View source for Physics:B Reactor

{{Short description|Nuclear reactor in Washington, United States}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name            = B Reactor
| nrhp_type       = nhl
| image           = Hanford B Reactor.jpg
| caption         = The face of B Reactor during construction.
| location        = About {{cvt|5.3|mile|km}} northeast of junction of State Route 24 and State Route 240 on the [[Astronomy:Hanford Site|Hanford Site]]
| coordinates     = {{Coord|46|37|49|N|119|38|50|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin        = Washington#USA
| nearest_city    = Richland, Washington
| area            = {{cvt|9.5|acre|ha}}
| built           = June 7, 1943<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.energy.gov/about/breactor.htm |title=World's first nuclear reactor now a landmark |access-date=2008-08-26 |author=Shannon Dininny |agency=Associated Press |date=2008-08-26 |quote=Construction began on June 7, 1943... |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916040414/http://www.energy.gov/about/breactor.htm |archive-date=16 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> to September 1944<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/about/breactor.htm |title=Department of Energy – B Reactor |access-date=2008-08-26 |publisher=United States Department of Energy |date=2007-04-20 |quote=Completed in September 1944... |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916040414/http://www.energy.gov/about/breactor.htm |archive-date=16 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| architect       = [[Company:DuPont|E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company]]
| architecture    = 
| designated_nrhp_type=August 19, 2008<ref name="wla20080829">{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20080829.HTM |title=Weekly List Actions |access-date=2008-08-30 |publisher=National Park Service |date=2008-08-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031143513/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20080829.HTM |archive-date=October 31, 2008}}</ref>
| added           = April 3, 1992
| visitation_num  = 
| visitation_year = 
| refnum          = 92000245
| mpsub           = 
}}

The '''B Reactor''' at the [[Astronomy:Hanford Site|Hanford Site]], near Richland, Washington, was the first large-scale [[Physics:Nuclear reactor|nuclear reactor]] ever built. The project was a key part of the [[Physics:Manhattan Project|Manhattan Project]], the United States nuclear weapons development program during [[Social:World War II|World War II]]. Its purpose was to convert natural (not isotopically enriched) uranium metal into [[Physics:Plutonium-239|plutonium-239]] by [[Physics:Neutron activation|neutron activation]], as plutonium is simpler to chemically separate from spent fuel assemblies, for use in nuclear weapons, than it is to isotopically enrich uranium into weapon-grade material. The B reactor was fueled with metallic [[Physics:Natural uranium|natural uranium]], [[Physics:Neutron moderator|graphite moderated]], and water-cooled. It has been designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark since August 19, 2008<ref name="wla20080829" /><ref name="nhlnom">{{Cite journal |title=National Historic Landmark Nomination: B Reactor / 105-B; The 105-B Building in the 100-B/C Area at Hanford |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nhl/Fall07Nominations/B%20Reactor.pdf |date=February 2007 |author1=Michele S. Gerber |author2=Brian Casserly |author3=Frederick L. Brown |publisher=National Park Service|archive-date=2012-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026114343/http://www.nps.gov/history/nhl/Fall07Nominations/B%20Reactor.pdf}}</ref> and in July 2011 the National Park Service recommended that the B Reactor be included in the [[Physics:Manhattan Project National Historical Park|Manhattan Project National Historical Park]] commemorating the Manhattan Project.<ref name=thc>{{Cite news |last=Cary |first=Annette |title=HANFORD: Park service recommends B Reactor for national park |newspaper=Tri-City Herald |date=13 July 2011 |url=http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/07/13/1565637/hanford-park-service-recommends.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204194630/http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/07/13/1565637/hanford-park-service-recommends.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 February 2013 |access-date=17 July 2011}}</ref> Visitors can take a tour of the reactor by advance reservation.<ref name="Tours">{{cite web |title=The B Reactor National Historic Landmark |url=http://manhattanprojectbreactor.hanford.gov/ |publisher=Manhattan Project: B Reactor |access-date=12 November 2015}}</ref>

==Design and construction==
The reactor was designed and built by [[Company:DuPont|E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company]] based on experimental designs tested by [[Biography:Enrico Fermi|Enrico Fermi]] at the [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]], and tests from the [[Engineering:X-10 Graphite Reactor|X-10 Graphite Reactor]] at [[Organization:Oak Ridge National Laboratory|Oak Ridge National Laboratory]]. It was designed to operate at 250 megawatts (thermal).

The purpose of the reactor was to breed plutonium from natural (not isotopically enriched) uranium metal, as uranium enrichment was a difficult process, while plutonium is relatively simple to process chemically. The Y12 uranium enrichment plant required 14,700 tons of silver for its enrichment [[Physics:Calutron|calutron]]s, as well as 22,000 employees and more electrical power than most entire states required at the time. Reactor B required only a few dozen employees and fewer exotic materials, which were also required in far smaller amounts. The largest part of the reactor was 1200 tons of graphite used as a moderator, and its power consumption was vastly smaller, requiring only enough electricity to run the cooling pumps.<ref>The New World 1939, Page 71, Richard G. Hewlett, 1972</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/management/b-reactor |title=B Reactor |publisher= U.S. Department of Energy}} </ref>

The reactor occupies a footprint of {{cvt|46|by|38|ft|lk=on}} (about {{cvt|1750|sqft}} and is {{cvt|41|ft}} tall, occupying a volume of {{cvt|71500|cuft}}. The [[Engineering:Nuclear reactor core|reactor core]] itself consisted of a {{cvt|36|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} graphite box measuring {{cvt|28|by|36|ft}} occupying a volume of {{cvt|36288|cuft}} and weighing {{cvt|1200|ST}}. It was penetrated horizontally through its entire length by 2,004 aluminum tubes and vertically by channels for the vertical safety rods.<ref name=nhlnom />

The core is surrounded by a [[Astronomy:Heat shield|thermal shield]] of [[Chemistry:Cast iron|cast iron]] {{cvt|8|to|10|in|cm}} thick weighing {{cvt|1000|ST}}. Masonite and steel plates enclose the thermal shield on its top and sides, forming a biological shield for [[Physics:Radiation protection|radiation protection]]. The bottom of the thermal shield is supported by a {{cvt|23|ft|m|adj=mid|-thick}} concrete pad topped by cast-iron blocks. The [[Chemistry:Graphite|graphite]] composition was selected to [[Physics:Neutron moderator|moderate]] the [[Physics:Nuclear reaction|nuclear reaction]] fueled by {{cvt|200|ST}} of [[Chemistry:Uranium|uranium]] slugs approximately {{cvt|25|mm|0}} diameter {{cvt|70|mm|0}} long (the approximate size of a roll of quarters<ref name=nhlnom />), sealed in aluminum cans, and loaded into the aluminum tubes.<ref name=nhlnom />

The reactor was [[Physics:Water cooling|water-cooled]], with cooling water pumped from the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River through the aluminum tubes around the uranium slugs at the rate of {{cvt|75000|USgal|L}} per minute. The water was discharged into [[Chemistry:Settling basin|settling basin]]s, then returned to the river after allowing time for the [[Physics:Radioactive decay|decay of radioactive materials]], the settling out of particulate matter, and for the water to cool so it could be returned to the Columbia River. Water returning to the river was prohibited from raising the temperature of the river by more than 11&nbsp;°F.<ref name=DOEtour>{{cite web |title=Hanford Site Virtual Tours: 100-B Area |url=http://www.hanford.gov/?page=347&parent=326 |work=[[Astronomy:Hanford Site|Hanford Site]] website |author=United States Department of Energy |location=Richland, Washington |access-date=2009-10-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917223959/http://www.hanford.gov/?page=347&parent=326 |archive-date=September 17, 2008 |}}</ref>
[[File:Hanford Reach National Monument.png|thumb|right|Map of the Hanford site with the B/C reactor site shown at the upper left.]]

==Operation==

The B Reactor had its first [[Physics:Nuclear chain reaction|nuclear chain reaction]] in September 1944, the D Reactor in December 1944 and the F Reactor in February 1945. The initial operation was halted by a problem identified as neutron absorption by the fission product Xe-135, first identified in a research paper of [[Biography:Chien-Shiung Wu|Chien-Shiung Wu]] that was shared with Fermi.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dicke |first=William |title=Chien-Shiung Wu, 84, Top Experimental Physicist |url=http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/articles/wuobit.html |date=1997-02-18}}</ref> It was overcome by increasing the amount of uranium charged. The reactor produced [[Physics:Plutonium-239|plutonium-239]] by irradiating [[Physics:Uranium-238|uranium-238]] with [[Physics:Neutron|neutron]]s generated by the nuclear reaction. It was one of three reactors&nbsp;&ndash; along with the D and F reactors&nbsp;&ndash; built about six miles (10&nbsp;km) apart on the south bank of the Columbia River. Each reactor had its own auxiliary facilities that included a river pump house, large storage and settling basins, a filtration plant, large motor-driven pumps for delivering water to the face of the pile, and facilities for emergency cooling in case of a power failure.<ref name=nhlnom/>

Emergency shutdown of the reactor, referred to as a [[Physics:Scram|SCRAM]], was attained either by rapidly fully inserting the vertical safety rods or, as a backup method, by the injection of [[Physics:Borate|borate]]d water into the reactor. In January 1952, the borated water system was replaced by a "Ball-3X" system that injected [[Chemistry:Nickel|nickel]]-plated high-[[Chemistry:Boron|boron]] steel balls into the channels occupied by the vertical safety rods.<ref name=nhlnom/>

The plutonium for the nuclear bomb used in the Trinity test in New Mexico and the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan was created in the B reactor. The B Reactor ran for two decades, and was joined by additional reactors constructed later. It was permanently shut down in February 1968.<ref name=nhlnom/><ref name="Distillations">{{cite journal |last1=Boyle |first1=Rebecca |title=Greetings from Isotopia |journal=Distillations |date=2017 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=26–35 |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/greetings-from-isotopia |access-date=June 19, 2018}}</ref>

==Current status==
[[File:B reactor exterior 2018.jpeg|thumb|right|Exterior of the Hanford B Reactor as of 2018]]
[[File: B reactor control room 2018.jpeg|thumb|right|Hanford B Reactor Control Station as of 2018]]
[[File:B reactor face crane 2018.jpeg |thumb|right|Hanford B Reactor Tubes and Elevator as of 2018]]
The United States Department of Energy has administered the site since 1977<ref name="Long">{{cite news |last1=Long |first1=Tony |title=All U.S. Energy Placed Under Single Roof |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/08/0804us-energy-dept-created-doe/ |access-date=19 June 2018 |work=Wired.com |date=August 4, 1977}}</ref><ref name="S. 826">{{cite web |title=S. 826 — 95th Congress: Department of Energy Organization Act |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/95/s826 |website=www.GovTrack.us |access-date=19 June 2018 |date=1977}}</ref> and offers public tours on set dates during the spring, summer, and fall of the year, as well as special tours for visiting officials.<ref name="Tours"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Hanford Site Tours |url=https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/hanfordsitetours |website=Hanford.gov |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref>

{{As of|2014}} six of the nine production reactors at Hanford were considered to be in "interim safe storage" status, and two more were to receive similar treatment. The exception was the B Reactor, which was given special status for its historical significance.<ref name="Risk2014">{{cite book |last1=National Research Council |title=Best Practices for Risk-Informed Decision Making Regarding Contaminated Sites: Summary of a Workshop Series |date=2014 |publisher=The National Academies Press |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0-309-30305-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uSdfBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT68 |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref>

In a process called cocooning or [[Physics:Nuclear entombment|entombment]], the reactor buildings are demolished up to the {{cvt|4|ft|m|adj=mid|-thick}} [[Chemistry:Concrete|concrete]] shield around the reactor core. Any openings are sealed and a new roof is built.<ref name="K"/> Most auxiliary buildings at the first three reactors have been demolished, as well.
The C reactor was put into operation in 1952 and was shut down in 1969.<ref name="CGov">{{cite web |title=C Reactor |url=https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/CReactor |website=Hanford.gov |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref> It was cocooned as of 1998.<ref name="Cary">{{cite news |last1=Cary |first1=Annette |title=Looking inside Hanford's cocooned reactors |url=http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/hanford/article32231739.html |access-date=19 June 2018 |work=Tri-City Herald |date=July 4, 2015}}</ref>
The D reactor operated from 1944 to June 1967, and was cocooned in 2004. The DR Reactor went online in October 1950,<ref name="DGov">{{cite web |title=D and DR Reactors |url=https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/DDRReactors |website=Hanford.gov |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref> and was shut down in 1964. It was cocooned in 2002.<ref name="ISS">{{cite web |title=ISS Reactors |url=https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/LTSTransition/ISSReactors#DR_Reactor |website=Hanford.gov |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref>
The F reactor was shut down in June 1965 and cocooned in 2003.<ref name="F">{{cite news |last1=Cary |first1=Annette |title=Hanford's F Reactor passes 5-year inspection |url=http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/hanford/article32203065.html |access-date=19 June 2018 |work=Tri-City Herald |date=October 22, 2014}}</ref>
The H Reactor became operational as of October 1949 and was shut down as of April 1965. It was cocooned as of 2005.<ref name="HGov">{{cite web |title=H Reactor |url=https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/HReactor |website=Hanford.gov |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref>
Cocooning of the [[Engineering:N-Reactor|N-Reactor]], which operated from 1963 to 1987, was completed as of June 14, 2012.<ref name="N">{{cite news |last1=Office of Environmental Management |title=N Reactor Placed In Interim Safe Storage: Largest Hanford Reactor Cocooning Project Now Complete |url=https://www.energy.gov/em/articles/hanford-workers-enter-reactor-prepare-cocooning |access-date=19 June 2018 |work=Energy.gov |date=June 14, 2012}}</ref>
The decommissioned reactors are inspected every five years by the Department of Energy.<ref name="Cary"/>

The K East and K West reactors were built in the 1950s and went into use in 1955. They were shut down in 1970 and 1971, but reused temporarily for storage later.<ref name="Gerber">{{cite book |last1=Gerber |first1=Michele Stenehjem |title=On the home front : the cold war legacy of the Hanford nuclear site |date=2007 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |location=Lincoln |isbn=978-0803259959 |page=227 |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Y33xWBvyb0C&pg=PA227 |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref>
Preliminary plans for interim stabilizing of the K-East and K-West reactors were underway as of January 30, 2018.<ref name="K">{{cite news |last1=Office of Environmental Management |title=Hanford Workers Enter Reactor to Prepare for Cocooning |url=https://www.energy.gov/em/articles/hanford-workers-enter-reactor-prepare-cocooning |access-date=19 June 2018 |work=Energy.gov |date=January 30, 2018}}</ref>

The B Reactor was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#{{NRHP url|92000245|92000245}}) on April 3, 1992. A Record of Decision (ROD) was issued in 1999, and an EPA Action Memorandum in 2001 authorized hazards mitigation in the reactor with the intention of allowing public tours of the reactor.<ref name="Potter">{{cite web |last1=Potter |first1=Robert F. |title=Preserving the Hanford B-Reactor: A Monument to the Dawn of the Nuclear Age |url=https://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/201001/potter.cfm |website=APS Physics |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref> It was named a National Historic Landmark on August 19, 2008.<ref name=wla20080829/><ref name=nhlnom/>

In December 2014, passage of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) made the B reactor part of the [[Physics:Manhattan Project National Historical Park|Manhattan Project National Historical Park]], which also includes historic sites at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Los Alamos, New Mexico.<ref name="PA">{{cite web |title=Congress Passes Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act |url=https://www.atomicheritage.org/article/congress-passes-manhattan-project-national-historical-park-act |website=Atomic Heritage Foundation |access-date=20 June 2018 |date=December 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=B Reactor Museum Association Richland, Washington, USA |url=http://b-reactor.org/ |website=B Reactor |access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref> The park was formally established by a Memorandum of Agreement on November 10, 2015, which was signed by the National Park Service and the Department of Energy. Museum development at Hanford may include the B Reactor, Bruggemann's Warehouse, Hanford High School, Pump House, and White Bluffs Bank.<ref name="MA">{{cite web |title=Foundation Document Manhattan Project National Historical Park Tennessee, New Mexico, Washington |url=https://www.nps.gov/mapr/upload/MAPR_FD_PRINT.pdf |website=NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR |access-date=20 June 2018 |page=33 |date=January 2017}}</ref>

==Timeline of major events==
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Date
!Event
|-
|1943
|October
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breaks ground to build B Reactor<ref name=USDOE>{{Citation |title=Manhattan Project B Reactor: World's first full-scale nuclear reactor |volume=HNF-41115, Rev. 0 |date=May 2009 |publisher=US Department of Energy |osti=952590 |last1=Ms |first1=Gerber}}</ref>
|-
|1944
|September 13
| First uranium fuel slug loaded into B Reactor<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|1944
|September 26
|Initial reactor [[Physics:Criticality (status)|criticality]] achieved<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|1945
|February 3
|B Reactor plutonium delivered to [[Organization:Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos]]<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|1945
|July 16
|B Reactor plutonium used in world's first nuclear explosion. (Trinity Test Site, New Mexico) <ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|1945
|August 9
|B Reactor plutonium used in ''Fat Man'' bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|1946
|March
|B Reactor operations suspended<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|1948
|June
|B Reactor operation resumed<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|1949
|March
|B Reactor begins production of [[Physics:Tritium|tritium]] for use in hydrogen bombs<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|1954
|March 1
|First use of B Reactor tritium in a test detonation of a hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}
|-
|1968
|January 29
|Atomic Energy Commission directs shutdown of B Reactor<ref name=USDOE />
|-
|1976
|
|B Reactor declared National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by [[Organization:American Society of Mechanical Engineers|American Society of Mechanical Engineers]]<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|1994
|
|B Reactor declared National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by [[Organization:American Society of Civil Engineers|American Society of Civil Engineers]]<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|2008
|
|B Reactor declared National Historic Landmark by U.S. Department of Interior and National Park Service<ref name=USDOE/>
|-
|2009
|
|U.S. Department of Energy announces public tours<ref name=DOE>{{Citation |title=Manhattan Project B Reactor Tour Information |date=Feb 14, 2011 |url=http://manhattanprojectbreactor.hanford.gov/ |access-date=17 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721041032/http://manhattanprojectbreactor.hanford.gov/ |archive-date=21 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|2011
|July
|National Park Service recommends B Reactor be included in a national historic park commemorating the [[Physics:Manhattan Project|Manhattan Project]].<ref name=thc/>

|-
|2014 
|December
| 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes B reactor in [[Physics:Manhattan Project National Historical Park|Manhattan Project National Historical Park]]<ref name="PA"/>

|-
| 2015
| November 10
| Manhattan Project National Historical Park formally established by Memorandum of Agreement<ref name="MA"/>
|}

==See also==
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Washington
*National Register of Historic Places listings in Benton County, Washington

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060610175214/http://washingtonclosure.com/ Washington Closure Hanford]- {{cite web |url=http://www.washingtonclosure.com/documents/newsletter/Vol_01_Issue_04.pdf |title=Project News Volume 1, Issue 04 |access-date=2010-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129105126/http://washingtonclosure.com/documents/newsletter/Vol_01_Issue_04.pdf |archive-date=2010-11-29 |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.hanford.gov/doe/history/docs/rl-97-1047/dates.pdf |title=Hanford Site – Timeline 1943–1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225154735/http://www.hanford.gov/doe/history/docs/rl-97-1047/dates.pdf|archive-date=2009-02-25 |year=1997}}
*{{cite report |title=History of the 100-B area |publisher=US DoE |url=http://www.osti.gov/manhattan-project-history/publications/DOEHistory100B.pdf |id=WHC-EP-0273}}

==External links==
*{{HAER |survey=WA-164 |id=wa0703 |title=B Reactor, Richland, Benton County, WA |photos=32 |data=148 |cap=4}}
*[http://www.atomicheritage.org/tours/B%20Reactor "Ranger in Your Pocket" online tours] Atomic Heritage Foundation
*[http://manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/hanford-25th-anniversary-celebration Hanford 25th Anniversary Celebration] Video of the 25th anniversary celebration of the construction of B Reactor
*[http://www.b-reactor.org/ B Reactor Museum Association] A collection of Hanford-related documents from a group working to preserve the B-100 Reactor at Hanford.
*[http://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/HanfordSiteTours Hanford Site Tours] – Department of Energy, includes B Reactor

{{Manhattan Project}}


[[Category:Defunct nuclear reactors]]
[[Category:Graphite moderated reactors]]
[[Category:History of physics]]

{{Sourceattribution|B Reactor}}