MflfiHflTTflfiPROJECT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

ENERGY

The Hanford Site began as partof the United States ManhattanProject to research, test and buildatomic weapons during WorldWar II.

The original 670-square mileHanford Site, then known asthe Hanford Engineer Works,was the last of three top-secretsites constructed in order toproduce enriched uranium andplutonium for the world's firstnuclear weapons.

B Reactor, located about 45miles northwest of Richland,Washington, is the world's firstfull-scale nuclear reactor.Not only was B Reactor a first­of-a-kind engineering structure,it was built and fully functionalin just 11 months.

Eventually, the shoreline ofthe Columbia River in south­eastern Washington State heldnine nuclear reactors at theheight of Hanford's nucleardefense production duringthe Cold War era.

The B Reactor was shut downin 1968. During the 1980's,the U.S. Department of Energybegan removing B Reactor'ssupport facilities. The reactorbuilding, the river pumphouse

and the reactor stack are theonly facilities that remain.

Today, the U.S. Departmentof Energy (DOE) RichlandOperations Office offers escortedpublic access to B Reactor along adesignated tour route. The NationalPark Service (NPS) is studyingpreservation and interpretationoptions for sites associated withthe Manahattan Project. A draft isexpected in summer 2009. A finalreport will recommend whetherthe B Reactor, along with otherManhattan Project facilities, shouldbe preserved, and if so, what rolesthe DOE, the NPS and communitypartners will play in preservationand public education.

B Reactor operating in 1945

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200 West 200 EastArea Area

_1-+....&+04.01 B Reactor today, lookingwest with Umtanum Ridgein the background

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In August 2008, the DOEannounced plans to openB Reactor for additionalpublic tours.

Potential hazards still existwithin the building. However,the approved tour route is safefor visitors and workers.

DOE may open additional areasonce it can assure public safetyby mitigating hazards.

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Follow the directionsof your escort C

Stay with your escorton the designatedtour route 0

Do not reachacross any postedradiological signsor barriers

December 28, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approves theManhattan Project

January, the government selects Hanford Engineer Works (HanfordSite) as the Manhattan Project's third top-secret location

October, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers break ground tobuild B Reactor

September 13, first uranium fuel slugs are loaded into B Reactor

September 26, B Reactor operates for the first time

February 3, B Reactor plutonium delivered to Los Alamos,New Mexico

July 16, B Reactor plutonium used in world's first nuclearexplosion at the Trinity Test in Alamogordo, New Mexico

August 9, Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The bombcontained B Reactor plutonium

September 2, Japan officially surrenders and WWIIcomes to an end

March 1946 - June 1948, B Reactor temporarily shutdown

March, B Reactor begins irradiating lithium-aluminum slugsfor tritium production

November 1, B Reactor tritium used in world's first test detonationof a hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific

January 29, Atomic Energy Commission issues shutdownofB Reactor

February 12, B Reactor permanently shutdown

B Reactor declared excess property by U.S. Government

B Reactor included in DOE's list of "Signarure Propertiesof the Manhattan Project"

August, Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis Action Memorandumsigned by DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pro­vided for up to ten years of hazard mitigation and public access

August, U.S. Department of the Interior names B Reactor a NationalHistoric Landmark

DOE announces expanded public access to begin in 2009

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29 Vertical Safety Rods• Drop into the core to shut

down chain reaction in theevent of a malfunction

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Nine HorizontalControl Rods• Pull out to increase

chain reaction• Push in to slow down or

shut down chain reaction

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Process Tubes• 2,004 process

tubes penetratethe reactor frontto rearProcess tubescontain theuranium fueland flowingcooling water

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® Work Area

The work area faces the reactorcore and provided the spaceneeded to add fresh uranium fuel.Here, workers loaded 8.5-inchlong by l.5-inch diameteraluminum-clad uranium cylinderscalled slugs. The loading elevatorran across the reactor face andprovided access to each row ofprocess tubes for operation andmaintenance. Fuel slugs werepushed out of the reactor rear faceinto a spent fuel storage basin asnew fuel was added in front.

® Reactor Front Face

The front-face pipes held coolingwater furnished from an originalpair of 20-inch risers that werereplaced by 36-inch risers in 1957.Water from the risers ran through39 horizontal cross-headers intoflexible process tubes and throughcouplings called pigtails.

© Reactor Control

Nine horizontal control rods onthe left side of the reactor blockwere pulled out to increase thechain reaction, or inserted to slowdown or shutdown the chainreaction. Twenty-nine verticalsafety rods were suspended abovethe reactor from electromagneticclutches. In the event of amalfunction, the rods would drop

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into the core and shutdownthe chain reaction.

@ Accumulators

Three hydraulically-elevatedtanks containing river rocks weresuspended as a fail-safe backup incase of an electrical failure. Theaccumulators were locked intoplace when the reactor started. Thetanks descended in a power failurewhile their hydraulic-pressurepushed seven control rods intothe reactor, shutting down thechain reaction.

® Control Room

An operator monitored and con­trolled the reactor from the maincontrol panel. The operator regu­lated the chain reaction by insert­ing or retracting one or more ofthe nine control rods and moni­tored various water-pressure gaugesin each of the 2,004 process tubes.

® Fuel Basin Viewing Window

The fuel basin viewing windowshows the wooden deck thatsuspended workers above a basinwhere irradiated fuel was storedin 20 feet of water. Spent fuel wasstored in the basin for up to twomonths. The water shielded work­ers from radiation while the fuelcooled. Irradiated fuel slugs were

then moved to the fuel transferbay and shipped by rail car to the200 Areas where plutonium wasextracted from the fuel.

® Valve Pit

The walkway looks down atthe plumbing that suppliedwater to the reactor. By 1957,more than 70,000 gallons perminute (gpm) could be pumpedthrough the reactor cooling systemcompared to the initial intake of35,000 gpm. Several backup sys­tems ensured cooling water wouldreach the reactor in an emergency.

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® Fan Rooms

The intake fan room suppliedventilation into B Reactor andallowed for pressurized zones.Air was released through a200-foot stack at thebuilding's south end.

CD Instrument Shop

The room was originally used asa shop where B Reactor workerscalibrated, fixed and maintainedinstruments. Currently, the roomis used as a lunchroom forB Reactor staff.

Since the United States Bicentennial in 1976, Hanford's B Reactor hasbeen recognized for its historical significance as one of the 20th Century'smost important technological inventions.

National Historic Mechanical Engineering LandmarkAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers

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National Register of Historic PlacesNational Park Service________________----l

Nuclear Historic LandmarkAmerican Nuclear Socie!)'.~_~__~ ~......J

National Civil Engineering LandmarkAmerican Society of Civil Engineers

National Historic LandmarkU.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service

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ToChemicalProcessingPlants

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Rear

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Fuel elements were loaded into theprocess tubes at the front face

Fuel remained in the reactor blockwhile it was irradiated by nuclear reaction

Irradiated fuel was discharged from .the rear face and stored in a water-filled basin

Fuel was transported in shielded casks to chemicalprocessing plants in order to separate the plutonium

Process Tubes

Uranium Fuel

Elements '"

The world's first large-scale chain reaction was achieved from this roomunder the direction of Dr. Enrico Fermi a few minutes before midnighton September 26, 1944.

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Sahaptin-speaking Native Americansoccupied the Hanford area for severalthousand years before European-Americanssettled southeastern Washington.

Hanford, Washington, circa 1915

Notes:

The Europeon-Americanresettlement of the Hanfordarea transformed the regioninto farmland dependentupon irrigation. While NativeAmericans used the ColumbiaRiver's fish resources as a main­stay of their economy, thesmall communities of Hanford,White Bluffs and Richland usedthe lands for grazing, farmingand mining until the HanfordSite was created in 1943.

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National Historic Landmark designation is the highest distinction for ahistoric property in the United States. Among other U.S. National HistoricLandmarks are:

• The White House• The U.S. Capitol• The Alamo• Fort Ticonderoga• Lexington Green• Mount Vernon• The U.S.S. Arizona• Monticelloand others.

Visitors mjoy B R~actor, 2005

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For more information about B Reactoraccess these internet locations

DOE Richland Operations Officewww.hanford.gov

Hanford Site Historic Districtwww.hanford.gov/docs/rl-97-1047

Tri-Cities Development Council(TRIDEC)

www.tridec.org

Hanford Reach Interpretive Centerwww.visitthereach.org

To arrange a B Reactor tour, visit:www.hanford.gov/tours/index.cfm

April 2009