Legacies of War at the Hanford Nuclear Site

by Marisa De La Villa

What does it mean for a war to never fully end?

In southeast Washington, along the Columbia River, there is a landscape that holds with it remnants of both World War II and the Cold War– not as a memory, rather, as its physical reality.1 The Hanford Site is not simply a historic location: it is an ongoing environmental condition.2

Established in 1943 under the Manhattan Project, Hanford was built with urgency and secrecy, all with the goal to produce plutonium for the atomic bomb.3 The plutonium that was used in the bombing of Nagasaki actually came from Hanford.4

Even the name plutonium carries a certain weight. Named after Pluto, the Roman god of the Underworld and ruler of the dead, the element was discovered only a few years before Hanford’s construction. The element was quickly tied to mass destruction– its association to death, to the god who controls it, seems somewhat prophetic. This material, drawn from the earth and weaponized, was quite literally named for what destruction it would cause.5

For decades after the end of WWII, Hanford remained central to the production of nuclear weapons in the United States.6 Reactors lined the Columbia River, using its water for cooling, while chemical plants would separate plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel.7 However, throughout this process, millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical waste were generated and stored in underground layers, many of which were designed to last only a few decades.7

Some of these tanks leaked.8

Over time, radioactive material entered the soil and ground water, directly contaminating the site through the aquifers.9 Contamination made up of long-lived isotopes has slowly made its way toward the Columbia River, a vital water source that supports surrounding ecosystems, agricultural production, and Indigenous nations whose treaty rites are connected to its waters.10

Today, Hanford is considered the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States, with nearly 56 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste still stored there.11

Cleanup efforts (formally) began in 1989, under a legally binding agreement between the state of Washington, the federal government, and the Environmental Protection Agency. What followed has become one of the most expensive and technically complex environmental remediation projects in history.12

The Department of Energy’s main cleanup strategy is focused on vitrification, a process that transforms unstable liquid waste into solid logs intended for long-term storage.13 However, this solution is one full of difficulty. The waste stored in Hanford’s tanks contains chemically complex and highly reactive substance blends, many of which are still under the careful study of scientists– that is to say, we are still unaware of how these materials behave underground or over time.14

Groundwater monitoring is still ongoing, as researchers track the spread of contamination as well as its long-term consequences.15 At the same time, research examining worker mortality and radiation exposes another dimension of Hanford’s legacy: the human cost16 of working inside the nuclear complex.17

Alongside its remediation efforts, though, parts of Hanford have been reframed as a historical landmark. The B reactor is now a part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, overseen by the National Park Service. Visitors can walk through the very reactor that once produced plutonium for the first atomic bomb.18

This is the type of contradiction that defines Hanford. The space exists both as a preserved monument to scientific innovation, and as one of the most contaminated nuclear sites in the US. Hanford complicates the story of progress. The Cold War may have ended, but its physical remains persist underground– contamination refuses to follow political timelines.19

So, again, what does it mean for a war to never fully end?

At Hanford, it means that its aftermath is not symbolic. It is material. Embedded through the earth, carried in water and present in the communities that are connected to its legacy. 

Notes

1. “The Hanford Site.” Hanford Site. https://www.hanford.gov/. 

2. Harvey, “History of the Hanford Site: 1943-1990,” (Technical Report) | OSTI.GOV, September 1, 2000, https://www.osti.gov/biblio/887452.
3. “Hanford, WA,” National Parks Service, https://www.nps.gov/mapr/hanford.htm.
4. Summary report. https://ncsp.tamu.edu/reports/DOE/summrpt.htm. 
5. “Plutonium - Etymology, Origin & Meaning,” etymonline, https://www.etymonline.com/word/plutonium.
6. National Research Council (US) Committee on an Assessment of CDC Radiation Studies, “II. Hanford Site History,” The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project: A Review of Four Documents., January 1, 1994, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231492/.
7. Maldonado, Christie, editor. Nuclear Waste Treatment : Assessments of Washington State’s Hanford Site. Nova Publishers, 2016.
8. Science and Technology for Environmental Cleanup at hanford | The National Academies Press, https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10220/science-and-technology-for-environmental-cleanup-at-hanford.
9. “What Happened at the Hanford Nuclear Site? - Columbia Riverkeeper,” Columbia Riverkeeper -, June 8, 2024,https://www.columbiariverkeeper.org/what-happened-at-the-hanford-nuclear-site/.
10.  J Hartman, 1.0 introduction, https://www.hanford.gov/c.cfm/sgrp/GWRep11/html/gw11_1_0.pdf.
11. “What happened at Hanford?” Columbia Riverkeeper https://www.columbiariverkeeper.org/what-happened-at-the-hanford-nuclear-site/.
12. Science and Technology, The National Academies Press, https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10220/science-and-technology-for-environmental-cleanup-at-hanford. “Hanford Nuclear Site: Hazardous Waste: Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program,” Hanford Nuclear Site | Hazardous Waste | Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program https://darrp.noaa.gov/hazardous-waste/hanford-nuclear-site.
13. What Happened at Hanford, Columbia Riverkeeper. https://www.columbiariverkeeper.org/what-happened-at-the-hanford-nuclear-site/.
14. Energy and Environmental Directorate, Review of the Scientific Understanding of Radioactive Waste at the U.S. DOE Hanford Site, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.7b04077
15. “Hazardous Waste”Hanford Nuclear Site | Hazardous Waste | Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program https://darrp.noaa.gov/hazardous-waste/hanford-nuclear-site.
16. Mortality of workers at the Hanford Site: 1945-1986 : Health physics,https://journals.lww.com/health-physics/Abstract/1993/06000/Mortality_of_Workers_at_the_Hanford_Site_.1.aspx.
17. National Research Council, “II. Hanford Site History,”., January 1, 1994, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231492/.
18. “Hanford, WA,” National Parks Service, https://www.nps.gov/mapr/hanford.htm.
19. Energy and Environmental Directorate, Review of the Scientific Understanding, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.7b04077

Works Cited

Energy and Environmental Directorate, Review of the Scientific Understanding of Radioactive Waste at the U.S. DOE Hanford Site, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.7b04077

“Hanford Nuclear Site: Hazardous Waste: Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program.” Hanford Nuclear Site | Hazardous Waste | Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program. https://darrp.noaa.gov/hazardous-waste/hanford-nuclear-site. 

“Hanford, WA.” National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/mapr/hanford.htm. 

Hartman, MJ. 1.0 introduction. https://www.hanford.gov/c.cfm/sgrp/GWRep11/html/gw11_1_0.pdf. 

Harvey. “History of the Hanford Site: 1943-1990.” (Technical Report) | OSTI.GOV, September 1, 2000. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/887452. 

Maldonado, Christie, editor. Nuclear Waste Treatment : Assessments of Washington State’s Hanford Site. Nova Publishers, 2016.

Mortality of workers at the Hanford Site: 1945-1986 : Health physics. https://journals.lww.com/health-physics/Abstract/1993/06000/Mortality_of_Workers_at_the_Hanford_Site_.1.aspx. 

National Research Council (US) Committee on an Assessment of CDC Radiation Studies. “II. Hanford Site History.” The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project: A Review of Four Documents., January 1, 1994. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231492/. 

“Plutonium - Etymology, Origin & Meaning.” etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/plutonium. 

Science and Technology for Environmental Cleanup at hanford | The National Academies Press. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10220/science-and-technology-for-environmental-cleanup-at-hanford. 

Summary report. Accessed February 1. https://ncsp.tamu.edu/reports/DOE/summrpt.htm. 

The Hanford Site.” Hanford Site. https://www.hanford.gov/. 

“What Happened at the Hanford Nuclear Site? - Columbia Riverkeeper.” Columbia Riverkeeper -, June 8, 2024. https://www.columbiariverkeeper.org/what-happened-at-the-hanford-nuclear-site/.

¿Qué significa que una guerra nunca termine del todo?

En el sureste del estado de Washington, a lo largo del río Columbia, existe un paisaje que guarda restos tanto de la Segunda Guerra Mundial como de la Guerra Fría—no como un simple recuerdo, sino como una realidad física. El Sitio de Hanford no es solo un lugar histórico: es una condición ambiental que sigue activa.

Establecido en 1943 bajo el Proyecto Manhattan, Hanford se construyó con urgencia y en secreto, con el objetivo de producir plutonio para la bomba atómica. El plutonio que se usó en el bombardeo de Nagasaki salió de Hanford.

Hasta el nombre “plutonio” tiene un peso particular. Viene de Plutón, el dios romano del inframundo y señor de los muertos. El elemento se descubrió apenas unos años antes de que se construyera Hanford, y rápidamente quedó asociado con la destrucción masiva. Su vínculo con la muerte—y con el dios que la gobierna—se siente casi profético. Este material, extraído de la tierra y convertido en arma, literalmente lleva un nombre que anticipa la destrucción que causaría.

Durante décadas después del fin de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Hanford siguió siendo clave en la producción de armas nucleares en Estados Unidos. Reactores alineados a lo largo del río Columbia usaban su agua para enfriamiento, mientras plantas químicas separaban el plutonio del combustible nuclear irradiado. Pero en todo ese proceso, se generaron millones de galones de desechos radiactivos y químicos, almacenados en tanques subterráneos—muchos diseñados para durar solo unas décadas.

Algunos de esos tanques tuvieron filtraciones.

Con el tiempo, los materiales radiactivos se fueron filtrando al suelo y al agua subterránea, contaminando directamente el sitio a través de los acuíferos. Esa contaminación, compuesta por isótopos de larga duración, ha ido avanzando poco a poco hacia el río Columbia, una fuente de agua vital que sostiene ecosistemas, agricultura y comunidades indígenas cuyos derechos y prácticas están ligados a ese río.

Hoy en día, Hanford se considera el sitio nuclear más contaminado de Estados Unidos, con casi 56 millones de galones de desechos radiactivos de alto nivel todavía almacenados allí.

Los esfuerzos de limpieza comenzaron formalmente en 1989, bajo un acuerdo legal entre el estado de Washington, el gobierno federal y la Agencia de Protección Ambiental. Desde entonces, se ha convertido en uno de los proyectos de remediación ambiental más caros y complejos de la historia.

La estrategia principal del Departamento de Energía se basa en la vitrificación, un proceso que convierte los desechos líquidos inestables en bloques sólidos diseñados para almacenamiento a largo plazo. Sin embargo, esta solución está llena de dificultades. Los desechos en Hanford contienen mezclas químicas altamente complejas y reactivas, muchas de las cuales aún están siendo estudiadas. En otras palabras, todavía no entendemos completamente cómo se comportan estos materiales bajo tierra o con el paso del tiempo.

El monitoreo del agua subterránea sigue en curso, mientras investigadores rastrean la propagación de la contaminación y sus efectos a largo plazo. A la vez, estudios sobre la mortalidad de los trabajadores y la exposición a la radiación revelan otra dimensión del legado de Hanford: el costo humano de trabajar dentro de este complejo nuclear.

Al mismo tiempo, partes de Hanford han sido redefinidas como sitio histórico. El Reactor B ahora forma parte del Parque Histórico Nacional del Proyecto Manhattan, administrado por el Servicio de Parques Nacionales. Hoy, los visitantes pueden recorrer el mismo reactor donde se produjo el plutonio para la primera bomba atómica.

Esa es la contradicción que define a Hanford. Es un espacio que existe a la vez como monumento a la innovación científica y como uno de los sitios más contaminados del país. Hanford complica la idea de progreso. La Guerra Fría pudo haber terminado, pero sus restos físicos siguen bajo tierra—la contaminación no obedece calendarios políticos.

Entonces, otra vez: ¿qué significa que una guerra nunca termine del todo?

En Hanford, significa que sus consecuencias no son simbólicas. Son materiales. Están incrustadas en la tierra, circulando en el agua y presentes en las comunidades conectadas a su legado.