Richland, WA

The B Reactor at the Hanford reservation, built in just 11 months from 1943 to 1944, was the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor, designed to produce plutonium as part of the Manhattan Project. Plutonium from B Reactor and its two sisters, D and F Reactors, were used in the Trinity test bomb and the Nagasaki bomb. The reactor operated until February 1968. Most of the sister reactors at Hanford have been cocooned in concrete, but B Reactor was saved from a similar fate by BRMA (B Reactor Museum Association). BRMA spearheaded the effort to preserve B Reactor and see it opened to the public.

B Reactor tours run from April through mid-November and currently is free of charge. There are no age or citizenship restrictions. In the future the site will be run by the National Park Service and there may be fees associated with visiting, but for now the tours are free. A 45-minute bus ride to and from the reactor is required (no private vehicles allowed at this time). Docents are on the bus and at the reactor to provide information.