Reactor B is a graphite block, single pass

Reactor B Fuel tubes

reactor that was built for the sole purpose of producing weapon grade plutonium. Looking up at the 2000+ fuel tubes making up the reactor face rising high above us evokes some hugely conflicting reactions.  What an engineering accomplishment.  What a horrific and brutal goal.

Tour guides work to explain in layman’s terms the processes that took place here and to put the project in context as “the way to bring World War II to an end”. The story starts with the condemnation of land and eviction of settlers and Native Americans to create the 600 square miles Hanford Complex.  50,000+ workers descended on that land during the construction phase.  Plutonium from Hanford was dropped on Nagasaki.  Stockpiles grew.  World tensions eased.  One by one, reactors were shut down.  Today, cleanup efforts continue to one day return this land to another use.