The N-Reactor at Hanford was the ninth nuclear reactor built for plutonium production. It utilized a graphite-moderated, dual-pass reactor design that was more efficient than previous single-pass reactors. During construction in the early 1960s, leaks were discovered in the stainless steel steam generators, requiring replacement of the tubing with Inconel alloy prior to startup. The intentional release of radioactive iodine in 1963 to study dispersion was one of several controversial radiation experiments conducted at the site.

1. N-Reactor Time Line
1956-2014

2. The N-Reactor
Hanford’s 9th Process Reactor in use Dec. 31.
1963-1987 will be unlike the earlier models
Columbia river, light
water cooled,
Uranium fueled
Recirculated
primary coolant
water
No Containment
dome
Higher temperature
and pressure
Similarities Differences

3. New Production Reactor
Hank Kosmata arrived in Hanford in January
1954. Kosmata worked with “Reactor Design
Analysis,” a team of physicists, mathematicians,
and mechanical engineers. Kosmata and his team
finalized the basis of what would become the
“New Production Reactor,” or N Reactor.

4. June 29 , 1956
Bill introduced by Senator
Henry M. Jackson allows
Atomic Energy Commission
to exchange power produced
at Hanford with private
utilities. The exchange
would counter conservative
charges the government
was subsidizing electricity. Sen. Henry M. Jackson, D-WA

5. Jackson’s Proposal
Killed in the House July 24, 1956
Dual use reactor for both Plutonium &
power production.
“Atomic Bank” to stockpile Plutonium.
Accelerate civilian atomic power
development
Counter projected power shortages

6. The Opposition
“I do not believe the AEC
has anymore business to
be engaged in the
production of power on a
major scale then the Civil
Aviation Board has to be
in the business of
manufacturing
airplanes.”
Sen. Bourke B. Hickenlooper, R-IA
Rep. James Van Zandt R-PA
Sen. Hickenlooper

7. Washington Public
Power Supply System
A United States public power agency
similar to Tennessee Valley Authority
Formed by State law in 1957 to produce
power at-cost for Northwest Utilities
1983 Second largest default in US
history; $2.25 billion
Re-named Energy Northwest in 1998

8. Economy Falters in
the United States
Bonneville Power Administration
a federal agency based in the
Pacific Northwest
Created by Congress in 1937
Markets electricity provided by
Dams on the Columbia River
Distributing power from the New
Process Reactor over government
owned power lines
In 1957 BPA’s growth was
beginning an unexpected decline
0
5
10
15
20
1956 1957
Energy Sales Revenue

9. Sputnik Crisis
sparks reconsideration
USSR orbits first artificial
Earth satellite.
Launched October 4, 1957.
Sputnik inaugurates the
Space Race.
Competition between the
US and USSR spirals
Sputnik-1 Replica

10. 1958 New Process Reactor
Plutonium production only. Convertible to Power
production at a future time with Congressional approval.

11. New Process Reactor
Construction Begins
$125 million for GE
designed reactor
$25 million features
for later power
conversion
Includes Burns & Roe
Steam Generators

12. John F. Kennedy elected
Glenn T. Seaborg, advocate of
nuclear power, appointed chair of
the Atomic Energy Commission
Democrats make a new attempt to
authorize the use of built in power
generation “convertibility” of New
Process Reactor.
JFK indicates support for NPR
conversion in 1961

13. NPR Conversion Bill
Reintroduced 1961
Coal industry and private Utilities oppose
NPR power conversion
Rep. Van Zandt Amendment to kill NPR
passes July 1961
Rep. Van Zandt “instructs” House
conferees killing the bill August 8, 1961

14. WPPSS to fund & own
steam power at NPR
Formal proposal from WPPSS to
Seaborg for State funding of conversion
Financed by $130 million in revenue
bonds sold by the State
Sells electricity to Bonneville Power
Administration
Sale of power to bring in $31-125
million depending on Pu production needs

15. WPPSS Bonds
Basic Construction
$95 million
Interest on Bonds
$10.5 million
Reserves $9 million
Other costs $13.5
million
Total $128 million

16. Congress Weighs In
House Appropriations Public Works
subcommittee hearings April 1962.
JCAE Hearings July 10, 11, 1962
Sen. Jackson adds a clause to offer half
of NPR power to private power
companies.
Jackson says it’s the “only way to save
Hanford.”

17. NPR Power Authorized
Opponents claim a “hidden subsidy.”
Biggest lobbying
blitz until the SST
in the 1970s
JFK signs AEC bill
on September 26,
1962 President John F. Kennedy signs the bill
authorizing NPR power conversion

18. Heat Transfer System
by Burns & Roe
Founded in New York City
in 1932
Designs complex technical
facilities
Ralph C. Roe founder
designed power plants
Kenneth A. Roe, son
enlisted in the Navy 1941
Kenneth A. Roe
Ralph Coates Roe

19. Kenneth A. Roe
1916-1991
Kenneth A. Roe studied Naval architecture
at Naval Postgraduate School
Assigned to Philadelphia Navy Yard in
WWII designing gun turrets - promoted to
Lt. Commander
Personal Assistant to Admiral Hyman G.
Rickover “Father of the Nuclear Navy”
President of Burns & Roe in 1963, CEO 1971

20. Burns & Roe
Projects 1950s
Semi-Automatic Ground
Environmental (SAGE) air-
warning network system
1953 “The Big
Board”
Air Force BOMARC
Launching Shelters 1955
NASA Telstar Earth
Station 1958
Prototype “Hard” Nike-
Zeus Anti-Missile System
Facilities
1958-61

21. Burns & Roe
Projects ‘60s-80s
Combined desalination
and electric power plant
Guantanamo Naval Base,
Point Loma, Gitmo, Cuba
1964
Hydroballistic Facility
U.S. Naval Ordnance
Laboratory ca. 1966
High Energy Laser
Systems Test Facility
White Sands Missile
Range, NM ca. 1980

22. Owen Hurd of WPPSS
on Burns & Roe
Burns & Roe is written
into the contract for the
New Process Reactor

23. Charles F. Luce of BPA on
Burns & Roe
Rep. Craig Hosner, R-CA
Luce went on to head Con Edison in NYC

24. Designated Contractor

25. Doubts in Congress
September 1962

26. Early Hanford Reactors
are “single-pass”
Graphite moderated
design cooled by
Columbia River
water that is
returned to the river
after treatment

27. Single-pass story
First Hanford reactor “B”
made plutonium for
Trinity test and Nagasaki
Radioactive waste
pollutes the Columbia
River and Pacific Ocean.
Weapons reactors are
closed permanently by
1971.

28. Single-Pass Reactors
Reactor Operational Image
B 1944-1968
D 1944-1967
F 1945-1965
H 1949-1965
DR 1950-1964
C 1952-1969
KW 1955-1971
KE 1955-1971

29. N-Reactor 1963-1987
N-Reactor was a graphite/water-moderated nuclear
reactor built during the Cold War and operated by the
U.S. at the Hanford Site in Washington.

30. Graphite Moderated
dual pass reactor
The only Hanford reactor
with a primary cooling
system re-circulating
pressurized water through
the reactor and heat
exchangers where a
secondary system linked to
the river generated steam to
run electrical generating
turbines. This reduced heat
and radioactivity releases
into the Columbia River over
the first 8 reactors at
Hanford.
Graphite reactor similar to the ill fated Chernobyl reactor except a
with design feature to cause power levels to automatically go down in
case of a coolant loss. Called a “negative void” unlike the Soviet reactor
where power actually increased out of control as the coolant boiled
away during the accident.

31. Ninth Defense Reactor
World’s Largest Operating Nuclear
Power Plant in the 1960s
Reactor Core 39’5” high, 33’ wide
1800 tons of high grade graphite
1,004 process channels for loading fuel
Cooling provided by up to 1,500 gallons
of treated river water per minute (a
huge decrease from requirements of
earlier Hanford reactors of up to
105,000 gallons per minute
Demolition Exposes the
Reactor to view in 2009

32. Why the N-Reactor?
From a GE brochure circa 1963

33. What’s so special?

34. Credits

35. N-Reactor’s
Proud Fathers
Senator Henry M. Jackson and AEC Chairman Glenn T. Seaborg
visit N-Reactor. Seaborg discovered Plutonium. Fourth from the
left is Raymond L. Dickeman director of the N-Reactor in the 60s.

36. N-Reactor Tour
Front face of N-
Reactor Process
Tubes
Uranium slugs clad
in Zirconium go into
the reactor here
N-Reactor Control
Console
Operators run the
reactor from here
Storage for
irradiated fuel at
the N-Reactor
Fuel is held under
20’ of water before
extraction of
Plutonium

37. HTTP://WWW.HSS.ENERGY.GOV/HEALTHSAFETY/OHRE/ROADMAP/ROADMAP/PART3.HTML
HS-2. Intentional Release of Iodine-131 at Hanford in 1963
In July 1963, Hanford Laboratory conducted a study that involved the release of 120
microcuries of iodine-131 (I131) into the environment. These releases were designed to
characterize the dispersion of radiation to the environment. The purpose of the experiment was
to enable scientists to study how the radioactive iodine spread in turn through the air, soil, and
vegetation, and how it affected animals. Two volunteer human subjects (Hanford employees),
were stationed in the expected path of the radiation cloud. These subjects intentionally inhaled
I131 from the release and were subsequently measured for thyroidal uptake of I131. These
experiments were performed under contract with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
As Experiments Get Out of
Hand with another intentional
release of radioactive Iodine at
Hanford

38. Kennedy Connection
September 24, 1963
Visits Pinchot Institute
at Grey Towers
Part of a tour “dedicated
to conservation but
tinged with politics.”
Pinchot National Forest
overlooks Hanford
President Kennedy with Mary Meyer Pinchot his lover

39. President John F. Kennedy
Breaks Ground for N-Reactor power conversion
September 26, 1963
Radioactive wand signals start of construction

40. Underground piping
for N-Reactor
connecting Heat
Exchangers with
Power Turbines
Dual
Purpose
power &
plutonium

41. Heat Exchangers Leak
1963^
Five of the early commercial nuclear power
stations were built with stainless steel steam
generators. These include... the Hanford "N"-
reactor... Sensitization of the stainless steel
tubing during heat treatment of the carbon steel
tube sheets led to stress corrosion cracking and
leakage in the "N"-reactor... during the pre-
operational hydraulic pressure tests. The steam
generators... were re-tubed prior to startup, the
"N"-reactor with Inconel-600.
^Steam Generators are heat exchangers designed for nuclear power plants

42. N-Reactor
Steam Generators
Combustion Engineering, Inc.

43. Anatomy of a Leak
Leaks were discovered in heat
exchangers including Unit A in
cell 4, known as 4A. Studies
released under the FOIA show
extensive studies of the problem
led by General Electric Corp..

44. Intergranular Corrosion
at the heart of leaks
Microscopic view of corrosion
Typical areas effected by
corrosion of stainless steel

45. Replacement!
Estimated Replacement cost $1 million ($8 million today)

46. Re-tubing of steam
generators in 1964
Payroll Files Signature
Route to: Number T___cation Route Date and Date
' i; _ .... , .......
UNCI_SSIFIED HW-80559Z
Preparation Performance
• Scheduled Actual Scheduled Actual
_Is _nth 98.5% 92.l% 4z.o%* 39.8%
• z_stMouth 96.5_ 85.3% 56.5%_* 27.5%
*Based. on NED Integrated Sequence Schedule - NRD Testing P_gram
dated J'_. 31, 1964. , - •
**Based on original target schedule.
Steam Generatorsi
The existing stainless steel tubing is now being removed from steam generator
unit 4A. The north head of the secondary vessel has been cut from the unit to
provide access to the interior. Replacement tubing panels of Inconel are
scheduled to arrive on site about May 1, 1964. Repair of steam generator unit
4A is scheduled for completion about August 15, 196_.
Subsequent to c_pletion of repair of ,.steam generator unit 4A_ testing and
completion of construction of cell 4 equipment will require approximately six
weeks. Cell _ is expected to be ready for operatlonal servlce by October i,
196_.

47. Steam Generator Guts
Tubes are to be re-welded
General design of a steam
generator. Originally the tubes
were made of corrosion prone
stainless steel. Somehow the
corrosion causing element chlorine
was introduced into these tubes.

48. Atomic Energy Act
1954
Exempts government weapons plants from public
scrutiny and environmental regulations which
commercial plants are subject.
If N-Reactor was subject to EPA & NRC regulations
it would not be allowed to operate.
Strontium 90 releases while better than previous
Hanford reactors exceeded allowed levels for
commercial reactors.

49. What is Plutonium?
Plutonium-238 glowing
from its own heat.
Glenn T. Seaborg lead
discoverer of plutonium 1940
Plutonium implosion bomb
“Fat Man” mushroom cloud
Nagasaki, Japan August 9,
1945
Basic design of a plutonium
fueled fission bomb

50. Dichlorobenzene
Why would 1,4
Dichlorobenzene commonly
known as mothballs, a
known corrosive to
stainless steel be
introduced to the
Plutonium processing side
of the reactor?

51. Chlorine (Cl)
The graphite used as a neutron moderating material in the
plutonium producing reactors in the 100 area of the
Hanford Site was treated with chlorine gas at high
temperatures to remove the impurity boron (which is a
good neutron absorber). A small amount of chlorine
remained in the graphite that was charged to the nuclear
reactors. When a fissile nuclide such as an atom of
uranium-235 fissions, it generally splits asymmetrically
into two large fragments – fission products with mass
numbers in the range of about 90 and 140 – and two or
three neutrons. (The mass number is the sum of the
number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the
atom.) These neutrons can cause additional fissions
(producing a chain reaction), escape from the reactor, or
irradiate nearby materials. The chlorine-35 remaining in
the graphite moderator absorbed neutrons to become
chlorine-36. Thus, chlorine-36 is present in the graphite
moderator of these shutdown reactors and in certain
wastes associated with previous reactor operations as
well as in wastes from ongoing decommissioning activities,
including spent graphite. -Argonne National Laboratory,
Human Health Fact Sheet, August 2005
Atomic number 17
Atomic weight 35
Naturally occurring
isotope Cl-36

52. Inconel Nickel-Iron
Alloy
An alternative to
standard (Type
304) stainless
steel was available.
The alloy is called
Inconel produced in
1963 by Inco

53. Chloride Stress
Corrosion Cracking
1959 study shows that Inconel
resists “chloride stress
corrosion cracking” in boiling
secondary coolant. In similar
situations Type 304 stainless
steel quickly failed.

54. Top Secret
Secrecy Shielded the
process
Steve had security
clearance worked on the
N Reactor.
Unreported reactor
experiments caused
scrams.
Engineers working on the
steam generators lacked
security clearance.
Steve Buckingham, 91 leads
tours at the T-Plant

55. Barrier between the
cleared and uncleared
Security
clearance
needed to run
plutonium
producing
defense
reactor
Workers
building the
steam
generation
plant don’t
have crucial
information
on reactor
operations
Fundamental flaw was the
l e g a l s e p a r a t i o n o f
classified and unclassified
areas of the reactor.
Model of the N reactor, the thick security wall
separating the classified reactor from the
unclassified heat exchanger side of the plant.

56. Outage “without major
adverse impact”
September 3, 1963

57. “a streamlined
technique”
GM Dickeman chairs
the “N-Reactor
Startup Council” to
arrive at “proper
decisions” that “key
target points are
achieved with
adequate safety.”

58. A critical decision 1963
In December 1963 they started
loading fuel in the tubes. Reactor
was still subcritical. How much
fuel would it take to reach
criticality? There was a pool
among the workers. How many
tubes fueled to achieve
criticality? Ray Dickeman saw
the physicists were diddling
around. It was a major milestone
to go critical in 1963 and he was
fed up with “screwing around.”
Threw in a huge batch of uranium
on the evening of December 31,
pulled the rods and it went
critical.

59. N-REACTOR Pu
OPERATIONS
OPERATION
BEGINS
1963 WEAPON-GRADE
PLUTONIUM (6%
PU-240)DUAL PURPOSE
OPERATION
APRIL 1966
FUEL GRADE 1973-1982
FUEL-GRADE (12%
PU-240)
WEAPON-
GRADE
FY1981
CONVERSION TO
WEAPON-GRADE
SHUTDOWN 1987 COCOONING 2012

60. N-Reactor 65 Billion
Kilowatt-hours to WPPS
65 Billion Kilowatt-hours
generated over design
lifetime of 25 years
First WPPS reactor.
Innovative designs
improved on previous
WWII era reactors.
Reduced heat and
radionuclide releases into
the environment
Successfully produced
electricity as well as
plutonium
Reddy Kilowatt pre-
conservation era

61. N-Reactor
Fuel & Waste Stream

62. Purex Plant
Made Pu from
1956 to 1972;
1983 to 1988.
Purex processed
75% of Pu at
Hanford
Still highly
contaminated
Longer than three football
fields, 64 feet above ground
and 40 feet below ground

63. Plutonium Uranium Extraction
Purex facility
extracted plutonium
from 1952-1988
Pu made in the N-
Reactor 1963-1987

64. N-Reactor Gamma Radiation
“Substantially” higher
danger to workers.

65. Strike Caused by
Radiation Dose
Hanford Atomic
Metals Trade Council
HAMTC represents
15 unions at
Hanford.
Strike begins
September 17, 1967
ends 15 weeks later
in December 9.
Strike cost workers
$500,000 in lost
wages.
N-reactor employes began returning to work today, ending a 103-day-old strike
over radiation. A union spokesman said nine of 300 union members voted against
the agreement yesterday. It clarifies and formalizes the company's procedures for
uniform application in all DUN- managed facilities under which 300 millirems per
seven-day period and three rems of gamma-radiation exposure per year are the
basic administrative checkpoints... An Atomic Energy Commission spokesman said
today the settlement does not affect the commission's position that established
AEC radiation-exposure limits are not negotiable. Those limits are 3 rems per
quarter and a maximum of 5 rems per year. He said AEC does not tell its
contractors what administrative policies and practices to follow in setting guidelines
but does not permit them to exceed the AEC limits. The exposure guidelines
followed by Hanford contractors traditionally have been well below the maximum
normal operating limits set by the AEC, he said. N-reactor employes began
returning to work on the graveyard and day shifts today. -Tri-Cities Herald
December 1967 Monthly report
Tri-Cities Herald

66. Radioactive Effluent
Springs Predicted 1964
July 30, 1964
Columbia River
N-Reactor ->

67. Zig-Zag Trench
N Reactor located close to
the Columbia River. The zig-
zag trench was a liquid
disposal trench. Waste was
released to the trench
where it seemed into the
groundwater and river.
The soil and groundwater
between the trench and
the river is heavily
contaminated.

68. DOUBLE SHELL TANKS
Construction of
one of 28 double
shell radioactive
waste tanks in
1969
149 single shell
tanks from WWII
53 million gallons
radioactive waste.
1/3 leaking waste

69. 40 Years Waste Legacy
177 waste tanks
149 single shell
28 double shell
56 million gallons
waste
349 million curies of
radiation

70. Diversification
January 1964: President Lyndon B.
Johnson announces the AEC will shut
down three Hanford reactors and the
AEC announced a program of
“segmentation” and “diversification” at
Hanford.
The work at Hanford will be segmented
among multiple contractors and
required to invest in the Tri-City
economy.

71. Plutonium production
peaks and declines
Various companies that have managed
Hanford operations in the past and today

72. Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing of nuclear fuel
began in 1966, creating 600,000 gallons of
high-level liquid waste stored in carbon steel
tanks. Careless maintenance and poor
design decisions led to increasing
contamination during the six-year
operation. A filter blowout in 1968
deposited cesium off site to the northwest.
West Valley Demonstration Project
NY State & DOE Joint Clean Up
60% of the waste sent was from N Reactor
toxic effluents remain onsite
High Level Waste Tanks
West
Valley
West Valley, NY
Radioactive Cesium plume moving off
site towards groundwater
N Reactor Waste “subsidizes” Private industry
Spent fuel from the N-Reactor delivered to
Nuclear Fuel Services for recovery of
plutonium, 1966.
Highly toxic waste from
the vitrification process at
West Valley.

73. 534 kg Pu
N-Reactor
635 kg
AEC Pu
895 kg
Utilities
NFS Erwin, TN
95 kg Pu
Bonus Reactor
6 kg Pu
Indian Point 1
104 kg Pu
Big Rock Point
7 kg Pu
Dresden 1
285 kg Pu
Yankee Power
436 kg Pu
1530 kg Pu
Nuclear Fuel Services
West Valley, NY
N-Reactor waste is a government
subsidy to NFS
Hanford
Breeder reactor
Idaho
Zero Power Reactor Program
Reprocessed Pu
Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. and the State of New York waste
reprocessing facility for N Reactor plutonium 1966-1971

74. Liquid Metal Breeders
Breeders make more Pu than they use. A
popular idea in the 1940s and 50s when
Uranium was scarce.
1958 Dounreay Experimental Reactor north
coast of Scotland.
Major questions about the possible mishaps
beach reactor core contained an
unprecedented concentration of fissile
material.
U.S. breeder program ended by Pres. Jimmy
Carter, then restarted by Pres. Ronald Reagan,
killed by Congress in 1983.
Weapons proliferation dangers cited in
cancellation
http://fissilematerials.org/library/rr08.pdf
Liquid Sodium Cooled Reactor at
Dounreay, Scotland

75. Fast Flux Test Facility
Breeder Reactor design tests carried
out 1980-1992
Construction started 1970, completed
1978, goes critical 1980. Closed in the
late 80s for lack of private industry
support
Used to make tritium for fusion
research & isotopes
Currently in “cold-standby” for possible
future use.
Environmentalists and anti-nuclear
activists are worried it maybe used for
weapons production.
Liquid Sodium Cooled Reactor

76. N-reactor produced little weapons
grade Pu until the 1980s
After 1971 N-Reactor was the only Pu
production reactor operating at
Hanford.
President Richard Nixon threatened to
shut down the N-Reactor.
Senator Henry Jackson intervenes to
keep the N-Reactor operating.
President Jimmy Carter ends breeder
reactor program.
In 1983 President Ronald Reagan
restarts breeder reactor program.
U.S. Congress approves weapons grade
plutonium production restart.

77. WPPS “whoops” Defaults
1971-1982
Five nuclear plants financed by sale of
power only one built.
Overestimated demand for power.
Poor management, cost overruns.
$2.25 Billion bond default.

78. Columbia Generating Station
only operating reactor
WPPS OWNED POWER PLANT AT HANFORD
ENGINEER BURNS & ROE
1984
CRITICAL
Generates 12% of WPPS current capacity

79. Satsop Nuclear Plant
office park
WPPS project
$960 billion
over budget
Never fueled
Abandoned nuclear plant cooling towers
http://tiny.cc/0jtfcx

80. Hanford’s “Green” Legacy
Karen Dorn Steele reporter
for Spokane Spokesman-
Review files FOIA.
1986 DOE releases 19,000
page of classified
documents
440,000 Cu Yds of
transuranic waste
537,000 Curies released
1944-1955 alone
Hanford holds 678,000
tons of waste
Radioactive iodine purposely released into
the environment in 1949

81. N-Reactor Basin
N Basin where
nuclear fuel
was stored.
The focus of a
major cleanup
1995-1998
1963
1995

82. Trench Mouth!
Normal operation included bleed off and leakage.
Leaks routed ti 1301-N crib/trench disposal facility.
1325-N facilities facility came into service in 1983.
Significant quantity of primary coolant was discharged to
the fuel storage basin during fuel element change out.
The fuel storage basin shielding water was ultimately
discharged to the 1301-N facility.
Effluent contains significant quantities of strontium-90.
PNNL-13127.PDF

83. N Reactor Effluent
trenched

84. Strontium-90
Plumes of strontium-90 underneath waste retention ponds in the area surrounding the N-
Reactor. Red is the highest concentration. The plume has not changed much despite in many
years despite operation of a pump-and-treat system from 1995 until March 2006. Along
this the area the Columbia has many times the safe drinking water standards of Sr-90.
1301-N Crib
N-Reactor N-Reactor
1325-N Crib

85. Culture Clash
Jerry Erickson N
Reactor Engineer
Norm Buske sampling
Columbia River water
Erickson says
Buske’s
sampling is a
“stunt”
wasting
taxpayer
money.

86. Radioactive Mulberries
Norm Buske Greenpeace
environmentalist
Collects Mulberries
from along the N
Springs August 1990
Sends strontium 90
laden jam to the head of
the DOE & the Governor
of Washington

87. Groundwater Clean up
Pump and treat technology
used to remove strontium 90
from the N springs’
363.2 million liters of ground
water and removed
Only a small amount of
strontium-90 is recovered.
Permeable Reactive Barrier
trapping and immobilizing
contaminants.
Contaminated groundwater is pumped out of the
aquifer through extraction wells treated to remove
some of the Sr-90 and then re-injected. This method
has not been particularly successful.

88. N-Reactor Demolition
N Reactor was cocooned in 2012. Emil Leitz,
startup engineer for the plant, who was present
at the ceremony, noted that the N Reactor had
generated more than 65 billion kilowatt-hours
of electricity between 1963 and 1987.

89. N Reactor Soil Clean Up
DOE and Bechtel begin a
soil clean up project at
N Reactor.
Involves removing
150,000 tons of
contaminated soil
Radioactivity at N
Reactor is 50x other
soil cleanup sites.

90. Particles on the Wall
Exhibit exploring the
nuclear age against the
backdrop of Hanford
Dianne Dickeman,
daughter of R.L. Dickeman
visual artist
Nancy Dickeman daughter
of R.L. Dickeman Poet
The Wind’s Sail
by Nancy Dickeman
In the new world combustion is a secret
set to burst from its radioactive shell,
its afterlife, cloud billowing
into the wind’s sail
slips to the ground as if
tempting who will follow
who will embrace invention
all the way to the ends of the earth?
Along the desert, in the crescent formed
where the hills lay flush to sea level
and river bed, cooling towers
notch the skyline, the land
stained with wild flowers and sagebrush.
Down river a camp fire blossoms
orange into twilight,
the smoke lingers
past nightfall, past the embers’
quenching.
Dianne Dickeman Columbia River
Near Hanford, Late Afternoon
2009 Oil on canvas