Edward B. Grothus was a machinist

Machinist

A machinist is a person who uses machine tools to make or modify parts, primarily metal parts, a process known as machining. This is accomplished by using machine tools to cut away excess material much as a woodcarver cuts away excess wood to produce his work. In addition to metal, the parts may...

/technician and employee of the Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...

 during the 1950s and 1960s. In later life he became the owner of a surplus store which he used as a base for peace activism.

Weapons specialist

Originally, Grothus built rifles and machine guns at the Rock Island Arsenal

Rock Island Arsenal

The Rock Island Arsenal comprises , located on Arsenal Island, originally known as Rock Island, on the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and Rock Island, Illinois. It lies within the state of Illinois. The island was originally established as a government site in 1816, with...

 in Illinois.

He arrived in Los Alamos

Los Alamos, New Mexico

Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...

 on March 23, 1949. Initially, Grothus worked for 2 years as a machinist and then 18 years as a technician in the R-Site weapons development group. This involved working with depleted uranium

Depleted uranium

Depleted uranium is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope U-235 than natural uranium . Uses of DU take advantage of its very high density of 19.1 g/cm3...

 and taking measurements for studies on the hydrodynamics of test implosions.

He said his work contributed to the creation of bombs 30 times smaller and 30 times more powerful than those used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki—an increase from 15 kilotons to 475 kilotons in a nuclear package the size of a bowling ball.

On 1 December 1969 Grothus quit the lab to pursue his business and activism interests full-time.

Shopkeeper and peace activist

In 1951, while still working at the lab, Grothus founded the Los Alamos Sales Company, known to all as "The Black Hole" (because "everything goes in and nothing comes out"). It is a "thrift shop" of old scientific equipment that he has collected from the National Laboratory over the past decades. Ed could be seen often shopping at another Los Alamos thrift shop, Casa Mesita

Casa Mesita

Casa Mesita refers to two separate non-profit organizations in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Casa Mesita Thrift Shop and Casa Mesita Group Home are two of many social enterprise organizations in Los Alamos County, one of the highest-income counties in the United States, in a state with household income...

.

Originally, the business had no permanent home as Grothus sold unwanted lab items purchased at auction to universities and researchers. In 1976 the store found its present home in a 17000 square feet (1,579.4 m²) converted Piggly Wiggly

Piggly Wiggly

Piggly Wiggly is a supermarket chain operating in the Midwestern and Southern regions of the United States, run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. The current company headquarters is in Keene, New Hampshire....

 grocery store Grothus and his wife Margaret purchased. The store serves as an organizing base to protest the production of nuclear weapons. His objective for the Black Hole was to recycle scientific equipment to be used for peaceful endeavors.

For a while Grothus sold cans of supposed "organic plutonium

Plutonium

Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...

", affixing mushroom cloud

Mushroom cloud

A mushroom cloud is a distinctive pyrocumulus mushroom-shaped cloud of condensed water vapor or debris resulting from a very large explosion. They are most commonly associated with nuclear explosions, but any sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect. They can be caused by...

 wrappers to cans of soup. He mailed a free sample to the White House, earning him a visit from the Secret Service.

When walking into the gymnasium sized warehouse filled with piles of old computers, function generators, lock in amplifiers, microscopes and piles of wires and cables, a sign on the door reads:

One bomb is too many
No one is secure unless everyone is secure
Don't throw anything away
Welcome to The Black Hole

Documentary films

Grothus is the subject of three documentaries. The first, Atomic Ed & The Black Hole was produced in 2002 and broadcast in the United States on HBO. The second, focusing on Los Alamos as a whole, was a German production called Los Alamos und die Erben Der Bombe. The third, Laboratory Conditions, is a short film available for free on the internet.

Visitors to The Black Hole have captured video content and added it to places like YouTube.

Ed also has two large granite obelisks to document the development of atomic bombs.

Awards

Grothus has received a number of awards and other recognition including:

2006 Nuclear Free Future Lifetime Achievement for his ongoing activism speaking out against nuclear weapons and nuclear power - where the risks and decommissioning costs are significant.

2006 Indigenous World Uranium Summit, Lifetime Achievement for promoting a nuclear-free future through his work.

2007 Allan Hauser Memorial Award. for his demonstrated artistic success and community involvement.

Mike Daisey - If You See Something Say Something. where Mike Daisey talks about his visits to Trinity Site, The Bradbury Science Museum and his "Welcome to the Black Hole".

National Public Radio (NPR) feature titled "At 85, 'Atomic Ed' Is Still Ticking Off Los Alamos" which described Ed's ongoing buying, selling and saving of "nuclear waste" and his desire to find a location for his twin 40 ton granite monuments - the Rosetta Stones for the Nuclear Age.

Death

Grothus died in his home on February 12, 2009, from colon cancer

Colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer caused by uncontrolled cell growth , in the colon, rectum, or vermiform appendix. Colorectal cancer is clinically distinct from anal cancer, which affects the anus....

.

In an email correspondence prior to his death, Ed wrote, "My body is wracked with cancer tumors. My mind is wracked with the horrible visions of a very possible nuclear holocaust."

External links

• The Black Hole of Los Alamos Official site
• Photos from The Black Hole Photo Gallery
• A memorial site for Ed Grothus Includes photos