Gallery: Images of Hanford

by WSM staff

Architect, photographer, and alumnus Harley Cowan photographed Hanford Site as part of a fellowship to document the historic location, now part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

Read more about Cowan and the project.

loading face of B Reactor at Hanford — A Cathedral of Science – This is the loading face of B Reactor (1944), the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor which produced the plutonium for the Trinity Test in Los Alamos, New Mexico and the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

reactor operator's console in Hanford control room — Control Room – A broader view of the reactor operator’s console and scram panel within the Control Room. This chair is an original. Today, a different chair is placed here during tour season.

monitoring panel in Hanford Control Room — Control Panel – This console in the Control Room is part of the monitoring instrumentation.

wiring harness for the temperature monitoring equipment for B Reactor's bioshield at Hanford — Wiring Harness – This wiring harness for the temperature monitoring equipment for B Reactor’s bioshield, is hand-tied wax string. Circuits are hand-soldered. A Ray-o-Vac D-Cell supplies a constant flow of electricity to the circuitry.

ballast tanks at Hanford — Ballast Tanks – Looking at the underside of the ballast tanks and the connection to the accumulators. 4×4 wood posts provide a “soft brake” if the ballast tanks were to crash down in an emergency. The system pumps are in the background.

reactor operator's console inside B Reactor at Hanford — Reactor Operator’s Station – This is the reactor operator’s console inside B Reactor. The clocks have been set to the time when B Reactor went critical on September 26th, 1944, marking the world’s first self-sustaining chain reaction.

Gauges to monitor cooling water in Hanford B Reactor — Scram Panel – This is part of the Control Room within B Reactor. These Venturi valve gauges monitor cooling water across the 2,004 process tubes containing fissile uranium fuel slugs.

Interior of the Bruggemann Warehouse on the Hanford Reservation with collapsed beams — The Bruggemann Warehouse (1907) – The Bruggemann Warehouse on the Hanford Reservation. This was abandoned with the creation of the reservation. This view is looking north inside the main storage space. Three pairs of carriage doors face east.

Bruggemann Warehouse on the Hanford Reservation — The Bruggemann Warehouse (1907) – The Bruggemann Warehouse on the Hanford Reservation. This was abandoned with the creation of the reservation. West and south façades shown.

Allard Pump House on what is now the Hanford Reservation — Allard Pump House (1908) – The Allard Pump House on what is now the Hanford Reservation supplied Columbia River water to the towns of Hanford and White Bluffs and irrigated thousands of acres of farmland. Fill has been added on the south side of the building. Originally, the building as surrounded by water and access was from the bank via bridge.

interior of the Allard Pump House on Hanford Reservation — Allard Pump House (1908) – The interior of the Allard Pump House looking west. This building was currently being used as the residence for a pair of barn owls.

Diesel oil tank at B Reactor — Diesel Oil – Diesel oil tank at B Reactor

Hanford High School, abandoned with the creation of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation — Hanford High School (1916) – Hanford High School, abandoned with the creation of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Little else exists of the town of Hanford, Washington.

White Bluffs Bank abandoned on the Hanford Reservation — Rehabilitation of the White Bluffs Bank (1909) – The White Bluffs Bank, currently under restoration. This is the only building remaining at the abandoned town of White Bluffs, evacuated for the creation of the Hanford Reservation. The block building still contains its safe. The existing wooden window frames and sashes, thanks to the desiccating climate, were mostly salvageable and were repaired and reglazed.

White Bluffs Bank, currently under restoration, on the Hanford Reservation — The White Bluffs Bank (1909) – The White Bluffs Bank, currently under restoration, is the only building remaining at the abandoned town of White Bluffs, evacuated for the creation of the Hanford Reservation. Note the hand-painted sign, added after the bank was no longer in use, is being preserved in situ. It warns Hanford workers to “inspect, detect, and correct fire hazards,” a serious problem at abandoned townsites.

B Reactor at Hanford — B Reactor

B Reactor at Hanford — B Reactor (1944) – Looking northwest toward B Reactor.

South side opposite control room of B Reactor at Hanford — The Far Side – The south side of B Reactor is referred to as the far side because it is opposite from the Control Room. The most critical walls, those around the reactor core, are reinforced, cast-in-place concrete. Other walls were constructed of concrete brick and block, which could be completed faster.

access door into the transfer and storage area on the far side of B Reactor — Transfer & Storage – An access door into the transfer and storage area on the far side of B Reactor and adjacent mechanical ductwork.

vertical safety rods to rapidly shut down B Reactor at Hanford — Vertical Safety Rods – The vertical safety rods (VSR) are used to rapidly shut down the chain reaction in an emergency. The rods contain boron, a neutron absorbing material which “poisons” the chain reaction by robbing it of free neutrons. Each circular hopper contained a sixty foot long safety rod which, during operation, would be suspended by the cables up above the reactor core. In an emergency or a power outage they would drop by gravity into the reactor. The rods have articulated segments so that even if an earthquake shifted the graphite blocks of the core, they could still snake their way down. Piping on the far wall was part of a last ditch safety system, tanks (no longer extant) filled with liquid boron solution which could be poured down the VSR channels. Wet graphite would make the reactor useless so, a few years after B Reactor began operating, the liquid boron system was replaced with the “Ball-X” system, spheres of boron encased in nickel. These could also pour down the VSR channels but be vacuumed out later. At the left in front of the short stair is one of the vacuums–it looks like a rocket.

Warning tag on valve at Hanford — Tagged Out – Here a hand-painted, wooden warning tag prevents workers from closing a cooling system valve at the loading face of the reactor.

Photos by Harley Cowan