail interurban trolley-line that took workers to and from, a railroad spur, and a series of tall towers that carried high tension lines.
The lines were used to carry power to three outlying cities -- the power generated by the uranium pile was a by-product. It was used to generate the radioisotopes and transuranic elements used to make special alloys for special jobs -- at a very special price.