The Manhattan Project National Historical Park is an unusual park because it has three units in three different states. We have already visited the Los Alamos, New Mexico unit and there is also one in Tennessee. Each of these sites played a significant role in developing the first atomic bomb which played a large role in ending WWII. The Hanford Washington unit is the location of the first nuclear reactor. It was used to produce plutonium for the tests at the Trinity site in New Mexico, where the first test bomb was detonated. At the Hanford site, you can take a bus tour to Reactor-B, which was the first of 9 reactors to be built in the area known as the Hanford Engineer Works. This first reactor was built in only 11 months. It is a massive wall of tubes and such. It is quite spectacular. The tour guides were full of interesting and useful information; many of them are former workers at the Hanford nuclear plants. Definitely an amazing piece of history.
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| Entrance gate to secured area |
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| Some of the other reactors in the distance |
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| B Reactor, the first one built |
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| Front panel of the reactor, it was huge! |
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| The clock on the left is set at 10:48, the time when the reactor first went live. The lower clock, current time. |
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| A collection of warning signs |
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