Touring the Past & Present

We had the opportunity to go on a Hanford Tour this past week. It was so interesting and so informative. I had no idea the scope or magnitude of the Hanford area on our region - not to mention it's actual size!

If you are unfamiliar with it, Hanford is where they manufactured plutonium for the atomic bomb during World War II. The government was frantically trying to stay ahead of the Germans - who they feared would make a bomb first - and scoped out possible locations to build nuclear reactors and start working on making plutonium. They flew over our area - with the Columbia River providing plenty of fresh water for the reactors and only three small towns in the area - Hanford, White Bluffs, and Richland - and decided it would be perfect. So they gave those people - plus the Native Amerians - 30 days to get out and got to working. Thousands of people were brought in from across the country to help without having any idea what they were building and what it was for. They built the B Reactor is 13 months! Amazing. No way is that possible now. Too much red tape. Within 18 months of construction the first load of plutonium was shipped to Los Alamos in New Mexico for construction of a bomb.

Well they did not know much about nuclear production at that time they did have a solid plan of what to do with all the waste of creating and processing plutonium. Most of the waste from the reactors was buried in single shell tanks on huge tank farms which some others was just pushed into tunnels and various underground holding areas.

After the war and into the 70s when plutonium production was halted and Americans decided they weren't focusing on that anymore and Hanford went silent. Enter the Department of Energy which is working with what seems to be a thousand different companies to clean it all up. And employing probably more then half of the people who live in this area.

Our tour took us through the area to see the history and the present task of safety disposing of nuclear waste. During the tour, I couldn't help but think of what our area would be like if it had not been chosen. I imagine I would be living in the middle of an orchard or farm instead of in a Hanford-era government built duplex in Richland.

I am so glad they are offering these tours to give the public knowledge and appreciation for the rich history of this area. No matter how destructive it was not only in the sense of making bombs but environmentally speaking as well it is still a rich and fascinating history.