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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

William S. Hartnett

Plutonium MetallurgyHanford, WA

Manhattan Project Veteran
The first large-scale nuclear reactor in history, the B-Reactor, in Hanford, Washington

Bill Hartnett worked in plutonium metallurgy for the Manhattan Project at the Hanford Engineer Works from January 1943 to December 1946. Despite his professional title, Hartnett would frequently refer to himself as a "glorified foundryman." Following the end of the Manhattan Project, Hartnett stayed at Hanford for another thirty years, leaving in April 1975. 

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