Environmental Impact

Theresa Strottman: As we start, could you briefly tell me when and where you were born and something about your early education and training? Bob Porton: I’ll tell you where I was born; when I was born is classified.  I was born in Washington D.C. and one of the few people that admit that they were born […]

[Interviewed by Cynthia Kelly, Tom Zannes, and Thomas E. Marceau.] Veronica Taylor: I’m Veronica Taylor, one of the elders for the Nez Perce tribe and I work in the environmental restoration management program for the Nez Perce. One they call the community liaison. Tell me what the Columbia River means to your tribe? Taylor: Well, the […]

George Cowan: It’s weighted so heavily in favor—not in favor of—but the emphasis on number one Los Alamos, and then Oak Ridge, and then Hanford, as the three secret cities or something. But the fact is the Met Lab at Chicago was enormously important. The Stagg Field reactor was historic in ’42, and its sort of […]

[Interviewed by Cynthia Kelly and Tom Zannes.] Paul Vinther: I’m Paul Vinther. P-A-U-L V-I-N-T-H-E-R. I have a first name, Alvin, but never went by it so everybody knows me as Paul. And I first came to Hanford on June the 26th, 1950. I remember that vividly because that was the day after the Korean War […]

[Interviewed by Cynthia Kelly and Tom Zannes.] Tell us your name. Steve Buckingham: Steve. S-T-E-V-E. Buckingham. B-U-C-K-I-N-G-H-A-M. (Question off camera) I thought I’d discuss this a little bit of why this location was chosen as the Hanford location, was chosen for the Manhattan District. DuPont was asked to design and build this facility but DuPont […]

The B Reactor at Hanford was built and operated by DuPont and was the world’s first production-scale nuclear reactor. B Reactor was the first of three plutonium reactors constructed in the 100 area during the Manhattan Project. Design of the B Reactor The design was based on the success of Enrico Fermi’s “Chicago Pile I” […]

Cynthia Kelly: Why don’t you start, George, by telling us your name and spelling it. George Mahfouz: I’m George Mahfouz, last name is spelled M-A-H-F-, as in Frank, -O-U-Z, as in zebra. Kelly: Is that Egyptian?  Mahfouz: It’s Middle Eastern. The name is Syrian.  Kelly: Anyways, sorry, next question—tell us about your background, you know, where you went to college… […]

Hanford, Washington, on the beautiful Columbia River, was the site selected for the full-scale plutonium production plant, the B Reactor. Today a popular tourist desination, the Hanford Site proved crucial to the success of the Manhattan Project.  Site Selection In December 1942, the Army Corps of Engineers worked with DuPont to establish criteria for the […]