By Jurgen Hess. Sept. 1, 2015. The Hanford nuclear site is one of the most toxic places on earth. The radioactive waste, groundwater, contaminated soil and debris have created a decades-long cleanup which is projected to take decades more and perhaps centuries. What happens there is critical to all who live down river.
Hanford nuclear site is on the Columbia River, adjacent to Richland, WA. Hanford was started in 1943 as the nation’s plutonium production facility for the purpose of making nuclear bombs. Nine reactors were constructed; by 1989 all were shut down. Contrastingly, the area has the longest stretch of free flowing Columbia River and the perimeter 160,000 acres are now designated the Hanford Reach National Monument.
Feeling I should know about and see this part of our history firsthand, I toured the B Reactor and was driven through the core of the 586 square mile site. The vastness of the site and the size and complexity of the facilities is not easy to comprehend. But walking through B reactor and listening to people who worked there in its glory days helped me come to terms with the war legacy and the difficult task of cleaning this area up.
Tours of the B Reactor, a historic site, are available to the public at http://manhattanprojectbreactor.hanford.gov/
