F Reactor

Removal and demolition of support facilities of the 100-F Area was completed in 2012. Photo of the
F Reactor circa 2014.

The third of Hanford’s three original nuclear reactors is F Reactor, which is the reactor located nearest to the City of Richland, Washington. 

F Reactor became operational in February 1945 and ran for more than 20 years until it was shut down in June 1965. Originally, the reactor used about 35,000 gallons of water per minute to cool the reactor during operations. However, as the facility expanded and became more efficient, it needed almost 70,000 gallons of water per minute to keep the heat generated by the nuclear chain reaction under control.

In 2003, F Reactor became the third facility on the Hanford Site to transition to Interim Safe Storage also known as cocooning.