History

"The Atomic Fortress That Time Forgot," IEEE Spectrum, April 2005 [PDF file, 6.1 MB]
        Eight-page feature article with photographs from the IEEE monthly magazine.

"B Reactor: A Nuclear Icon," Washington State Magazine, Spring 2005 [PDF file, 627 KB]

"Hanford and History," B Reactor 60th anniversary address by Richard Rhodes

Timeline of significant 1945 events in World War II

1943 Memorandum for the construction of Hanford

A fascinating and highly readable historical document, this Memorandum between the United States government and the du Pont company describes the scope of work involved in constructing the entire Hanford Engineer Works (referred to as the "Plant"), consisting of three plutonium production reactors (piles), a uranium fuel manufacturing factory, and two huge chemical reprocessing plants to recover the plutonium.

Written in September 1943, about nine months after du Pont and the government signed an informal letter-of-agreement that initiated work on Hanford, the Memorandum tells how extremely reluctant du Pont was to take on the massive and highly speculative project. It describes the technical aspects of the nuclear transmutation process for changing uranium into plutonium and points out the various ways in which the entire venture could fail. It foretells in chilling detail the possibility of a catastrophic accident like that which occurred 43 years later at Chernobyl.

History of 100-B Area WHC-EP-0273 [PDF format]

This 62-page document, written in 1989 by Ralph Wahlen, describes B Reactor and support facilities, including the water plant and electrical plant, startup and operation, and fuel charging and discharging. Includes diagrams and photographs.

History of 100-B/C Reactor Operations, Hanford Site

This extensive report was written in 1993 by Michele S. Gerber, Ph.D., of the Westinghouse Hanford Company. It describes in great detail the operations of the B and C reactors at the Hanford site. It is more technical than the HAER document, being intended for onsite use, but it nonetheless has plenty of interesting material for the lay reader.

Oral History Videos Index

B Reactor Museum Association has an ongoing project to preserve the oral history of Hanford, especially B Reactor, through videotaped interviews with Hanford oldtimers. This index lists videotaped interviews that have been completed. We are in the process of transferring the interviews from magnetic tape to DVD for archival purposes.

History of the Plutonium Production Facilities at the Hanford Site
Historic District, 1943-1990

Introduction to a 624-page, softcover book published in June 2003 that tells the entire history of Hanford during the years of construction and operation for plutonium production. Detailed information on the contents is available from the publisher, Battelle Press. The book is available from commercial booksellers. ISBN 1-57477-133-7

Hanford Cultural and Historic Resources

Much history of the Hanford Nuclear Site has been compiled by the Department of Energy and is available on-line.

Links of Related Interest

• The Hanford Nuclear Site is run by the Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) of the U.S. Department of Energy and is the home of the B Reactor. Hanford was Site W during the Manhattan Project and created plutonium for the Trinity test and the Nagasaki atomic bomb. Provides current information about clean up activities on the 560-square-mile Hanford Site as well as historical documents and photographs.
  
  
• Hanford News is an archive of Hanford, Department of Energy, and nuclear-related stories and information from the Tri-City Herald newspaper.
  
  
• Nuclear Files has a wealth of information on nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, missile defense, and weapons in space. Each topic has sections on basics, history, and issues. The history section on nuclear weapons contains primary source documents of the Manhattan Project , including Einstein's letter to Roosevelt, letters of J. R. Oppenheimer and Gen. Leslie Groves, the Roosevelt-Churchill "tube alloys" deal, and eyewitness accounts of the "Trinity" test by Fermi and others.
  
  
• Children of the Manhattan Project is the Web site of the nonprofit Society for the Historical Preservation of the Manhattan Project, which provides a comprehensive, informative, and interactive source of factual information. The organization is committed to providing a thoroughly documented historical research site for the individual desiring to gain a complete understanding of America's atomic bomb effort during World War II. The information is catalogued and presented in a variety of ways, including high quality digitized photos, digitized images of original documents and newspaper articles, and stories and reminiscences of Manhattan Project veterans. Contains the largest collection of photos (700), documents (110), scientist biographies (115), and newspaper articles (34) on the Internet and gives concise definitions of many little-known operations and terms.
  
  
• The Atomic Heritage Foundation, Washington DC, is dedicated to preserving the history of the Manhattan Project. It is working to raise Congressional and other support for preserving major historic facilities and other aspects of the history for public education, interpretation, and commemoration. The Foundation is working with BRMA and other organizations on a Manhattan Project 60th Anniversary commemoration. The nonprofit corporation invites individual tax-deductible contributions to assist in these endeavors.
  
  
• "Fifty Years from Trinity" is The Seattle Times Web edition of a special supplement that was printed on July 16, 1995. Includes supplementary material, interactive activities, and Internet links.
  
  
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory is another Department of Energy site in Tennessee. Oak Ridge was the Manhattan Project's Site X and separated uranium 235 from natural uranium for the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
  
  
• Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, is also under the Department of Energy. Los Alamos was the Manhattan Project's Site Y, and is where the first atomic bombs were designed and built. Includes a link to the Bradbury Science Museum.
  
  
• The Trinity Atomic Web Site tells the story of nuclear weapons through historical documents, photos, and videos. Includes criticality accidents, nuclear test photos, nuclear weapon physics and effects, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and more.
  
  
• The Nuclear Weapon Archive contains an interesting and broad assortment of nuclear weapons documents and links.
  
  
• Todd's Atomic Home Page has a large variety of atomic links.
  
  
• "Venona: Soviet Espionage and the American Response, 1939-1957" on the CIA Web site, is an exhibit of the National Cryptologic Museum, Ft. Meade, Maryland. It consist of thousands of decoded and declassified messages that reveal details about Soviet espionage against the U.S. atomic bomb program in the 1940s and '50s. The first nuclear reactors built in the Soviet Union bore a remarkable resemblance to those that already existed at Hanford.
  
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