Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
First were the scablands followed by the former Lake Missoula Glaciers of Montana. Now it’s time for the third two-day trip for the Whitman County Historical Society: the Hanford “B” Reactor.
The trip will take place May 16-17 as part of the society’s new two-day trip series which began in 2011.
“We’ve been doing trips of a single day for several years,” said Historical Society President Dan Leonard. “Then we thought enough people were showing interest that we could do a two-day trip.”
At the conclusion of the Missoula Glaciers venture, guests were asked what they might be interested in seeing next. The Hanford B reactor was one suggestion.
So last summer, Leonard and his wife, Joyce, went to check it out.
Since then, he has been working on putting together an itinerary.
“The Hanford Reservation is basically on a transient glacial lake, a big sedimentary deposit,” said Leonard, a member of the Whitman County Historical Society (WCHS) board.
On the trip, as part of a guided tour by the U.S. Department of Energy, guests will get a look at the second nuclear reactor ever built. The first was a test device under the football stadium bleachers at the University of Chicago.
It generated 1,000 watts of electricity in 1941. A year later, under the auspices of the Manhattan Project, Army engineers began building the B reactor near Richland, putting out 250,000 watts of power.
“In order to build it, they had to essentially invent everything,” said Leonard. “How can you control one that big? How can you cool it?’
Once those questions were answered, plutonium was soon being produced. Meanwhile a town grew quickly to support it.
“In a relatively unpopulated area, it took only 18 months to go from sagebrush to an operating reactor,” Leonard said.
The world’s first nuclear weapon was tested on July 16, 1945, at the White Sands Missile Testing Range in New Mexico. Inside it was plutonium made at the B reactor.
This and more history will be part of the trip. The night of May 16, guests will stay overnight at the Super 8 motel in Kennewick, then visit the Wallula Gap portion of the Columbia River followed by stops at various Walla Walla wineries on the way back.
Guests will leave and return from the Wheatland Express bus lot east of Pullman on the Moscow Highway.
“Hanford is the site of a lot of highly radioactive waste materials,” said Leonard. “The country hasn’t come up with a solution to store these materials long-term. It’s been an area of concern for people in our region.”
Trip participants must be at least 12 years old and have a government issued identification. Cameras are permitted. The cost is $190 for one WCHS member in one motel room or $260-$285 for two. Non-members pay an extra $20, which will make them members for one year.
Leonard said that is done for insurance purposes.
He indicated that 30 spots on the 46-passenger bus have been claimed.
“We try to put together trips to see things in our area that are pretty fantastic and keep it affordable,” Leonard said.
To sign up for the trip, visit the historical society’s web site.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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