An aerial view of the B Reactor in Richland, Washington in January of 1945.
Courtesy of Library of Congress
Eastern Washington State is not a place people usually associate with the secretive Manhattan Project, the United States’ program to develop the atomic bomb. Your mind likely travels to Los Alamos, New Mexico—but, in fact, there were many sites where researchers worked on bomb-related science, and the Columbia River played an essential role in the project’s success. The Hanford Engineer Works’ B Reactor is where the plutonium for the atomic bombs was produced. The Hanford site was chosen in December 1942 because it met the size requirement of 225 square miles, it was removed from towns, roads and rail lines, and the local Grand Coulee and Bonneville Dams provided an abundance of hydroelectric power. The B Reactor opened in September 1944, and just five months later, in February 1945, it sent plutonium to Los Alamos. [1]
You can learn more about the science, scientists and laborers that contributed to the Manhattan Project from the banks of the Columbia River by taking a tour of the site. The U.S. Department of Energy and National Park Service offer free, four-hour tours of the reactor that leave from their Visitor Center in Richland. (Reserve your spot by registering for a tour on their website.)
Like all nuclear sites, Hanford has required extensive decontamination and environmental remediation in order to make it safe for people and wildlife. In 2000, President Bill Clinton declared the Hanford Reach a national monument, preserving its unique ecology. The formerly secret, off-limits land is now a place of peace and not war. [2]
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