DOE/RL-97-56

Background Of Hanford Site

The primary mission of the Hanford Site throughout its history was the production of plutonium for use as a military deterrent. At first glance, there is little to distinguish the concrete and concrete block structures distributed across the landscape of Hanford. It appears to be just another large industrial complex composed of production and support facilities. It is only after one begins to look behind the structural facades that the importance of Hanford appears. The events associated with these buildings have significance on the local, state, national, and international levels that can not be dismissed or denied. The history of Hanford both shaped and was shaped by world events in the latter half of the 20th Century.

Prior to 1942, nuclear fission was a theoretical construct. However, within the confines of an experimental setting, theory became reality in the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago when Enrico Fermi achieved the world's first sustained nuclear chain reaction. The controlled splitting of atoms had been confirmed; the potential for unlimited energy had been demonstrated. With that demonstration, the pursuit of a military application was well underway. However, the process was far from settled:

Major uncertainties faced the plutonium project. There were various potential methods for cooling the pile (reactor) in which the uranium would be irradiated. The means of subsequent chemical separations was unfixed. The equipment needed was not even designed or manufactured anywhere in the world as yet. And there was the question of maintaining health and safety in the presence of large quantities of new, dangerous, and poorly understood radioactive substances. (Gerber 1992, p. 5)

Nevertheless, with the commencement of operations at the 105-B Reactor on September 26, 1944, the transition from experiment to production was complete. The 105-B Reactor was the world's first full-scale plutonium production reactor. Plutonium produced in this reactor powered the first atomic explosion - the Trinity test at Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. On August 9, 1945 an atomic bomb containing plutonium from the reactor was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The tritium used in the first hydrogen bomb tested at the Pacific Proving Grounds on October 31, 1952 was irradiated within the B Reactor (Wahlen 1989, p. 35). Hanford had taken its place in world history.

Between March 1943 and September 1944, the Manhattan Engineering District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had taken the rural/agricultural landscape of Hanford, Richland, and White Bluffs and transformed it into an industrial complex designed to support one of the greatest scientific experiments of modern time. Because of the uncertainties surrounding the emerging technologies and the dangers associated with failure, site facilities were grouped into operational clusters separated by vast stretches of open space. Six reactor compounds were constructed along the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, four chemical separation complexes were situated on the interior central plateau, while the fuel manufacturing structures were placed adjacent to the Columbia River above Richland (Figure 1).

Primary site operations included: Fuel Manufacturing, Fuel Irradiation, Chemical Separation, and Plutonium Finishing. Each function required both operations and support facilities. Each also required administrative, security, and health support. This structural redundancy was a hedge against failure in any one unit. A communications, transportation, and utilities infrastructure was established to connect all operations.

Problems encountered while operations were ongoing were resolved through research and development. This R&D function also found ways to improve procedures and guard worker health by anticipating potential problems. Solutions often required technical and/or operational adjustments. Facilities were altered or new facilities were built accordingly. Over the 40 years of its operational life, Hanford absorbed these changes within the industrial landscape. The buildings and structures remaining on the Hanford Site now are the cumulative legacy of the Manhattan Project and Cold War Era.