National Historic Landmark · nuclear reactor · Richland, Washington

Hanford B Reactor

First industrial-scale nuclear reactor in Richland, Washington. Built 1944. Added to the National Register in 1992, and a National Historic Landmark.

National Historic LandmarkBuilt 1944Listed 1992
3-Hanford-s-B-Reactor-in-operation-January-1945B Reactor at Hanford - After the Concrete Wall Repairs and Painting was CompletedB reactor control room 2018B Reactor Entrance Hallway (4386a3cf-0f52-4ba6-9be7-d7d8828bc402)
Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 6 in the Commons category

What it is

Wikipedia · B Reactor

The B Reactor at the Hanford Site, near Richland, Washington, was the first large-scale nuclear reactor ever built, at 250 MW. It achieved criticality on September 26, 1944. This reactor was of vital importance to the Manhattan Project, the United States nuclear weapons development program during World War II. Its purpose was to convert part of its natural uranium fuel into plutonium-239 by neutron activation, for use in nuclear weapons. Pure plutonium was then chemically separated at the site's T Plant, as an alternative to the Project's uranium enrichment plants in Tennessee. The B reactor was graphite moderated and water-cooled, via a contaminating open cycle with the Columbia River.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

National Register of Historic Places
Property typeStructure
AddressNear jct. of WA 24 and WA 240, Hanford Site, Richland vicinity, WA
CountyBenton County
ListedApr 3, 1992
Reference number92000245
Built1944
Type of placenuclear reactor
DesignationsNational Historic Landmark, Historic Civil Engineering Landmark
Contributing resources1 structures
StandingYes

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Access not on record
AddressNear jct. of WA 24 and WA 240, Hanford Site, Richland, WA
Coordinates46.63035, -119.64732 · Directions ↗
Nearest national park unitIce Age Floods National Geologic Trail · 31 mi · on Park Atlas
Listing on the Register does not open the door. Unless a museum or park runs it, treat this as private property and see it from the sidewalk.

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Map

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Reference

Exists because it is true

Sources

Location, dates, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 92000245. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.