Special places archive
April 1999
Hanford Site Historic District
Hanford (near Richland, Washington, USA) .. was established in secrecy during the Second World War to produce plutonium for America’s nuclear weapons. Peak production years were reached in the 1960s when 9 production reactors were in operation at the Site. All weapons material production was halted in the late 1980s and the Site is now engaged in the world’s largest environmental cleanup project — Hanford is also the subject of a project (well documented on this web site) to conserve and interpret its historic significance.
