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Searched this forum to see if anybody's reported on visiting the "B" Reactor on the Hanford, Washington reservation. The National Park Service now offers guided tours (obviously you just can walk 30 miles out there - they ferry you out there on a bus) of this historic landmark. Pretty awesome when you enter the building, turn the corner, and come face-to-face with this:
A 5 story graphite-modulated, uncontained nuclear reactor designed to produce plutonium. And the great thing is they pretty much allow you to roam all over the building with the exception of some still-radioactive areas on the rear of the reactor where unloading the irradiated uranium took place. It's an amazing tour and well worth the visit if you're in the Tri-Cities area.
I came away with a sense of respect for the folks that designed and operated this thing back in the 40s, and also the folks cleaning up and remediating the entire Hanford site today. They're sharp and dedicated folks with a sense of pride in the work they do/did on behalf of the nation.
****Political comment deleted****
Kudos NPS.
p.s. Saw some bikes in the parking lot. Anybody from here?
Last edited by CanadianRocky; Jul 2, 2019 at 08:13 PM.
Would love to see it. Who knows? Maybe someday. Have read the book The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (1986) several times. Fascinating stuff (Manhattan Project). Thanks for the heads up. I never would have thought that Hanford would be open to the public. That photo is amazing! Thanks!
I was by there several years ago .... next time I will stop in.
I was there 2 years ago when we went to Red River Rally. The museum in town is very interesting. They have a short video about the actual Lab site and it made me want to tour it then! The tours are 2 days, 2 tours each day and limited to 25 people per tour! Total of 100 people get to see it! Next year I want to be one of those 100! This is something I will give up my sidearm for the day to be able to do! No sidearms allowed on the tour, if you couldn't guess. LOL
I worked for national lab that conducted underground nuclear weapon testing in the 60s.
Understand that Nevada Test Site is open for tours. Very worth visiting. Not far from Vegas.
There was a Nuclear Power plant just North of Portland which has been decommissioned. I was driving by it in the early 70’s and went in for a tour..... that was really something to see.... we got in a bus and went through security and got inside the main building.... we stood outside the control room and got to see it through a window.
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Hanford Site Tour
