Page 357 - Demo

Nuclear Weapons of the Atomic AgeReduced facsimile of the back of the Hanford Engineer Works photograph on previous pageHanford is located on the Columbia River in Washington state. It was a part of the Manhattan Project, and home to the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world, which manufactured the plutonium for the bomb tested at the Trinity site, and the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Eventually, the facility produced plutonium for more than 60,000 weapons. Because many early safety procedures and wastedisposal practices were inadequate, the plant released significant amounts of radioactive materials into the air and into the Columbia River. When it was decommissioned after the Cold war, there were 53 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste stored within 177 storage tanks. There were also 25 million cubic feet of solid radioactive waste, and significant groundwater contamination beneath three tank farms. It is currently the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States. Cleanup by the Department of Energy has been fraught with setbacks, and has progressed slowly. On November 10, 2015, the area was designated as part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.