The Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant (PUREX) was the fifth and final chemical processing facility built at Hanford. The plant operated from 1956 to 1972 and 1983 to 1988, to chemically process uranium fuel rods irradiated in Hanford’s reactors.

The facility is located near the center of the Hanford Site in an area known as the Central Plateau. The plant is approximately 1,000 feet long, 104 feet high (with approximately 40 feet below ground), and 62 feet wide. The main portion of the facility — called the “canyon” — is approximately 860 feet long and contains 11 separate areas, or “cells,” designed to manage each step in the chemical process.

For more information, please see the PUREX Fact Sheet and PUREX Tunnels Fact Sheet.