Section 6

The 300 Area occupies approximately 1.5 square miles or 960 acres in the southeastern portion of the Hanford Site along the west bank of the Columbia River, approximately 7 1/2 miles north of the center of Richland. In March 1943, construction of a fuel fabrication complex was started in the 300 Area to support reactor fuel fabrication and other production activities. As the area that manufactured the uranium fuel that allowed reactors to operate, the 300 Area housed the first essential step in the plutonium production process. Since the 300 Areas fuel fabrication activities were the least likely of the production processes to experience a serious accident, it was considered safe enough to be located near populated areas (Richland). Nuclear fuel in the form of pipe-like cylinders (fuel slugs) was fabricated from metallic uranium shipped in from off-Site production facilities. Metallic uranium was extruded into the proper shape and encapsulated in aluminum or zirconium cladding. The fuel slugs were transported to the 100 Area reactors for irradiation.

Besides the location of Hanfords uranium fuel fabrication plants, and much of the Sites research and development (R & D) activities, the 300 Area was also the site of chemical process laboratories, test reactors, and numerous ancillary/support structures associated with the above facilities. In the early 1950s, construction of R & D facilities accelerated in the 300 Area. In the 1960s, new laboratories were constructed and R & D activities expanded to handle the increase in defense and energy research. In the 1970s, additional support and laboratory facilities were constructed for energy research, waste management, biological sciences, and environmental sciences.

The 100 Areas nine plutonium production reactors (Piles) and their ancillary/support facilities were designed and constructed along the south shore of the Columbia River. The Pile Areas had to be laid out close to the river because large quantities of water were required to dissipate the heat generated during reactor operations. Fabricated fuel slugs were shipped by rail from the 300 Area to the 100 Area reactors for irradiation. Due to the dangers inherent in the irradiation of uranium fuel elements, the essential second step in the plutonium production process, the reactors were situated as far as possible (approximately 30 miles) from Richland.

Reactor Siting

Each of the first six reactors was located in an area one square mile in size and separated approximately one to three miles from one another, a distance thought adequate enough to prevent operational difficulties in one area from affecting another. It was thought that this siting requirement would minimize the effects of an explosion or act of sabotage at one reactor from adversely affecting other 100 Area facilities.

While each 100 Area production facility was designed as a self-contained, functional unit, completely independent of the others, each production reactor was functionally dependent on the two other processing Areas (200 and 300 Areas).

Each 100 Area was designed virtually identical (except 100 N). In addition to the reactor buildings, each 100 Area had in common a retention basin, pump house, chemical and gas storage facilities, water purification facilities, river pump houses and reservoirs, filter plants, power houses, water treatment plants, water tanks, main pumphouse, electrical substations, waste processing, change houses, warehouses, maintenance shops, oil and gas storage facilities, patrol headquarters and badge houses, first aid stations, offices and water chemistry laboratories.

Temporary construction (TC) structures were used in the 100 B, D, and F Areas. TC facilities included construction offices and shops, storage buildings and yards, electric power distribution facilities, water pumping and transmission facilities, and commuting facilities.

Irradiation Process

The main component of the nuclear reactors consisted of a large stack (pile) of graphite blocks that had tubes and pipes running through it. The tubes were receptacles for the fuel slugs (fabricated in the 300 Area) while the pipes carried water to cool the graphite pile. The first eight reactors, constructed between 1944 and 1955, used water from the Columbia River for direct cooling. The ninth reactor, N Reactor, was completed in 1963 and was a slightly different design. Purified water was recirculated through the reactor core in a closed-loop cooling system. N Reactor also had the capability of generating steam for the production of electricity. N Reactor operated with a safer, negative void efficient while the single pass reactors had a positive void coefficient.

During the irradiation process fresh fuel slugs were pushed into the front face of the reactors graphite pile. After the irradiation of the fuel slugs, they were forced out in the rear into a deep pool of water called a fuel storage basin. After a brief period of storage in the basins, the irradiated fuel slugs were transported by rail to the 200 Areas where the plutonium was recovered. Most of the irradiated fuel produced at N Reactor from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s was, however, transported to the 100 K East and West fuel basins for temporary storage.

200 East and 200 West are located on a plateau in the center of the Hanford Site seven and five miles, respectively, south of the Columbia River, approximately twenty miles north of Richland. The 200 Areas, the location of the chemical separations (processing) plants and their ancillary/support facilities, functioned as the third crucial step in the nuclear process at Hanford.

The 200 Areas were designed to contain all the process facilities used in the separation, isolation, storage and shipment of plutonium. The 200 Areas provided storage for irradiated fuel rods awaiting chemical dissolution, and the processing of the finished product (plutonium nitrate) awaiting shipment to the MED installation at Los Alamos, New Mexico. The hazardous nature of 200 Area separations activities made it undesirable to concentrate these buildings in one process area; so the MED designated 200 North, East and West process areas.

Certain storage buildings were segregated (in 200 N) and the production capacity divided (between 200 East and West). The distances required between Areas made a large tract necessary. The sites selected lay in the intervening valley between the Rattlesnake Hills, Gable Mountain, and Gable Butte with the latter two providing a natural barricade between the 100 and 200 Process Areas (DuPont Vol. 4, 1945: 812).

The separations plants (canyon buildings) received and dissolved irradiated fuel then separated out the plutonium. Principal fuel-reprocessing plants in 200 East were PUREX and B Plant. The principal chemical processing facilities in 200 West were U, REDOX, and T Plants. The recovered plutonium was received at several facilities that were collectively known as the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP), or Z Plant, in 200 West. PFP converted the plutonium nitrate into plutonium metal blanks or buttons. (Prior to PFP, plutonium nitrate was converted into metal blanks or buttons only at Los Alamos.)

The separation plants were placed approximately two miles apart from each other, while the 200 Areas were situated four miles apart. Each 200 Area was provided with its own water supply system, steam plant and other service facilities to permit independent operation.

The 200 North Area, completely different in design and function from 200 East and West Areas, operated during the Manhattan Project to store the irradiated fuel rods after their removal from the reactors but before chemical processing, to store the finished product before it was shipped to Los Alamos, and to store the empty storage cans that were returned from Los Alamos awaiting refill.

Other determinants that influenced the siting of the 200 Areas in the central plateau area had to do with its distance above the water table. The water table is approximately 240 feet below the surface of the central plateau, whereas, the 100 Areas are situated 50-75 feet above the water table. While processing facilities in the 200 Area were built atop the same permeable gravels as the production reactors, sediments underlying the 200 Areas were finer, and less permeable to liquids. Thus, there was less chance of contamination of the groundwater in the 200 Area (Carpenter 1996).

400 Area

The 400 Area consists of the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) complex, the largest test reactor on-Site, which includes the reactor and containment structure, and various utilities and ancillary/support facilities. The complex array of buildings, equipment and roads are arranged in a traditional grid around the Reactor Containment (405) Building. This special nuclear reactor was designed primarily for testing breeder and coolant technology, and to test various types of nuclear fuel. Similar to the 100, 200 and 300 Areas, the 400 Area contains support facilities that provided administrative, security, health and safety, utility and maintenance, communications, waste treatment and environmental monitoring services.

500, 800, and 900 Areas

These three areas are not geographical areas but consist of electrical, pipeline and sewage outlets and facilities found throughout the Site. These areas are addressed in the associated historic context, The Manhattan Project and Cold War Eras, Plutonium Production at the Hanford Site, Washington, 1942-1990.

600 Area

The 600 Area is comprised of facilities that served more than one specific area, including health and safety and environmental monitoring facilities, such as radar and utility/communication towers and structures, Site security, military defense, and fire suppression facilities.

Included in the construction of the HEW are a number of facilities which serve more than one specific area and in cases, such as roads and railroads, serve the entire Project. For this reason they have been designated as 600 Area Buildings and Facilities, and are not confined to a single location ... (DuPont Vol. IV, 1945: 1085).

The initial step in organizing the 600 Area for construction began during March, 1943, when a Division engineer was assigned to handle all construction work for that Area. Layout for intra-Area roads and railroads was prepared by the Wilmington Design Division (DuPont Vol. IV, 1945: 1089). Due to the widespread locations of construction for the Plant and the volume and types of materials involved, railroads were an important method of transportation. Existing tracks were upgraded to accommodate the anticipated heavy use during the Manhattan Project, and additional tracks were added during the post-World War II era. During the Cold War period existing roads were widened and new roads built to handle the expanded uses and missions of the Hanford Site.

Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) and Nike Missile Sites

The 600 Area was the location of AAA sites and Nike missile installations that provided air defense of the Hanford Site during the 1950s and early 60s. The most intact of the 16 AAA sites are five installations situated along Army Loop Road and on 200 East Hill. Extant resources include the remains of (doughnut-shaped) revetments and other sandbagged/cobblestone structures.

The internal layout of the AAA sites reflected a standard military arrangement of facilities separated by function. Four semi-circular artillery placements (revetments) were arranged in a square plan separate from the rest of the installation. The more permanent concrete structures were situated in a rectangular grid that included barracks, latrines, mess halls, recreation halls, motor pools, administrative and radar facilities. Each site typically had a small arms range, a water storage cistern, and sanitary/sewage waste facilities. The site facilities were connected by pathways/sidewalks, roadways, and parking lots.

Between 1955 and 1961, Nike Ajax and Hercules missiles were deployed by the U. S. Army at four locations on the Hanford Site, three on the North Slope and one on the Fitzner-Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology (ALE) Reserve. Of the four Nike missile launch sites and radar control sites (that replaced the AAA emplacements in the mid-1950s), only the Nike launch and radar control site (H-52 C & H-52 L) on the ALE Reserve remains intact.

The buildings and structures at each Nike site were organized into two separate installations: the battery control area and launch area. Launch area batteries contained motor pools, generator buildings, acid pits, missile refueling areas, missile assembly buildings, maintenance facilities, administrative, housing, and recreation facilities. More importantly, the launch areas contained the underground missile storage magazines and launch equipment, including buildings used for the testing and servicing of missiles. The main function of the launch areas was to maintain missile batteries in a combat-ready posture that required the storage, handling, and disposal not only of missile components and propellants but also of solvents, fluids, fuels, and other materials required for a variety of support functions. The battery control areas contained all the radar, guidance, electronic, and communications equipment needed to identify incoming targets, launch missiles, and direct and guide missiles in flight to intercept enemy aircraft.

H-52 C, the former battery control area, is located at the top of Rattlesnake Mountain, while H-52 L, the associated launching area, is situated at the base of the mountain. The location of the control areas had to be between a minimum of one-half mile and a maximum of three miles from the launch area. The minimum distance was determined by the maximum tracking capability in elevation of the missile tracking radar, and the maximum distance by practical considerations of providing communication by cables (Carlson and Lyon n.d., n.p.).

While the spatial arrangement of the buildings/structures in each launch and control area was site-specific, with no standard layout plans, the H 52 L launch area was divided into two separate zones or areas for functional and safety reasons: one area included administrative, mess hall, residential, and recreational facilities, the other included the underground missile storage, missile refueling, missile assembly and testing, fuel storage, and generator facilities. The H 52 C control center at the top of Rattlesnake combined administrative, radar, and barracks functions in one building.

While some Nike sites nationwide had designated separate areas for housing from the two operating areas, Hanfords H-52 installation had barracks in both the launch and control areas (McMaster 1984: 4-1, 4-4).

1100 and 3000 Areas

The 1100 and 3000 Areas are located near the Site in North Richland. The 1100 Area includes Site support services such as general stores, shipping, receiving, transportation maintenance and contractors offices.

Established during World War II, the 3000 Area was originally the site of a camp that housed Hanford Site construction personnel and military police. After the war, the 3000 Area became part of the North Richland Construction Camp. The establishment of the U. S. Armys Camp Hanford in North Richland in 1951 included the acquisition of most of the 3000 Area and the Construction Camp. Today, the 3000 area includes thirteen former Camp Hanford industrial facilities and seven buildings/structures (excluding mobile offices and trailers) constructed during the post-Camp Hanford period.

Camp Hanford consisted of commercial, administrative, industrial, medical, recreational and residential facilities. The residential cantonment included repetitive rows of barracks, a trailer park and Bremerton prefabricated housing. The symmetrical layout of the camp, with its grid of 700-800 series temporary construction (TC) Army buildings, was similar to World War II cantonments.

The physical layout of the industrial section of Camp Hanford was not as regimented in design compared to the residential, commercial and administrative areas of the cantonment. While most of the cantonment was designed along a traditional military grid, the buildings in the industrial section were laid out in a modified grid. Camp Hanfords disparate industrial functions, and the constant removal and addition of buildings and structures, dictated a variety of construction styles/designs and placement in the industrial area.

Industrial sections of military installations consist of a variety of architectural styles reflective of the numerous functions performed. The layout and design of the Camp Hanford industrial area was influenced by the numerous modification of area buildings/structures to accommodate rapid technological advances and changing support uses/Site missions. Many of the extant, wood and steel frame Camp Hanford industrial facilities/warehouses, however, have similar construction characteristics.

6.2.2 Industrial Vernacular Architecture

The Hanford Site is an evolving industrial vernacular landscape whose layout and design has been shaped by the variety of functional uses and changing Site missions. Function plays a significant role in industrial vernacular landscapes, reflective of the type of utilitarian facilities constructed. In the case of Hanford this includes buildings/structures in the designed production Areas, roads and railroads, and communication and utility/electrical facilities.

Vernacular architecture is defined as buildings/structures, such as Hanfords industrial facilities, not classified as high-style architecture. Vernacular architecture often refers to local adaptations of wide-spread, high-style architectural forms. More specifically, vernacular architecture has been a catch-all term for the study of kinds of buildings neglected by traditional architectural history, ... and the study of vernacular architecture is sometimes regarded as a poor relation by mainstream architectural historians (Rydell 1985: 401).

Hanfords Manhattan Project/Cold War era landscape reflects unembellished industrial architecture, devoid of nonessential decorative elements and ornamentation. The design of Hanfords industrial utilitarian buildings is an vernacular adaptation of the International/Modernist style, an architectural expression of aesthetic functionalism that gained popularity during the post-World War II era. In this environment, a building was beautiful to the degree that it was functional (Teague 1940: 15, 54). Thus, Hanfords industrial vernacular facilities can be categorized under architect Louis Sullivans famous maxim, that form ever follow function (Sullivan 1896: 403-409).

Although there were numerous factors that influenced the physical characteristics of Hanfords facilities, functional considerations were the primary determinants of the design features and layout of Hanfords facilities. While functional considerations influenced the basic architectural and Site design characteristics, the layout and construction of the Hanford Engineer Works (HEW) was also reflective of the federal governments desire for cost-effective, wartime mobilization. As with other World War II military installations, speed of design and construction was of the utmost necessity.

Since the end of World War II industrial and laboratory facilities at Hanford have been subjected to numerous internal and external modifications to accommodate technological changes, mission/scientific changes and objectives, and expansion of plutonium production and non-defense facilities. These changes have had a significant effect upon Site design and layout, and have also influenced construction designs, building materials used and variations of industrial vernacular architecture applied.

6.2.3 Construction Design, Styles, and Materials

Hanfords built environment reflected industrial and utilitarian functions over aesthetic concerns, not only in the design and layout of the Sites production Areas but also in the design of individual buildings and construction materials used. Functional, unadorned concrete and steel were the most commonly used materials at Hanford.

Common Construction Materials

Concrete is a name applied to any number of compositions consisting of sand, gravel, crushed stone, or other coarse material, bound together with various kinds of cementitious materials, such as lime or cements. Concrete is a combination of aggregate, of which sand is always a part, together with gravel, stone chippings, or crushed slag, and lime or cement to bind the aggregate (Coney n.d.). Various concrete applications include (Coney n.d.):

Unreinforced concrete: a composite material containing aggregates held together by a cement with water to form a paste, and gets its name from the fact that it does not have any iron or steel reinforcing bars.

Reinforced concrete: concrete strengthened by the inclusion of metal bars, which increases the tensile strength of the concrete.

Precast concrete: concrete that is cast and hardened away from the building site and then put in place in the building as a rigid component.

Cast-in-place concrete: concrete poured on-site into a previously erected framework that is removed after the concrete has set.

Corrugated (galvanized steel panel) metal is a lightweight, ribbed metal cladding that is manufactured by rolling continuous flat sheets of lightweight steel or aluminum into ribbed profiles (Architecture 1995: 119).

One of the reasons for choosing Hanford as a Manhattan Project site was that sufficient aggregate would be available locally to provide enough concrete for Site construction needs. Concrete was the most extensively used material in the construction of the Hanford Site. One of the early construction actions of the Manhattan Project at Hanford was to develop two aggregate sources on the Hanford Site. The concrete was transported from the mixing plants to the buildings by concrete pumps and by transit-mix trucks.

The amount of concrete used during the Manhattan Project was substantial. More than 780,000 cubic yards of concrete were used, an amount that equals approximately 390 miles of concrete highway 20 feet wide by 6 inches thick. About 1,500,000 concrete blocks and 750,000 cement bricks were used in the plant construction or sufficient to build one foot by six foot wall over 30 miles long (DuPont 1945).

The urgent nature of the Manhattan Project at Hanford dictated an emphasis on speed and functionalism, which translated into a preference for flat roof, concrete box-like structures over more traditional architectural forms. The exterior walls exhibited minimal non-functional ornamentation. Their steel skeletons allowed the construction of non-loadbearing exterior walls made mainly of concrete. While Hanfords industrial concrete structures lack artificial symmetrical features, they do express a sense of architectural balance and functional regularity.

Temporary Construction Facilities

Because of the emphasis on speed and cost-efficiency during the Manhattan Project, temporary construction (TC) facilities were constructed in large numbers on the Hanford Site. Many of the TC facilities are still extant. To accomplish speedy and low cost construction, standard design and assembly-line construction were adopted and used throughout the major portion of TC work performed at Hanford. In assembly-line construction, all materials for a certain building or group of similar buildings (barracks, bathhouses) were prefabricated at the various craft shops and then sent to the building site for erection and installation. Modified versions of the Navys 800 series B-2 barracks were used extensively at Hanford to house construction workers at the Hanford townsite construction camp and the Hanford Engineers Works (Richland) Village. A considerable number of these barracks were later moved to the 100, 200 and 300 Areas for use as offices and other administrative purposes.

Prefabricated Units

To accommodate the larger-than expected work load during the Manhattan Project, and for speed and cost-efficiency, prefabricated units were shipped to Hanford for a wide variety of construction uses. All the process areas had prefabricated huts that included the Hobbs Pacific huts and the Butler Nisson type huts. Pacific huts were used mainly for barracks, commercial facilities, and offices at the Hanford construction camp. The larger Butler Nisson huts were used as special storage warehouses, especially in the 200, 300 and 1100 areas. The smaller Nisson huts were used for offices, warehouses and small shops in most areas. Generally, Butler-type buildings are metal structures composed of premanufactured sides and roofs, constructed of corrugated metal or sheet metal and bolted steel, commonly resting on a poured concrete slab.

Other prefabricated units were transferred from government projects and used principally for field offices and warehouses, which included Quonset huts. Quonset huts, still in use in the 200, 300, and 400 Areas, are prefabricated units constructed of semi-cylindrical roof of galvanized corrugated sheet metal attached to metal purlins supported by steel ribs. Hook bolts with nuts and washers connected the purlins to the ribs. The semicircular ends of the building were of board and batten construction. The windows and flooring were constructed of wood.

Three general types of permanent building construction were initially used in the 100 Areas: reinforced mass concrete, structural steel framing together with concrete block and/or reinforced concrete, and wood frame (DuPont Vol. 3, 1945: 652). Common materials and stylistic features used in the 100 Area during the entire Manhattan Project/Cold War era included concrete foundations and flooring, corrugated and shingled transite siding, concrete block walls, corrugated metal/pressed steel siding and roofing, wood and steel framing, flat pre-cast concrete roofs covered with tar and gravel surfacing or composition shingles, and corrugated roll up industrial metal doors or double leaf, single panel wood doors.

During the Manhattan Project, aggregate borrow pits and concrete plants were used for construction resources in the 100 Areas, as sand and gravel deposits were found immediately underlying the surface. Two aggregate barrow pits were opened in the 100 B Area for temporary and permanent road construction and stabilization work. No aggregate barrow pits were excavated in the 100 D and 100 F Areas. Concrete aggregate was shipped to the 100 B Area by rail and truck from the Haven gravel pit located approximately 1/2 mile west of the 100 B Area. Concrete aggregate from the Haven and the Hanford gravel pits furnished the 100 D and F Areas. The Haven pit was capable of producing 9600 tons of concrete aggregate daily. The Hanford gravel pit located just west of Hanford proper was capable of producing 14,832 tons of concrete aggregate daily (DuPont Vol. 3, 1945: 650).

The concrete mixing plant was erected in the immediate vicinity of the 105 building in each of the 100 B and F Areas by the Hanford contractors to furnish ready-mixed concrete for construction. Since a sizable portion of concrete yardage was concentrated at the 105 building and the 185, 189 and 190 building group, a Pumpcrete method (e.g. concrete mix pumped through pipes) of placing concrete from a central pumping plant was used. Concrete was accepted by Dupont at the mix plant and was placed by the various methods with labor furnished by Dupont (DuPont Vol. 3, 1945: 651).

The availability of prepared concrete materials expanded at Hanford during the post-World War II period. In the 100 H Area the bulk of the concrete was prepared in the central mixing plant erected within the H Area; some amounts were also furnished from the White Bluffs plant.

Reactor Area Construction

The graphite-moderated production reactors (except 105 N) had similar design and construction features. The use of graphite as a moderator, cylindrical uranium metal fuel in the horizontal process tubes, and light water as a coolant were common to all the Hanford production reactors. Core sizes, operating conditions, primary coolant loop configurations and some minor design features varied slightly among the reactors. Because of the wartime need for speed, almost no design variations were permitted. Slight differences in reactor layout and design, however, occurred among the first generation reactors. The 105 C Reactor building, completed in 1952, was similar to 105 B (completed in 1944) except that 105 C had a larger L-shaped building size and the Area layout of the buildings was different. The siting of C Reactor adjacent to the 100 B Area was to take advantage of the pumphouse and water treatment facilities already existing for B Reactor. 105 H also had variations in layout and design from 105 B. 100 DR, which stood for 100 D replacement, was completed in 1949 and designed as a replacement for 100 D. D Reactor was thought to be nearing the end of its effective operational life in the late 1940s due to growth and distortion of its core graphite.

It was subsequently determined that the graphite distortion in 100 D could be controlled; both reactors would operate simultaneously. This required the construction of a separate water treatment plant for 100 DR, including modifications and additions to the river pumphouse, powerhouse, and gas recirculation facilities as well as the water treatment plants (Carpenter 1993: 2-3).

The reactors are categorized into three generations. The first generation reactors were the small, single-pass reactors built during and shortly after the Manhattan Project: B, D, F, DR, H and C Reactors. The construction of the three Manhattan Project reactors (B, D, F) was only the second time that pumped concrete had been used in a major construction project. (The Grand Coulee Dam was the first.) The first reactors were designed for a power level of 250 MW. After some operating experience, it was realized the power level could be raised provided adequate cooling was supplied to the fuel. The K Reactors constituted the second generation of reactors. They were substantially larger, with a thermal power output 7.2 times as high at the design level. The Hanford N Reactor was a third generation reactor. It was a dual purpose reactor capable of isotope and power production, and had a recirculating primary cooling system. The emphasis of N Reactors design was on safety, plutonium production, and the use of byproduct steam for electric power generation. The single-pass reactors were all shutdown in the time period from 1964 to 1971, and N Reactor went into cold standby status in 1988.

The cladding of the 105 Reactor buildings was consistent. Reinforced concrete shielding walls and corrugated asbestos cement siding were commonly used. Roof construction, except for reinforced concrete slabs over the Inner Rod Room and rear face enclosure, was poured insulated concrete. The ceilings were constructed of laminated gypsum board. The roof is cast concrete over the discharge area. The roofs were composed of precast concrete roof tile, except over the discharge area enclosure and the inner horizontal rod room. Over these areas the roofs were composed of 6 foot thick reinforced concrete. The massive reinforced concrete walls around the reactor core at the lower levels provide additional radiation shielding.

The reactors rested on 23 foot thick concrete foundations topped with cast iron blocks that served as a thermal shield. The walls consisted of reinforced concrete in the lower portions and concrete block in the upper portions, varying from 3 to 5 feet thick. The graphite cores were surrounded by a cast iron thermal shield layer. The entire thermal shield was surrounded on all sides (except the bottom) by a 52-inch thick biological shield that consisted of alternate layers of masonite and steel.

Five general types of building construction were initially used in the 200 Areas: reinforced mass concrete, structural steel frame and concrete block, reinforced concrete frame and concrete block, structural steel frame and wood siding, and wood frame. Common materials and stylistic features used in the 200 Area during the entire Manhattan Project/Cold War era included concrete foundations and flooring, corrugated and shingled transite siding, concrete block walls, corrugated metal/pressed steel siding and roofing, wood and steel framing, flat, precast concrete roofs covered with tar and gravel surfacing or composition shingles, and corrugated roll up metal doors or double leaf, single panel wood doors.

Since large quantities of concrete were needed in the construction of Manhattan Project era buildings, local sources of concrete aggregates were used for cost and speed reasons, especially in the construction of the 200 Area canyon or separations buildings. The Manhattan Project separation buildings (U, T, B Plants), massive reinforced concrete structures, measure over 800 feet long, 65 feet wide, and 80 feet high. Because of the radioactivity present during the separation process, the concrete walls surrounding the separation cells were constructed seven feet thick to provide necessary protective shielding. Cell covers were constructed of removable, six-foot thick concrete blocks.

The Cold War period Reduction-Oxidation (REDOX) Processing Plant, like the other canyon or separations buildings, is a monolithic, rectangular (467 feet by 161 feet by 82 feet high), flat roof structure constructed almost entirely of concrete. Built in 1952, REDOX and its chemical separation process was chosen to replace the bismuth phosphate process employed at B and T Plants.

As with other canyon buildings, its process equipment is contained in small rooms, called cells, which are arranged in rows in an area spanned by a traveling crane. The cells are topped with 4-foot concrete blocks that are removable by crane to provide access to the cell beneath...Heavy concrete shielding walls ... are up to the level of the crane rails, giving the appearance of a canyon ... From a process view point, the REDOX facility is divided into a canyon area and a silo area. The canyon consists of nine process cells arranged in two parallel rows running east to west and separated by a pipe tunnel. The five-foot thick concrete shielding walls protected REDOX workers from the intense radiation found in the process cells. The silo, located on the west end of the building is 84 feet by 41 feet by 132 feet high and contains a process area and an operating area. Its extraction column shaft is 12 feet by 69 feet by 86 feet high and has eight floor levels (DeFord and Carpenter 1995: 2-1).

The Cold War era Plutonium-Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant was a concrete, rectangular-shaped facility measuring 1005 feet long, 104 feet high (with approximately 40 feet below grade), and 61.5 wide. The shielding capacity of the concrete was designed so that personnel in non-regulated service areas would not receive radiation in excess of 0.1 millirem per hour. The Plants main canyon portion was approximately 860 feet long. The reinforced concrete cell cover blocks were fabricated outside the 202 A (PUREX) Building prior to installation (Gerber 1993d: 2, 3).

The 234-5Z Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP), or Z Plant, is 180 feet wide by 500 feet long, extending 9.5 feet below grade to 46.8 feet above grade.

The frame is of structural steel with an outer sheathing of aluminum panels over rock wool insulation and 16-gauge sheet steel. The first floor is concrete slab; the duct level is sheet metal roof decking, and the second level is a concrete slab. The roof is insulated metal decking. Interior walls are reinforced concrete steel, metal studs, metal lath, and plaster. The vault and process area doors are constructed of steel ... (Gerber 1995).

Construction features and materials of the 200 Area are similar to those used in the other production areas. Due to the 200 Areas chemical separations function, however, the Manhattan Project/early Cold War facilities used considerable amounts of concrete material, minimal windows, symmetrical plans, and foundations constructed of poured concrete or of reinforced concrete piers with spread footings. Floors, walls and ceilings were made of reinforced concrete or concrete block. Roofs were likewise constructed of reinforced concrete and covered with built-up felt, tar and gravel material.

Except for wood framing in the Manhattan Project administrative/non-production facilities, most of the smaller, non-chemical separations buildings were constructed of structural steel framing with outer sheaths of aluminum panels, corrugated metal, or transite shingles. Some roofs were constructed of insulated metal decking. Interior walls are made of sheetrock/plasterboard, reinforced concrete or general plaster covering. Early wood frame facilities had symmetrical features with repetitive, multipane, industrial-style windows, and gable roofs. Cladding consisted of corrugated metal or transite/asbestos shingles over original horizontal wood siding.

The layout of the 300 Area consists of three distinct zones. The northern area or zone has had minimal building development, consisting mainly of waste sites such as trenches, ponds, and burial grounds. The central 300 Area has a congested network of infrastructure systems and Manhattan Project and early/middle Cold War era facilities. There has been minimal infrastructure and building/structural development in the south portion of the 300 Area. The south portion, lacking a grid design, is a sprawling landscape of parking lots, mobile offices/trailers and several buildings/structures that date from the late Cold War era to the post-1990 period.

The original layout of the 300 Area was concentrated in a traditional grid pattern in the central zone and northwest corner of the 300 Area. Today, the roads within the 300 Area run in a broken grid pattern; the north-south are named for states and the east-west roads are named for trees. These roads travel a short distance, and newer structures commonly encroach on right-of-ways in the north end of the Area. Liquid wastes were transported via tanker truck over the Site roads until the 1980s. Approximately 2.1 miles of railroad track is within the 300 Area. The rail system transported coal to the power house, uranium fuel to the 100 Areas, solid waste to burial grounds, and equipment and materials involved with R & D programs.

Common Construction Materials and Features

Three general types of construction were initially used in the 300 Area: reinforced mass concrete, structural steel framing together with concrete blocks and/or reinforced concrete and wood frame. Some of the Manhattan Project and early Cold War buildings were of wood frame construction, with symmetrical rectangular plans, transite shingle or corrugated metal cladding (over original wood siding), gable roofs, and repetitive, industrial style fenestration. During the entire Manhattan Project/Cold War era, however, most of the 300 Area facilities were constructed of concrete, with steel frames, asymmetrical features, flat roofs, and corrugated metal cladding.

Most of the early buildings/structures were situated in the 300 Area by function/proximity to fuel fabrication/uranium production and laboratory facilities. Buildings such as the 313 Fuel Manufacturing Support Facility, 314 Press Building, 305 Test Pile, 305 B Engineering Development Lab Annex, and 3706 Radiochemistry Lab were sited in close proximity to one another. But as the size of the 300 Area expanded and its mission diversified, research, laboratory and fuel fabrication facilities were mixed among storage buildings, shops, administrative buildings, health, security and safety facilities, and environmental monitoring structures.

Industrial buildings from the 1940s were constructed mainly of poured concrete, reinforced concrete blocks and steel framing. Non-manufacturing facilities, like Manhattan Project era administrative facilities (e.g., Buildings 3702, 3703), were of wood frame construction, with gable roofs, symmetrical, rectangular plans, repetitive double hung sash windows, swamp coolers, and horizontal wood or asbestos transite shingled siding.

By the early 1950s, 300 Area building construction had adopted additional asymmetrical design features. Framing for the most part was concrete and steel framing, and cladding was metal panel, asbestos transite shingles, corrugated transite or corrugated metal. By the 1970s and 1980s, new buildings, especially in the central and southern part of the 300 Area, were rectangular shaped, steel and wood framed, with a single story and aggregate pebble/stucco siding over plywood sheathing. Many of these facilities were prefabricated units, mainly for office and laboratory use, with premanufactured sidings and roofs constructed of fluted metal panels, sheet metal, or corrugated metal.

High-Style Architectural Forms

While the vast majority of 300 Area buildings are industrial vernacular structures, several of the facilities in the 300 Area exhibit high-style architectural features. They include:

Brutalism: Buildings 337/337 B, and certain features of Building 331, exhibit the architectural characteristics of Brutalism. The term comes from the French Breton Brut, meaning rough or untreated concrete. The goal of this style is an honesty in structural, spatial, organizational and material concepts that result in buildings characterized as rude and ruthless, where the scale or relation of mass and detail to human beings is often referred to as brutal. The distinguishing characteristics of the style, which experienced its peak popularity from the years 1955 to 1970, include (Kirk 1996):

concrete exposed at its roughest

exaggerated structural members

raw and unfinished simple materials

formalist (building forms clearly express their function)

grand scale

exposed mechanical systems, ducts, pipes

Art Deco/Art Moderne: The architecture of Building 3760, the Hanford Technical Library, is a vernacular adaptation of Art Deco/Art Moderne features and styles. These features include a projecting concrete entrance/frontispiece, its symmetrical design highlighted by parallel concrete piers/pilasters. Strong, decorative horizontal banding is expressed in the repetitive fenestration (ribbon window) on the front facade. Other Art Deco/Moderne elements include the buildings angular, hard-edged form, simplified and streamlined, with a modified front facade setback.

400 Area

Similar to the post-1970 facilities in the 300 Area, the primary materials used in the construction of the 400 Area (FFTF complex) buildings included extensive applications of concrete, textured concrete facades, steel framing, fluted metal panels, sheet metal, and corrugated metal. Premanufactured construction materials were used in the bolted steel, Butler-style buildings in the 400 Area. Several of the wood or steel frame, flat roof buildings have fluted concrete block walls or exterior finishes of stucco fascia material/aggregate stucco over plywood sheathing, with tar and gravel built-up roof coverings.

The FFTF includes the reactor, heat removal equipment and structures, containment, core component, handling and examination, instrumentation and control, and utilities and other essential services. The complex array of buildings and equipment are arranged around Building 405, the Reactor Containment Building (Mayancsik 1988: 1-1). The Containment Building, which houses the reactor and plant operating equipment, is a cylindrical carbon steel shell. Steel-lined reinforced concrete cells occupy the lower portion of the Containment Building, from grade level to approximately 78 feet below grade...A structural steel mezzanine above the operating perimeter provides additional work area ... A 200-ton polar gantry crane and a jib crane are located above the mezzanine for handling large equipment and materials. The central portion of the operating floor is occupied by a steel operating deck (Mayancsik 1988: 1-8).

The adjacent 403 Fuel Storage Facility has a below-ground cell that contains a carbon steel storage vessel 21 feet in diameter that provides storage of the FFTF spent fuel assemblies in liquid sodium.

The 400 Area Fuels and Materials Examination Facility (FMEF) (427 Building) was designed beginning in the mid-1970s and constructed during the early 1980s as a major addition to the breeder technology development program at the Hanford Site. Typical of the industrial, asymmetrical, flat roof facilities in the FFTF complex, the 427 Building is a poured concrete building, 175 feet by 270 feet by 98 feet high. The building also extends 35 feet below grade, and has a total of 188,000 square feet of operations space. It is divided into six operating floors with an attached Mechanical Equipment Wing on the west side, and an Entry Wing known as the 4862 Building (Gerber 1995b).

600 Area

The thirteen Nike period buildings/structures at the H-52 L launch site, including the underground missile storage facility, are constructed mainly of concrete. Common stylistic features and construction materials include one story, flat roof, concrete block structures erected on concrete footings and on-grade concrete floor slabs. Wood or metal, multipane, double hung sash windows, or fixed sash and glass block windows, are symmetrically placed. Roofs are constructed of wooden joists covered with wood sheathing and built-up cover of tar and gravel. Smaller support facilities (water pumping, sewage, storage) are either concrete block or wood frame, flat or shed roofs, with minimal windows and metal doors. Built-up dirt and grass berms are evident in the fueling and missile maintenance and assembly areas for safety protection purposes. Only the concrete underground missile storage facility has minimal surface manifestations; the only visible parts are the two entrance doors, set in mounds of earth covering the concrete superstructure. Concrete pads cover the former missile firing area.

Other 600 Area facilities include fire stations, atmospheric and environmental monitoring facilities, and weather station structures. The wood and steel frame buildings have mainly flat roofs, and are constructed of concrete block walls with horizontal wood siding, while the weather and environmental monitoring (meteorology) towers and radar facilities are constructed of steel and set in poured concrete slabs. The 213 J and K magazine storage facilities, which stored purified plutonium nitrate paste, contaminated sodium, and soil samples for fallout studies, are constructed of massive reinforced concrete. The remaining 600 Area facilities are Butler-type, storage/support function buildings, constructed of bolted steel and corrugated sheet metal.

3000 Area

The 3000 Area is the site of thirteen former Camp Hanford industrial buildings and seven buildings/structures (excluding mobile offices and trailers) constructed during the post-Camp Hanford period. The extant Camp Hanford industrial facilities/warehouses/shops, built during the mid-1950s, have similar construction characteristics and styles. These elements include rectangular plans, wood and steel frames and trusses, repetitive multipane industrial windows, corrugated roll up metal doors in symmetrically placed bays, transite shingled and vertical board cladding, flat or slightly pitched gabled roofs, and concrete floors and foundations.

The post-Camp Hanford period buildings consist mainly of bolted steel, Butler-type buildings with corrugated metal cladding and roofing set on poured concrete foundations. Other structures are metal framed with gable roofs and vertical board cladding. A couple of the Camp Hanford era buildings have been extensively modified with stucco siding and fixed-pane tinted windows.

6.3 Associated Property Types

6.3.1 Associated Property Type: Industrial Vernacular Landscape, Site Facilities and Construction Materials

Description: Hanfords Manhattan Project/Cold War era landscape reflects unembellished industrial architecture, devoid of nonessential decorative elements and ornamentation. Hanfords functional, utilitarian architecture is an vernacular expression of the International, Modernist style that gained popularity during the post-World War II period. Hanfords built environment exhibits industrial and functional/utilitarian characteristics over aesthetic concerns, not only in the design and layout of the Sites process areas but also in the type of buildings constructed and construction materials used.

Subtype: Concrete

Description: Functional, unadorned concrete was the most commonly used material in the construction of Hanfords production areas. Concrete is the term applied to any number of compositions consisting of sand, gravel, crushed stone, or other coarse material, bound together with various kinds of cementitious materials. Types of concrete applications included reinforced mass concrete, reinforced concrete, concrete block, reinforced concrete frame construction, and poured concrete slabs.

Detailed below are the uses of concrete in the individual process areas.

During the Manhattan Project, aggregate barrow pits and concrete plants were used for construction resources in the 100 Areas, as sand and gravel deposits were found immediately underlying the surface. For example, two aggregate barrow pits were opened in the 100 B Area for temporary and permanent road construction and stabilization work.

Extensive amounts of concrete were used in the construction of the 105 Reactor buildings. The reactors rested on a 23 foot thick concrete foundations. The walls consisted of reinforced concrete in the lower portions and concrete blocks in the upper portions, varying from 3 to 5 feet thick. The roofs were composed of precast concrete (poured insulated concrete) roof tile, except over the discharge area enclosure and the inner horizontal rod room. Over these areas the roofs were composed of 6 foot thick reinforced concrete. Reinforced concrete shielding walls were commonly used. The massive reinforced concrete walls around the reactor core at the lower levels provided additional radiation shielding.

The N Reactor core is surrounded by a thick shield of dense concrete, contained in a rere that serves as a confinement zone capable of withstanding moderate over-pressurization. Resting on reinforced concrete foundations, the 105 Reactor buildings have two subterranean floors constructed of reinforced poured concrete.

All types of buildings in the 100 Area have some form of concrete construction. The wood frame, gable roof administrative/office buildings, laboratories and badge houses were constructed upon concrete block foundations or poured concrete slabs. For the most part, the 100 Area industrial structures, such as pumphouses, filter plants, power plants, warehouses, maintenance/storage shops, retention and settling basins, reservoir buildings, have concrete block walls, reinforced concrete floors, concrete foundations and basements, and concrete roof panels.

Massive amounts of concrete were used in the construction of the 200 Area canyon or separations (U, T, B) buildings. Because of the radioactivity present during the separation process, the canyon buildings walls surrounding the separation cells were constructed seven feet thick to provide necessary protective shielding. The cell covers were constructed of removable, six-foot thick concrete blocks. The 200 Area industrial facilities, including REDOX, PUREX and the PFP complex, used considerable amounts of concrete material. Foundations were either of poured concrete or of reinforced concrete piers. Floors, walls, and ceilings were made of reinforced concrete or concrete block. Roofs were likewise constructed of reinforced concrete and covered with built-up felt (tar and gravel) material.

A considerable majority of the 300 Area industrial vernacular facilities were constructed of reinforced concrete, concrete blocks or reinforced concrete, with steel frames, corrugated metal cladding and flat roofs. Wood frame, administrative/office facilities were constructed on concrete foundations or poured concrete slabs. Facilities that exhibit high style architectural features, such as Brutalism and Art Deco/Art Moderne, also used considerable amounts of concrete. Brutalistic features in Buildings 337/337 B include exposed, untreated concrete; the massive, grand scale forms clearly express the buildings function and construction materials. Building 3760s projecting front entrance/ frontispiece and parallel pilasters, expressions of Art Deco/Moderne architecture, are constructed of concrete.

400 and 600 Areas

A considerable number of the 400 (FFTF complex) and 600 Area industrial and laboratory facilities were constructed of concrete materials. The former Nike facilities located in the 600 Area at ALE were constructed of poured concrete, reinforced concrete or concrete block.

Subtype: Wood and metal construction materials

Description: Manhattan Project/early Cold War era administrative/office and warehouse/shop buildings were often of wood frame construction, with rectangular plans, gable roofs, symmetrical fenestration (multipane or double hung sash windows), swamp coolers, dormers and wood and metal vents. Transite shingles or corrugated metal cladding were installed over original horizontal wood siding or diagonal wood sheathing.

Industrial buildings/structures built in the 1950s-60s were often constructed of concrete and steel framing, with corrugated metal/transite shingle cladding, or outer sheaths of aluminum/metal panels. Some of the roofs were constructed of insulated metal decking. Interior walls were made of sheetrock/plasterboard, concrete block or general plaster covering. Buildings constructed in the 1970s and 80s were mainly rectangular in shape, a single story, steel or wood framing, with aggregate pebble/stucco cladding over plywood sheathing. Many of these facilities were used for offices and laboratories, and constructed of premanufactured elements: fluted metal panels (galvanized steel), sheet metal, or corrugated metal cladding.

The post-1960s buildings were cladded with various types of metal or transite shingles. For example, Building 313 (Fuel Manufacturing Support Facility), initially constructed of structural steel framing, concrete block walls, a precast concrete slab roof, and interior partitions of concrete block and brick, had additions constructed of steel framing and double metal, insulated paneled exterior walls. The interior partitions were of moveable metal panels. While the windows on the original section are the multipane, fixed, industrial type, the windows on the new addition are of the sliding aluminum and fixed pane type. Common post-1960 exterior cladding included fluted metal panels, corrugated transite panels, or corrugated sheet metal.

Buildings 3762 and 3764, former World War II barracks, and Buildings 3702 and 3703, are representative of the wood frame, rectangular shaped, 1-2 story, gable roof administrative/office facilities constructed during the Manhattan Project/early Cold War period. Cladding ranges from horizontal wood siding to asbestos transite shingles. The repetitive fenestration and concrete block foundations are also typical of this style.

Two test reactors, the Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor (PRTR) and the Fast Flux Test Reactor (FFTF), adopted metal construction materials. The one story, steel frame section of PRTR is sided with fluted metal panels, while the dome is cladded with silver sheeting material. The dome is a welded, carbon steel containment vessel, covered with insulation and a waterproof membrane. The containment vessel is an vernacular adaptation of the hemispherical design. Similar in design and construction materials is the 405 Reactor Containment Building in the FFTF complex. The dome or cylindrical shell is constructed of carbon steel.

Subtype: Representative Facilities and Construction Materials

Description: Listed below is a selected list of facilities that are representative of common construction materials/building styles found in the 100, 200, and 300 Areas:

1702 Badge Houses: Dwarfed by the flat roof, concrete monoliths that dominate the 100 Area landscape, the diminutive, wood frame 1702 badge houses provided security check points for entrance to the 105 C, DR and KE and KW exclusion areas. Typical of the small 100 Area badge houses, these gable roof structures have square plans, double hung sash windows symmetrically placed, small gable roofs over the front entrance, and situated on concrete slabs.

1701 K Badge House/1720 K Administration Building: Representative of the 1701 badge houses and the 1720 administration buildings, 1701 K and 1720 K have symmetrical, modified (rectangular) plans with multipane, industrial style windows, a single story with concrete and steel structural framing, corrugated transite walls, concrete foundation and floor, and flat, prefabricated cement board roofs with built-up asphalt and gravel surfacing.

108 F Biology Laboratory: The construction features and materials of the 108 F building are typical of 100 Area concrete monolithic structures. Originally, a chemical pumphouse, the 108 F building is a rectangular, four story, concrete masonry structure with an interior steel frame, and situated on a reinforced concrete foundation and flooring. The two lower floors have a reinforced concrete column and beam framing system with masonry infill. The flat roof consists of concrete panels with a tar and gravel surface. The newer annex is constructed of concrete masonry and with a similar roof system.

Retention Basins (107 structures): The construction methods and materials of the 107 retention basins were typical of basins built in the 100 Area. In 100 C, KE, KW the 107 basins were constructed of steel, while the other 100 Area (107) basins were constructed of concrete. The basins were constructed on a 6 inch concrete slab with reinforced steel mesh and concrete retaining wall supports. The 183 flocculation and settling basins were also constructed of concrete, while the 183 filtered water storage tanks were constructed of welded steel with concrete foundations.

1713 Warehouses: The construction features and materials of the 1713 warehouses are typical of warehouse construction in the 100 Area. In support of reactor operations, and in contrast to the asymmetrical, concrete monoliths, the 100 Area warehouses had modified rectangular plans, and (manually operated) overhead wooden doors situated in repetitive (shipping and receiving) bays. A portion of the cladding was corrugated asbestos transite. Common features include one-foot thick concrete firewalls that divided the interior into two storage areas due to combustible materials stored inside. Another example is the 1713 KER warehouse, a typical rectangular, corrugated metal warehouse, with a partial gable roof and multipane, symmetrically placed windows.

Main Pump House (190 structures): The 100 area pumphouses provided primary support activities to reactor operations and were constructed of concrete, concrete block and structural steel frames. Representative of 100 Area pumphouses, 190 KE provided primary coolant (housed process and service water pumps and ventilation equipment) for KE Reactor. The facility is a single story building with structural steel framing, corrugated transite cladding, a concrete basement, and reinforced concrete floors. The roof is made of corrugated cement transite on steel girders with 2-inch foam glass insulation and an asphalt-gravel, built-up surface.

1717 K maintenance shop: The 1717 K maintenance shop is representative of 100 Area shops with its rectangular plan, corrugated transite siding, steel framing girders and beams, and symmetrically placed bay areas with corrugated metal roll-up doors. Interior walls are standard sheetrock or (as in the case of 1717 K) bolted-in-place Hauserman cement asbestos panels with laminated gypsum board on 2 x 2 studs.

1714 KE and KW: These two oil storage facilities are typical of vintage prefabricated, corrugated metal butler buildings. Common features include rectangular plans and wood frame, symmetrically placed multipane windows.

100 N Buildings/Structures: Established in 1963, 100 N was the last of the 100 Areas to commence operations. Whereas Hanfords eight earlier graphite moderator reactors were essentially duplicates, differing mainly in scale, the 105 N reactor incorporated several technological advancements to improve operating efficiency, safety and to enable co-generation of electricity. The N Reactor core is a structure of interlocking graphite blocks more than 42,000 cubic feet in size. The entire core is surrounded by a thick shield of dense concrete, contained in a reinforced concrete enclosure that serves as a confinement zone capable of withstanding moderate over-pressurization. The entire facility is a 99,480 square foot, metal framed building with exterior metal cladding and a reinforced concrete foundation. The two subterranean floors are also of reinforced poured concrete construction. On the west side, 105 N shares a common wall with 109 N, the heat exchanger building for 105 N. 109 N served two primary functions: dissipate heat generated in the reactor during the fission process, and generate steam for use in producing electrical energy. 109 N is a large, rectangular shape warehouse-type structure, constructed of steel frame, corrugated metal siding, with a flat, tar and gravel built-up roof.

All of the support and auxiliary buildings/structures at 100 N are of similar construction style materials used. One difference from the earlier 100 Areas would be the use of more corrugated metal siding and steel framing in 100 N than concrete block construction and wood or steel frames that were used in the first generation (B, D, F, DR, H, C) reactor areas.

Five general types of building construction were used during the Manhattan Project (and later in the Cold War era) in the 200 Areas: reinforced mass concrete, structural steel frame and concrete block, reinforced concrete frame and concrete block, structural steel frame and wood siding, and wood frame. During the post-World War II era construction materials and stylistic features included concrete foundations and flooring, corrugated and shingled transite siding, concrete block walls, corrugated metal/pressed steel/sheet metal siding and roofing, wood and steel framing, flat pre-cast concrete roofs covered with tar and gravel surfacing or composition shingles, corrugated roll up metal doors, and wood or metal frame multipane industrial-type windows.

The construction features and materials found in the 200 Area are similar to the other production areas. Due to the 200 Areas chemical separations functions, the Manhattan Project/early Cold war era facilities used considerable amounts of concrete. Windows were used sparingly. Rectangular plans and other industrial symmetrical features were incorporated into building construction. Except for the wood frame, non-production facilities, most of the smaller, non-chemical separations facilities were constructed of structural steel framing with outer sheaths of aluminum panels or corrugated metal/transite shingles.

The 303 Fresh Metal Storage Buildings (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, K), with their reinforced concrete and concrete block construction, are representative of uranium storage facilities built during the Manhattan Project. The ninth, 303 J, is of wood frame construction. The function of these structures was to store the fresh (unirradiated) uranium and chemicals used in the fuel fabrication processes, and uranium scraps left from these processes. Their layout in a relatively east-west linear line perpendicular to the 313 Building was due to their functional association with the missions of the 313 Building.

Many of the 300 Area storage/shop facilities, like the 304 Uranium Scrap Concentration Storage Facility and the 305 A Pipefitter/Electrical Storage Shop, have corrugated metal/fluted metal cladding or are representative of the numerous shops/laboratories that have asbestos transite shingled siding. Cold War/defense production laboratories in the 300 Area, especially those built during the decade following the Manhattan Project, have cladding constructed of corrugated metal/fluted metal panels. Of these, the most prominent were five large laboratories and shops located in Buildings 325, 326, 327, 328, and 329, all of which opened in 1952-1953.

Buildings 308, 309 (PRTR), 315, 318, and 324, constructed of a variety of metal and concrete materials, were built for research and testing of the peaceful uses of atomic energy; demonstrating the effectiveness of various plutonium oxide and mixed oxide fuel blends. Experiments in the 1960s with these type of fuels gave way to the concept of breeder reactors, reactors that produced more fuel than they burned. The Hanford Site was chosen as the location for the DOEs prototype breeder reactor, the FFTF (Gerber 1992b: 183). The establishment of the FFTF led to the construction of several experimental and pre-assembly buildings, including the 335, 336, 337, and 338 Buildings.

100 N Reactor facilities: The construction of the 105 N Reactor led to the establishment of numerous fuel production facilities in the 300 Area and the retrofitting of existing facilities to assist in providing fabricated fuel for N Reactor. The fuel rods for N Reactor were manufactured in the 333 Fuels Manufacturing Building using the co-extrusion process. Beginning in 1975, the 313 Building played a major role in a new Waste Acid Treatment System (WATS) process that was emplaced to recover some of the chemical wastes from the N Reactor fuel fabrication activities.

Most of the post-1960 buildings, especially facilities associated with N Reactor operations, were cladded with various types of metal or transite shingles. For example, additions to the north and middle sections of Building 313 differ considerably from the original building. The north section of 313 was constructed with steel framing and double metal insulated panel exterior walls. Building 333, built in 1960 as the New Fuel Cladding Facility, and associated with the manufacture of fuel elements for N Reactor, was also constructed of steel framing with fluted metal panels exterior cladding. Other fluted metal panel buildings in the 300 Area include the 335 Sodium Test Facility, built in 1968, the High Bay Test Facility (336 building), built in 1969 with steel framing and corrugated transite panels. The 338 Fabrication Shop, built in 1961, and the 340 Waste Neutralization Building (1953), have steel frames with cladding consisting of corrugated sheet metal panels.

The 3706 Radiochemistry Laboratory is representative of the single story, wood frame and concrete Manhattan Project/early Cold War laboratories in the 300 Area. The construction materials and design features of 3706 are typical of the era, with its concrete block/brick walls, asbestos transite cladding, multipane fenestration (symmetrically placed), gable roofs, dormers, wooden and metal vents, and concrete firewalls capped with simulated Spanish tiles.

Buildings 3762 and 3764, former Hanford Site dormitories moved during the early post-World War II period to the 300 Area, are modified U. S. Navy B-2 series style dormitories. The B-2 series dormitories have dimensions of 42 feet x 150 feet, while Buildings 3762 and 3764 measure 120 feet x 34 feet. Cladding ranges from horizontal wood siding with a middle band of vertical board to asbestos transite shingled siding. Repetitive fenestration, with double hung sash windows, are the same as the B-2 series. The clipped gable roofs of the two buildings differ from the medium pitched gable roofs of the B-2 series.

Buildings 3702 and 3703 are representative of the wood frame, rectangular shaped, gable roof, 1-2 story administrative/office facilities constructed during the Manhattan Project/early Cold War period. The 40 foot width of both buildings is similar to the Navys B-2 series style dormitories, but the lengths of 3702 and 3703 exceed considerably the B-2 series. Their one story heighth is similar to the U. S. Armys 700 Series Mobilization Buildings. Building 3703 has typical horizontal wood (rustic/drop) siding over 6 inch diagonal wood sheathing, while 3702 has asbestos transite shingle cladding over the original horizontal wood siding. Like 3762 and 3764, Buildings 3702 and 3703 have symmetrically placed multipane windows, dormer louvers and concrete block foundations.

Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor (PRTR): The one story, steel frame section of the 309 Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor (PRTR) is cladded with fluted metal panels, while the dome is sided with silver sheeting material. The dome is a welded, carbon steel containment vessel, covered with insulation and a waterproof membrane. The containment vessel is an vernacular adaptation of a hemispherical (dome) design found in other nuclear power plant complexes.

Subtype: Prefabricated Facilities

Quonset Huts

Description: Bolted to concrete foundations, the steel arch-rib frames of the prefabricated Quonset huts support a semi-cylindrical roof of galvanized corrugated sheet metal attached to metal purlins supported by steel ribs. Hook bolts with nuts and washers connect the purlins to the ribs. The semicircular ends of the buildings are usually of board and batten construction. Most of the huts at Hanford are constructed similar to traditional Quonset huts but some have wood and metal framing which is covered with translucent, corrugated fiberglass sheets, with large two-leaf sliding metal doors situated at either end, flanked by wood frame, six-light windows. Some of the huts have a continuous row of industrial-style, ten-light, wood frame windows on the sides. Quonset huts are located in the 200, 300, and 400 Areas.

Butler Buildings

Description: These industrial vernacular structures are composed of premanufactured sides and roofs, constructed of bolted steel, and commonly rest on poured concrete pads and concrete footings, or directly on the ground. Most of these facilities have been brought on Site within the past decade, although some of the Butler buildings date from the early 1950s. Common construction features and premanufactured materials include vertical corrugated metal sidings and roofs, fluted metal panel siding and roofs, roll up bay metal doors, aggregate pebble/stucco fascia, steel framing, fixed pane tinted windows, with either flat or low pitched gable roofs or semi-high bays.

The significance of Hanfords industrial vernacular landscape is reflected in its unembellished, functional architecture, devoid of nonessential decorative elements and ornamentation. Function plays a significant role in vernacular landscapes, as noted in the Sites utilitarian facilities. The design of Hanfords Manhattan Project and Cold War era buildings is an architectural expression of aesthetic functionalism that gained popularity during the post-World War II period. Industrial or aesthetic functionalism is reflected in the buildings/structures found in the Sites designed production areas, and Hanfords roads and railroads and communication/utility/electrical facilities. The significance of Hanfords built environment is not only due to the functional and industrial/utilitarian characteristics that influenced the design of the Sites process areas and the type of buildings constructed, but also determined the type of construction materials used. One of the reasons for the selection of Hanford as a Manhattan Project site was the availability of sufficient aggregate locally to provide enough concrete for Site construction needs.

To be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (Register) under criterion C, industrial vernacular landscape facilities and construction materials must possess a fairly high standard of physical integrity. However, because of the utilitarian and technological nature of the Site, where industrial properties have been subjected to numerous internal and external modifications to accommodate mission/scientific changes and facility expansions, construction and material compatibility is not as important as when evaluating traditional architectural properties under criterion C. Building modifications and additions which reflect changes in Site technology or mission are to be viewed as significant accretions for industrial vernacular properties under criterion C.

Subtype: Concrete

Functional, unadorned concrete was the most commonly used material in the construction of the Hanford Site. To be eligible for listing in the Register under criterion C, applications of concrete must reflect distinctive stylistic qualities or methods of construction. The Department of Energys Richland Operations Office (DOE/RL) has recommended that Buildings 337/337 B and 3760 are eligible for Register under criterion C, partly due to their distinctive concre

Extensive quantities of concrete materials were used in the construction of 100 Area Reactor buildings and ancillary structures, the 200 Area chemical separations facilities and the REDOX, PUREX and PFP complexes, and the 300 Area fuel fabrication facilities and ancillary structures. In some cases, the extensive uses of concrete in these areas is not necessarily distinctive/significant under criterion C. Instead, the heavy use of concrete in the construction of Hanfords industrial landscape could be significant under criterion A, associated with the construction of the important Manhattan Project/Cold War Hanford Site.

The DOE-RL and the Washington SHPO have determined that the concrete process waste disposal systems (e.g. single and double shell tanks, tank farm facilities), and concrete-lined cribs, trenches, French drains, pipelines/sewerlines, underground vaults, caissons, etc., are exempt from the historic property inventory form (HPIF) documentation requirement due to the lack of surface manifestations, and presence of radiological and/or hazardous waste contamination.

Subtype: Wood and metal construction materials

To be eligible for listing in the Register under criterion C, the applications of wood and metal materials must contribute to the distinctive stylistic qualities or methods of construction of a particular property. For example, DOE-RL has recommended that the 309 Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor (PRTR) and the Fast Flux Test Facilitys (FFTF) 405 Reactor Containment Building are eligible for the Register, partly due to the design and materials of their distinctive cylindrical shell, carbon steel domes. The 3706 Radiochemistry Laboratory, determined eligible for the Register, is constructed of wood and metal materials, representative of Manhattan Project/early Cold War era laboratories with their wood framing, transite shingle cladding, symmetrical multipane fenestration (repetitive metal and wood framed windows), and wooden gable roofs.

Subtype: Prefabricated facilities

The DOE-RL and Washington SHPO have determined that prefabricated modular buildings and enclosures (e.g. storage/maintenance sheds, Butler buildings), composed of premanufactured sides and roofs, bolted steel, and commonly situated on a poured concrete slab, are exempt from the historic property inventory form (HPIF) documentation requirement as they are not eligible for inclusion in the Register due to the minor role they have played at the Hanford Site.

6.3.2 Associated Property Type: High-Style Architectural Forms

Description: While the considerable majority of Site buildings are industrial vernacular structures, several facilities in the 300 Area reflect high-style architectural features. They include:

Brutalism

Buildings 337/337 B, and certain aspects of Building 331, exhibit the architectural features of Brutalism, defined as meaning rough or untreated concrete. Other distinguishing characteristics include exaggerated structural members, unfinished construction materials, grand scale, exposed interior mechanical systems, and formalist style (buildings form clearly expresses its function).

Art Deco/Art Moderne

The architecture of the Hanford Technical Library (Building 3760) is a vernacular adaptation of the Art Deco/Art Moderne style. Several stylistic features include vertical symmetrical lines reflected in the parallel concrete piers/pilasters in the projecting front entrance/frontispiece. Decorative horizontal banding is expressed in the repetitive fenestration (ribbon windows) on the front facade. Other Art Deco/Moderne features include the buildings angular, hard-edged form, simplified and streamlined, with a modified, front facade setback.

While the vast majority of Site buildings are industrial vernacular structures, several facilities at Hanford reflect significant high-style architectural features. Buildings 337 and 337 B, Battelles Technical Management Facility and High Temperature Sodium Facility respectively, embody the distinctive architectural features of Brutalism, while Building 3760, the Hanford Technical Library, is a significant vernacular adaptation of Art Deco/Art Moderne architectural features.

To be eligible for inclusion in the Register under criterion C, a property that embodies the distinctive characteristics of high-style architecture must meet a stringent standard of interior and exterior integrity, possess representative methods of construction and materials, and have distinctive stylistic qualities that embody the period or type of the particular high-style architecture. DOE-RL has concluded that Buildings 337/337 B, the Technical Management Facility and the High Temperature Sodium Facility, and Building 3760, the Hanford Technical Library, are eligible for inclusion in the Register under criterion C for their distinctive stylistic/architectural qualities, representative methods of construction, and materials used. DOE-RL has also concluded that the facilities are considered contributing properties (and recommended for mitigation) to the Register-eligible Hanford Site Historic District.

6.3.3 Associated Property Type: Military Facilities

Description: One of the missions of the Hanford Site was the military protection of the main production areas. Extant buildings and structures associated with this military effort include the former Camp Hanford industrial buildings, Nike and Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) facilities, and former World War II/early Cold War military dormitories/barracks.

Camp Hanford Industrial Buildings

The establishment of the U. S. Armys Camp Hanford in North Richland (3000 Area) in 1951 included industrial facilities that provided maintenance, warehouse storage, shipping and receiving, and other support services for the Camps forward positions (encampments, AAA and Nike installations) on the Hanford Site. Today, the 3000 Area includes thirteen former Camp Hanford industrial facilities. The physical layout of the Camp Hanford industrial facilities was in a modified military grid. Camp Hanfords disparate industrial functions, and the constant removal and addition of buildings, dictated a variety of building designs and layouts not found in a traditional military grid. Nevertheless, many of the extant Camp Hanford industrial facilities have similar construction features and materials, with symmetrical rectangular forms, wood or steel frames and trusses, repetitive multipane industrial windows, corrugated roll up metal doors, and flat or slightly pitched gabled roofs. Siding consisted of vertical board, transite shingle, or corrugated metal cladding over diagonal wood sheathing.

AAA and Nike Installations

The 600 Area was the location of Camp Hanfords AAA sites and Nike missile installations that provided air defense of the Hanford Site during the 1950s and early 1960s. The most intact of the 16 AAA installations are five sites situated in the central plateau south and southeast of the 200 Areas. Aboveground resources include the remains of (doughnut-shaped) revetments and other sandbagged/cobblestone structures. The layout design of the AAA sites reflected a standard military arrangement of temporary, concrete facilities separated by function. The four semi-circular artillery placements/sandbagged revetments were arranged in a square plan separate from the concrete structures.

The Nike launch and radar control site (H-52 C & H-52 L) on the Fitzner-Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology (ALE) Reserve is the only intact Nike installation on the Hanford Site. The buildings and structures at each Nike installation were organized into two separate installations: the battery control area and the launch area. The launch area batteries contained the underground missile storage magazines and launch equipment, including buildings and structures used for testing and servicing of missiles. The main function of the launch areas was to maintain missile batteries in a combat-ready posture that required the storage, handling, and disposal not only of missile components and propellants but also of solvents, fluids, fuels and other materials required for a variety of support functions. The battery control areas contained all the radar, guidance, electronic and communications equipment needed to identify incoming targets, launch missiles, and direct and guide missiles in flight to intercept enemy aircraft.

H-52 C, the former battery control area, is located at the top of Rattlesnake Mountain, while H-52 L, the associated launching area, is situated at the base of base of the mountain. The partial arrangement of the buildings and structures in each launch and control area was site-specific, with no standard layout plans. H-52 L was divided into two separate zones or areas for functional and safety reasons: one included the administrative, residential and recreational facilities, the other included the underground missile storage, refueling, assembly and testing, and generator facilities. The H-52 C control center at the top of Rattlesnake combined administrative, radar and barracks functions in a single building.

Barracks/Dormitories

Numerous two-story barracks/dormitories from the Hanford construction camp, the Hanford Engineer Works (Richland) Village, and military facilities around the State, were transferred to the Hanford Site during the post-World War II period. Some were used to house military personnel at Camp Hanford in North Richland during the 1950s. Others were moved to the 100, 200 and 300 Areas for administrative/office uses and various other support functions. Buildings 3762 and 3764, former two-story World War II era barracks/dormitories transferred to the 300 Area, are modified U. S. Navy B-2 series style dormitories. The rectangular shaped B-2 series had dimensions of 42 feet x 150 feet, while Buildings 3762 and 3764 measure 120 feet x 34 feet. Cladding ranges from horizontal wood (dropped) siding with a middle band of vertical board to asbestos transite shingled siding over the original wood siding. Repetitive fenestration of 3762 and 3764, with wood framed, double hung sash windows, is similar to the B-2 series dormitories. The clipped gable roofs of 3762 and 3764 differ from the medium pitched gable roofs of the B-2 series.

The significance of the design and construction of Hanfords military defense facilities centers around the U. S. Armys former Camp Hanford and its forward positions. The Camps industrial facilities, located in the 3000 Area in North Richland, provided important maintenance, warehouse storage, shipping and receiving, and other support services for the Camps forward positions (encampments, AAA and Nike installations) on the Hanford Site. The extant industrial facilities reflect representative styles, designs and materials found in military industrial areas nationwide. The physical layout of the Camp Hanford industrial area is similar to other military facilities with its modified military grid.

Camp Hanfords sixteen Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) sites and four Nike missile installations were strategically arranged along the perimeter of the Hanford Site to provide air defense of the main process areas of the Hanford Site. The design and structural remains of five of the most intact AAA sites, situated south of the 200 Areas, are representative of AAA design and materials. Aboveground resources include important artillery emplacement revetments and other sandbagged/cobblestone structures. The layout design of the AAA sites reflect standard military arrangement. Facilities were divided by function, especially the separation of residential and administrative facilities from the artillery emplacement revetments and ammunition caches/small arms firing ranges.

H-52 C and H-52 L, the Nike launch and radar control site located in the ALE Reserve, is the most intact Nike installation on the Hanford Site. The design, architecture and construction materials of H-52 are representative of significant Nike features found nationwide. The buildings and structures, including the important underground missile storage facility, are constructed of concrete. Common stylistic features and construction materials consist of one story, flat roof, concrete block structures erected on concrete footings or slabs, with symmetrically placed windows. The launch areas facilities are laid out by function: the residential and administrative structures are separated from the missile fueling, maintenance and storage/firing facilities.

To be eligible for inclusion in the Register under criterion C, Hanfords former military facilities must possess distinctive, representative methods of construction and materials, a high standard of physical integrity, and embody stylistic qualities of military architecture and design/layout features.

Hanfords most intact AAA sites (H-40, H-42, H-50, H-51 and H-61-H) have been determined eligible for inclusion in the Register under criterion A due to their important association with the Cold War era and military defense of the Hanford Site. These sites are also potentially eligible for the Register under criterion C due to the presence of the remains of the important artillery emplacement revetments, and site design features in the form of concrete pathways/sidewalks and parking lots, and concrete entry pads and flooring.

H-52 C and H-52 L, the most intact Nike installation on Site, has been recommended as eligible for the Register by DOE-RL as a significant complex under criterion A, due to its important association with the defense of the Hanford Site. To be eligible under criterion C, H-52 L and C would have to demonstrate representative and distinctive methods of construction and materials. The design/layout of the facility needs to demonstrate that its physical design embodies distinctive stylistics features and functional integrity common to Nike sites nationwide.

The Camp Hanford industrial area facilities have been determined not eligible for inclusion in the Register by DOE-RL as they were found not to manifest exceptional significance under Criteria Consideration G for properties under 50 years of age.

6.3.4 Associated Property Type: Site Layout and Design Features

Description: The layout of the Hanford Site production areas was influenced by safety, security and functional concerns. Due to the nature of the production processes, the areas at Hanford were designed as independent units to be constructed in widely-separated districts because of the possibility of dangerous explosions. This decision was made in order that accidents in any one area should not affect the operation of the remaining production units. Although the main plutonium production areas were functionally dependent upon each other to conduct Site missions, all the process areas were designed and constructed as semi-autonomous units; they each contained the necessary utility/communication and power infrastructure to carry on if operations were disrupted at any of the other production areas.

Located in the southeastern portion of the Hanford Site approximately 7 1/2 miles north of the center of Richland, the 300 Area manufactured the uranium fuel that allowed the reactors to operate. Since the 300 Areas fuel fabrication activities were the least likely of the production processes to experience a serious accident, it was considered safe enough to be located near populated areas (Richland). From its construction in 1943-44 to the present, the 300 Area has been the site of most of the research and development activities conducted at the Hanford Site.

The nine 100 reactor Areas had to be situated close to the Columbia River because large quantities of water were required to dissipate the heat generated during Pile operations. Also, due to the dangers inherent in the irradiation of uranium fuel elements, the reactors were constructed as far as possible from the City of Richland.

The hazardous nature of the 200 Area separations activities made it undesirable to concentrate these buildings in one process area; so the Manhattan Engineer District (MED) designated 200 North, East and West. The Areas are located on a plateau in the center of the Hanford Site between the Rattlesnake Hills, Gable Mountain and Gable Butte with the latter two providing a natural barricade between the 100 and 200 process areas. The nature of contaminants present in the separations processes dictated a location a considerable distance above the water table. The central plateau location also made it easier to defend (from air attack) by the AAA batteries on the perimeter of the Site.

400 Area

The 400 Area was placed approximately 8 miles northwest of the 300 Area for convenient access to the 300 Areas research and development facilities and fuel manufacturing capabilities. Other siting considerations included favorable geological (seismic stability) conditions, sufficient feet above the water table, and safe distance from the Columbia River.

600 Area

The 600 Area was comprised of facilities that served more than one specific area, including health and safety protection, environmental monitoring, Site security, military defense and fire suppression facilities. The AAA and Nike missile installations in the 600 Area were situated on the perimeter of the Sites main production areas to provide air defense of Hanford during the 1950s and early 1960s. The internal layout of the individual Sites reflected a standard military arrangement of facilities separated by function. The residential, administrative, maintenance and recreational concrete structures were situated in a rectangular grid, separated from the sandbagged artillery revetments. The buildings/structures at each Nike site were organized into two installations: the battery control area and the launch area. While the spatial arrangement of the buildings/structures in each launch and battery control area was site-specific, with no standard layout plans, administrative, residential and recreational facilities in the launch areas were separated from the missile storage, refueling, and maintenance area for functional and safety reasons. The radar, communications, and missile guidance/tracking facilities in the battery control areas were generally smaller than the launch areas. H-52 C combined administrative, radar and barracks facilities in one building.

3000 Area

The 3000 Area includes thirteen former Camp Hanford industrial facilities and seven buildings/structures built during the post-Camp Hanford era. The physical layout of the former Camp Hanford industrial facilities is a modified military grid. Camp Hanfords disparate industrial functions, and the constant addition and removal of buildings, dictated a variety of building designs and layouts not found in traditional military grids. The layout and design of the industrial area was influenced by the numerous modification of area buildings/structures to accommodate rapid technological advances and changing support uses/Site missions.

The layout of the Hanford Site process areas was influenced by important safety, security and functional concerns. The selection and layout of the Hanford Site represented the nations first attempt to match reactor siting requirements to engineering, security and safety considerations. Over the course of less than two and a half years, the MED designed and built the worlds first full-scale, self-contained, plutonium production facilities at HEW. The successful design and construction of six additional plutonium production reactors along the Columbia River during the post-World War II era led to Hanfords production of the majority of the nations plutonium.

Due to the hazardous nature of the production processes, the important process areas at Hanford were designed as independent units to be constructed in widely-separated districts because of the possibility of dangerous explosions. Significant areas in the plutonium production process included the 300 Area, the site of important fabrication and jacketing of uranium fuel elements, the 100 Areas, where the fuel elements were irradiated, and the 200 Areas, where the irradiated fuels were chemically dissolved and separated into plutonium, unconverted uranium, and various fission by-products.