Hanford Nuclear Site ©Philo Nordlund
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Registration opened today for free public tours of the Hanford nuclear site, a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex in the U.S. state of Washington.
Hanford was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project and the site is home to the B Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world. Seats on this one-of-a-kind tour are limited and are expected to fill up fast.
The five-hour tours, each led by a Hanford employee, include a tour of Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant and its vitrification plant–which is currently under construction. The tours also include a rare chance to go inside Hanford’s historic B Reactor, which produced the plutonium used in the “Fat Man” bomb dropped over Nagasaki, Japan during World War II.
Last year, half of the tickets were snapped up within the first hour of registration and all the tickets were claimed after just eight short hours.
The tours are open only to U.S. citizens at least 18 years old. All tour participants must also adhere to a strict dress code.
Registration for the tours is offered only on the internet and only for two seats at a time.
Read more at the Tri-City Herald.