HANFORD, Wash. – The B Reactor Museum Association wants to invite the community to learn about the Plutonium Finishing Plant’s history and role at Hanford.
According to the Department of Energy, the PFP building was the site’s most complex and hazardous plutonium facility.
Dennis Armstrong and Don Sorenson both worked at the PFP and say the plant started production in 1950. They will present at an event at the Richland Public Library on June 11 at 7 p.m. “The overall posture is that the Hanford project was the national defense of the United States,” said Armstrong. Sorenson said that Hanford’s area was needed to store the plutonium. “They put together a facility to be able to remotely handle as much as possible,” said Sorenson. “Plutonium Nitrates, the oxides, the metals, fabricating the pieces that were required for use in atomic weapons.” In 2016, workers at the Hanford site began demolishing the building.Due to hazardous materials still in the building, they took extreme caution, wearing protective suits and making sure the materials stayed wet. Armstrong and Sorenson will provide first-hand stories and personal pictures at the presentation at the library.
