Historical Documents

Lost in the Telling

B Reactor Historic American Engineering Record (HAER)

This 191-page document, written by the B Reactor Museum Association, is the official record of B Reactor construction and operation. It is kept in the archives of the Library of Congress. Read “B-Reactor HAER”

The Atomic Fortress

The Atomic Fortress B-Reactor at Hanford

B Reactor: A Marvel

Hanford's Historic B Reactor

B Reactor: A Nuclear Icon

1943 Memorandum for the construction of Hanford

Construction of Hanford Plant

Links of Related Interest

The Hanford Nuclear Site is run by the Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) of the U.S. Department of Energy and is the home of the B Reactor. Hanford was Site W during the Manhattan Project and created plutonium for the Trinity test and the Nagasaki atomic bomb. Provides current information about clean up activities on the 560-square-mile Hanford Site as well as historical documents and photographs.

Hanford News is an online resource of the Tri-City Herald, with current news and archive of Hanford, Department of Energy and nuclear-related articles and information. Includes Hanford history, photos, documents and related links.

The Atomic Heritage Foundation, Washington DC, is dedicated to preserving the history of the Manhattan Project. It is working to raise Congressional and other support for preserving major historic facilities and other aspects of the history for public education, interpretation, and commemoration. The Foundation is working with BRMA and other organizations on a Manhattan Project 60th Anniversary commemoration. The nonprofit corporation invites individual tax-deductible contributions to assist in these endeavors.

Trinity Atomic Web Site tells the story of nuclear weapons through historical documents, photos, and videos. Includes criticality accidents, nuclear test photos, nuclear weapon physics and effects, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and more.

Fifty Years from Trinity is The Seattle Times Web edition of a special supplement that was printed on July 16, 1995. Includes supplementary material, interactive activities, and Internet links.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is another Department of Energy site in Tennessee. Oak Ridge was the Manhattan Project’s Site X and separated uranium 235 from natural uranium for the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, is also under the Department of Energy. Los Alamos was the Manhattan Project’s Site Y, and is where the first atomic bombs were designed and built. Includes a link to the Bradbury Science Museum.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a major DOE office of Basic Energy Sciences laboratory in Richland, Washington. Originally the Hanford Laboratories, it has been operated by Battelle Memorial Institute since 1965.

The Nuclear Weapon Archive contains an interesting and broad assortment of nuclear weapons documents and links.

“Venona: Soviet Espionage and the American Response, 1939-1957” on the CIA Web site, is an exhibit of the National Cryptologic Museum, Ft. Meade, Maryland. It consist of thousands of decoded and declassified messages that reveal details about Soviet espionage against the U.S. atomic bomb program in the 1940s and ’50s. The first nuclear reactors built in the Soviet Union bore a remarkable resemblance to those that already existed at Hanford.