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May 21, 2010 in Region
DOE endorses Hanford B Reactor for national park
Deputy Secretary of Interior Lynn Scarlett sits at the controls of the B Reactor in this August 2008 photo as former weapons worker Paul Vinther, left, and Acting Deputy Secretary of Energy Jeffrey Kupfer look on.
(Full-size photo)
TRI-CITIES — Hanford’s historic B Reactor should be included in any Manhattan Project National Historical Park, along with key Department of Energy property in Tennessee and New Mexico, DOE has told the National Park Service.
Ines Triay, DOE assistant secretary for environmental management, has written a letter to Jon Jarvis, director of the National Park Service, to resolve its concerns about including B Reactor or other nuclear facilities in the park system.
“Given the nature of the properties currently under NPS ownership and/or operation, and the different missions of our two organizations, we fully understand your agency’s caution,” Triay wrote.
But a partnership between the two agencies could resolve any issues and would best tell the story of the Manhattan Project, she wrote.
In December, the National Park Service issued a draft report that considered only Los Alamos, N.M., for a proposed Manhattan Project National Park. The only things the park service considered at B Reactor were possibly providing technical assistance or educational programs.
Supporters of saving B Reactor as a museum have pushed to get the park service to reconsider the reactor’s future in its final report, despite park service concerns that including B Reactor in the park service could be expensive and risky.
“If it is part of the park service, it gets all the national and international advertising,” of other national parks, said Gary Petersen, Tri-City Development Council vice president of Hanford projects.
Triay’s letter assured DOE that any Manhattan Project facility, including B Reactor, would remain under DOE ownership even if they became part of the park service.
“DOE will maintain them, preserve important resources at these sites, ensure visitor and employee safety and request necessary funding from Congress to do so in the future,” she wrote.
That should ease park service concerns about the cost of drawing B Reactor into the park system, Petersen said.
The National Park Service also said in the draft study that it was concerned it would need to make judgments “regarding safety issues arising from the proximity of visitors and employees to radioactive materials.” Potential risk to future park service staff and volunteers also was a worry, it said.
DOE is prepared to bring to the partnership its radiological expertise, safety culture and in-depth knowledge of B Reactor and other Manhattan Project facilities it manages, she wrote.
During World War II, the United States rushed to build the nation’s first atomic bomb, fearing that its enemies had a head start in developing the weapon.
As part of the Manhattan Project, Hanford workers built the world’s first full-scale production reactor, B Reactor, in little more than a year. The reactor ushered in the Atomic Age, as it produced plutonium for the world’s first atomic explosion in the New Mexico desert and for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, helping end World War II. It continued to produce plutonium in the Cold War.
Last year, more than 6,300 people visited B Reactor, which looks much as it did in WWII. This year, the first 4,000 seats available for B Reactor public tours were reserved in less than 12 hours.
Information from Tri-City Herald.
Antsy toddler kicked off plane at Sea-Tac 
MrNatural on May 21 at 10:51 a.m.
Why? …Oh these quaint fascinations we have with the morbid moribund…sometimes I just don’t understand. Well at least the wildlife around the old “hot spot” will get a break.
polistra on May 21 at 1:09 p.m.
Homer Simpson’s boss Mr Burns is probably behind this move.
spokanecougar on May 21 at 1:31 p.m.
I thought National Parks were suppose to protect areas of natural beauty, not areas and buildings that man built to help kill hundreds of thousands of people. I understand this is a big historic site and I love history, but that should not be enough to include it as a National Park. Maybe a Historic area, but not a park - as I think anyone can attest to - that there really is nothing of beauty anywhere near Hanford as that was one of the main reason they built the reactor there because nothing was around to destroy in case something went wrong.
mikeln on May 21 at 9:37 p.m.
To think for one second the DOA won’t shift the cost of clean-up to the national park system at great cost to the parks people can really enjoy is just plain foolish. These people released radio active iodine on the people of the north west and to this date have refused to admit any wrong doing. They have spent more money defending themselves then it would have cost to admit what they did was wrong and take care of the people they made sick. But, I guess it’s what any other corporation would do.
D Statler on October 07 at 5:06 p.m.
For those of you that have not been there.The Hanford area is abundant with wildlife.Huge herds of Elk frequent the area. The Hanford reach area of the Columbia River is the last untamed stretch of the Columbia river.Salmon travel to this area every year to spawn.You can access this area by boat. It would be nice to be able to gain access to the river thru the gates of a National Park or a Historic area. I can only hope that we all can look past the obvious worries and appreciate any lands that can be set aside for Nature.This land will be a great addition for a National Park. I only hope the WHOLE Hanford Reach is included.