One of DTE’s favorite columnists, Knute Berger of Crosscut, has a new essay about the discovery of historic plutonium in a safe at Hanford. He writes “’Nuclear archaeology’” itself is an interesting term because for the most part, nuclear waste is something you don't want to dig up, and few would find it to be of historical interest, but the history of the Atomic Age is coming into its own, so it makes sense that all nuclear waste is not equal: the earliest example of man-made plutonium is held by the Smithsonian.” More.

For the record, we’ve editorialized against Hanford’s B Reactor, a Manhattan Project site, earning National Historic Landmark designation. The moral argument is far too complex for a public tour with the Department Of Energy. Yes, it’s a technical marvel but at what cost?



 

Outside a laboratory, a toy wagon is used to carry radioactive material at Hanford Atomic Energy plant in 1955. Photo by Nat Farbman, from the amazing LIFE/Google archive.

 

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