Hanford Time
B-Reactor Lg
B Reactor

    In the years 1943 to 1945, an extraordinary endeavor was undertaken in a remote area of central Washington State.
Picture Picture


    Under conditions of the utmost wartime secrecy and speed, scientists of the specially formed Manhattan Project collaborated with engineers and craftsmen of the Du Pont company  to produce a mysterious new element called plutonium for a superweapon called the Atom Bomb.
    The first atomic production reactor was called the B Reactor, and its construction at the Hanford Works was an historic accomplishment.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

    The B Reactor Museum Association of Richland, Washington, is working to preserve the history of the Hanford Site with special focus on the B Reactor, its role in the resolution of World War II, and its significance as one of the first sites of the Nuclear Age.
    The B Reactor Museum Association is documenting this technical achievement by compiling an oral history made up of the stories collected from selected veterans of this effort who are alive today.
    The story will be told in firsthand interviews with these eye-witnesses.

Picture
Picture

    The Project has three phases:


      Oral History-  Comprehensive interviews will be filmed and transcribed.  This material will be used for displays and educational presentations and will be edited for inclusion in onsite materials at the B Reactor Museum. The B Reactor Museum Association plans to use some of the material for promotional activities.


      Documentary Archives-  The videotaped interviews are being transcribed and collected as an archival record.  Other materials including still photographs, historical film footage, and graphic materials will become part of this collection.


      Broadcast Documentary Video-  Finally, a broadcast television program will be produced about the history of the B Reactor.
[Hanford Time] [TC Contents]