Hanford reactor part of Manhattan Project national park

Legislation to preserve Hanford’s B Reactor as a part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park was passed Friday by the U.S. Senate.

The provision was included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014, and now heads to President Barack Obama’s desk for his signature.

Also included in the national historical park are Manhattan Project sites in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Hanford was created during the Manhattan Project in World War II to make plutonium. The B Reactor was the first full-sized nuclear reactor in the world and made the plutonium for the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

The defense bill also transferred a surplus 1,600 acres at the Hanford site to the Tri-City Development Council for economic development; expanded the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area by 22,000 acres; and designated the Middle Fork Snoqualmie and Pratt Rivers as Wild and Scenic.

Associated Press