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| Title | Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor, Building 309, Hanford Nuclear Reservation, Washington, 1961 |
| Photographer | Staff Photographer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| Date | 1961 |
| Caption | The United States Department of Energy's Hanford Reservation sits on 586 square miles in the desert of southeastern Washington State. The area is home to nine former nuclear reactors and their associated processing facilities that were built beginning in 1943. The reactors were used to produce plutonium, a man-made, radioactive, chemical element which was needed for atomic weapons associated with America's defense program during World War II and throughout the Cold War. Plutonium from Hanford was used in the Fat Man bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in August of 1945 and helped to end World War II. Hanford reactors produced plutonium from 1944 until 1987. The site has been in a transitional, clean-up phase since 1989.
Completed in 1960, the 309 Building housed the Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor used for development of commercial nuclear fuels. Tests in nine years of operation included the deliberate rupture of uranium, plutonium and mixed-oxide fuel assemblies. The building was demolished in January of 2011. |
| Notes | Written on sleeve: HANFORD, Wash., General
Caption information source: http://www.hanford.gov
Caption information source: http://www.yournuclearnews.com
Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): May 1961. |
| Subjects | Hanford Site (Wash.); Nuclear reactors--Washington (State)--Hanford; Radioactive substances--Washington (State)--Hanford; Radioactive waste--Washington (State)--Hanford |
| Places | United States--Washington (State)--Hanford |
| Digital Collection | Museum of History & Industry Photograph Collection |
| Image Number | 1986.5.3898.1 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@mohai.org or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph. |
| Credit Line | Seattle Post-Intelligencer Photograph Collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle; All Rights Reserved |
| Repository | Museum of History & Industry, Seattle (MOHAI). |
| Repository Collection | Seattle Post-Intelligencer Photograph Collection |
| Type | Image |
| Physical Description | 1 acetate negative: b&w; 4 x 5 in. |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from film positive as 4350 pixel TIFF image in 16-bit grayscale, resized to 700 pixels in the longest dimension and compressed into JPEG format using Photoshop CS4. |
