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Yeah I worked there for over 35 years, a lot of that during the production of Plutonium for atomic weapons.
The tour you guys are talking about is what is called B Reactor, it was the one that made the PU for the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. B reactor was part of a big complex which included C reactor also. When it was being built the men and women had no idea what they were building or why, amazing it was built on 18 months.
This is what the complex looked like back during production. Note the Columbia River that was used to cool the reactor.
Today there is not much remaining, they have torn down all the support buildings and left the reactor building for tours. There is very cool history bt really not much to see any more.
I remember going into this plant back in the early 80s when it had been abandoned already for about 20 years.... very spooky. Keep in mind B reactor was only one of 9 reactors we had at Hanford making weapons grade plutonium. The most interesting buildings are the process plants that you cannot visit, they are contaminated and awaiting demolition.
Hanford is 529 sq miles and the Columbia River surrounds it. The government kicked people off their land and took over 3 towns during the Manhattan Project.
If you come to the area on a bike stop there are some of the best winery's in the world here, literally about 50 of them. It is hot and dry in the summer here and unlike the other side of WA state which is always raining, this part of the state is desert.
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