Manhattan Project B Reactor Tours

Absolutely awesome tour! We did the site tour today and were amazed at the size and scope of the operation. The tour barely scratched the surface but was loaded with great information! We’re on the list for the more focused B Reactor Tour later this year as well… Can’t wait! :) There are only a limited # of tours offered each year so grab a spot when you can!

This was a great tour! We recently moved to the area and are working as part of the clean-​up effort on the Hanford site so it was nice to learn about the history of what we are cleaning up. The tour is free but you need to make sure to sign up for a seat early otherwise they will all be gone. It starts with about a 45 minute bus ride which is followed by the tour (about 2 – 3 hours). The guides were very informative and helpful in answering questions. Its awesome that this is available and a great way to learn about local history, I recommend it to any locals as well as visitors to the tri-​cities!

Simply amazing. I was lucky enough to tour the facility two years ago, and I’m still in awe.
When you take the the long drive to the facility through the sagebrush of Southeastern Washington, you get an idea how remote and isolated Hanford is. Out in a desert, in the middle of nowhere, some outstanding scientists, technicians, construction workers, and support staff built a facility that changed the course of history. And they did it in about 15 months. It’s staggering.
During the tour, you can see the pictures of the temporary «city» that housed and fed all of the workers, as well as Enrico Fermi’s office. Everyone who is interested in the history of WWII and the Atomic Age should visit.

Getting on the list for this tour is exclusive. I thought a shmuck like me would never have a chance, but cancellations, oh you lovely cancellations, made me feel like a high roller.
So yeah, whenever a tour opens up for a tour of the Manhattan Project’s B-​Reactor the limited seats sell out faster than a Stone Roses concert in 1989. But just like a Roses concert, I was able to finagle a seat.
The tour starts off at the B-​Reactor outreach center just off the SR240 as you’re heading out of Richland to Vantage. This center alone serves as a wealth of information about the Hanford site and the B-​Reactor.
Ooops, there. I said it: Hanford.
Yes, the B-​Reactor at its root is an example of what dedicated and true science can accomplish when focus and freedom from government regulation are the engine of the project.
The philosophical debate about the pluses & minuses of using «the bomb» in WWII is for historians. The conundrum about how to handle the nuclear waste generated on the Hanford site from this dastardly & polluting process has yet to be dealt with.
I just want to talk about the tour.
This tour is awesome. You step back to a different time when you enter the outreach center. There are photos of the citizens of the now long gone townsite of Hanford. There are also images of the Native Americans who lived & fished in the area. I can get lost in black & white photographs. It’s amazing to think about how people lived here only ~70years ago.
Show up early for your tour. You get a number as you arrive. The lower numbers get dibs on the better seats on the bus. Now if you’re on the bus, I’d say do your best to sit on the right side of the bus – on this side you get the better views during the drive around the site.
During the drive, we had an excellent tour guides (Jerry & Dimple) who have and are working on the Hanford site. As we drove through the different areas of Hanford, they gave information and answered questions (to the best of their ability) about the different sites. Now, they couldn’t answer all questions, and the security reasons for this are apparent. As we entered Hanford proper, we passed through a gate manned by armed guards & menacing dogs. We were also not allowed to bring phones or cameras. Hanford is still a facility which requires heavy security. So yes, no questions about specifics regarding generating nuclear fuel generation.
I’ve lived & worked near the Hanford site for many years, but its always seemed like a mystical and mysterious place. With names like the B-​Reactor, 100 Area, ERDF, & Fast Flux Test Facility, Hanford always seemed like another world — a world I was ignorant of. This tour helped to remedy my ignorance.
The drive alone was worth the price of admission (which was FREE!). But as we drove along the Hanford Reach and marveled at a place where time seems to have froze, it all worked its way up to the star of the tour:
B-​Reactor.
This scruffy looking structure just off of the Columbia River was amazing. It was constructed in a flash. The physics and engineering behind it are caveman-​esque by today’s standards, but in the 1940s it was a marvel of science. The teams of scientists, engineers, machinists, operators, and construction workers made a facility which was the ultimate «science project». This was by far the best part of the entire tour.
Well, I should mention the bathroom. Yes, here you will find one of the finest porta-​potties you’ll ever see. They’re air-​conditioned. They have art on the wall. There is even a pot of flowers (albeit fake). Do make a pitstop at the portapotty.
After the B-​Reactor the tour makes stops at a few of the other projects going on at Hanford — these projects are all related to how we deal with the deadly waste generated by the Hanford site. Waste generations will have to deal with… in other words, this portion of the tour isn’t as interesting.
So yeah, my only gripe about the tour is that you can’t take photographs or document anything — something I like to do when I go on tours, hikes, nights out on the town, etc. But that’s ok, they do have good reasons.
If you are lucky enough to be one of the few to get in on the tour, do so. You won’t regret it.

I happened to be in Richland, Washington, on business — a week long class for my Army job on radiochemistry (yes, I know that sounds very exciting for all of you readers…).
What better way to spend half a day of our class than to visit the B Reactor at the Hanford Site. For those of you who do not know, the B Reactor is the first full scale nuclear reactor in the world. It was fueled with uranium (made out at Oak Ridge National Labs) to make plutonium — the very plutonium that was used in Little Boy.
The tours are fairly new, and only offered at certain times of the year. I am not sure if that will change in the future. Though they are free, you do need to register in advance, and when I checked today, they were already booked for the rest of the year (50 dates total in 2010). They don’t maintain a waiting list (which I think is a mistake) but you can check back for cancellations.
Since the guy teaching our class knows the Hanford folks, he got the eight army folks in my class in on the tour today. How cool.
It’s about a 45 minute drive from Richland, WA to the reactor. Transportation is provided in a very comfy coach bus. The tour lasts about 2 — 2.5 hours on site, with some guided tour parts and some time to explore.
It’s a fairly new museum, so they are still developing the exhibits (aside from the massive reactor and stuff!). Am sure it will improve over time. Still, I think it was a worthwhile trip.
Stay inside the marked areas, as there are still some contaminated areas on site (but they are very safe — don’t worry!). Have fun. Check out the Trinity Site (
) next on your tour of Atomic History.