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Aerial of 100K area October 2022
Aerial photo of the 100 K Area at the Hanford Site in October 2022, with the "cocooned" K East
Reactor on the right, the K West Reactor on the left and the Columbia River in the background. 
 
 
The K East and K West reactors and associated spent fuel storage basins were built in the mid-1950s in support of Hanford’s plutonium production mission. The fuel storage basins provided temporary storage of irradiated fuel discharged from the reactors prior to shipment to fuel processing facilities at the Hanford Site. In October 2022 workers completed construction of the K East Reactor Interim Safe Storage enclosure, a process known as "cocooning."
 
 
For more information, please see the 100 K Area Fact Sheet.
 
 
 
 
'Cocooning of the K East Reactor on the Hanford Site'
In October 2022, teams completed placing the K East Reactor in Interim Safe Storage to protect it while radioactivity in the deactivated reactor core decays over several decades.
 
'K East before ISS'
K East Reactor building in 2020 before cocooning.
 
'Cocooning of K East Reactor on the Hanford Site.'
Photo of the K West Reactor fuel storage basin circa June 2022.
 
'K Basin 2'
Photo of worker using long-reach tools and underwater cameras to remove radioactive debris from the K West Reactor fuel storage basin circa June 2022.
Last Updated 06/07/2023 1:36 PM
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