I knew that they were developing this into a National Historical Park. From The Seattle Times:
Hanford’s Manhattan Project park celebrates first year
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park at Hanford is a year old and proving to be quite popular.
About 13,000 people visited the park in its first year, despite its relatively remote location in southeastern Washington, far from the state’s major population centers.
“It’s a great number,” said Kris Kirby, who recently was named superintendent of the historical park.
She’s based in Denver and is splitting her time among the park’s three sites: the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and Los Alamos, N.M. Each community played a key role in developing the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.
I am fascinated by nuclear energy - had the great pleasure of travelling with Lulu to visit Trinity Site two years ago. The main event at this park?
The centerpiece of the Hanford park is the B Reactor, the world’s first full-sized nuclear reactor. It was hurriedly built by the Manhattan Project in the darkest days of the war as the United States rushed to beat Nazi Germany in developing the first atomic bomb.
Tours?
Park tours are offered spring through fall, and Kirby wants to focus on increasing the number of people who take them.
Sounds like this new park is in good hands - looking forward to visiting in a year or two. One place I love that I have not been to in well over ten years is the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport, WA. Maybe we can do a trip out there sometime this spring...
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