Hanford was a huge part of the story of how the United States made nuclear weapons and remains a site that will outlive all U.S. nuclear weapons sites in terms of time and cost of cleanup.

The plutonium factory that was Hanford in its heyday, is now the most contaminated nuclear waste site in the western hemisphere. All of the stories we have told in the Expand the Story series have a link to Hanford and the pernicious threat of radioactive and chemical contamination that once released, spreads through our earth, our water, our bodies, our generations.

 
 

In the Expand the Story series we’ve briefly covered Nuclear Weapons Testing, the Marshall Islands, Native American Tribes, Japanese Hibakusha, Downwinders, and Uranium Mining. By working to expand the stories we tell ourselves and each other, we build a stronger, more flexible foundation from which to make more protective decisions going forward.

So how do the stories we’ve been telling in this series intersect with the Hanford site and cleanup?

Marshall Islands: The Marshallese community lives with the impacts of having their home used as testing grounds for 67 nuclear weapons from 1946-1958. Much of the fallout and contamination from testing nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands came from plutonium manufactured at Hanford. Despite the challenges from nuclear contamination, displacement, and climate change, Marshallese leaders are modeling powerful advocacy that centers care for people and the environment for the world. This frontline community has much to teach about the burden of nuclear waste in bodies, land, and home; and the power of community to foster strength and resilience.

Nuclear Weapons Testing: The majority of the plutonium in the thousands of weapons detonated by the United States came from the Hanford site. “Radioactive fallout was deposited all over the world, so many people were exposed to it. Even today, radioactive fallout is present in all parts of the world in small amounts. CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and NCI [National Cancer Institute], in their study of global fallout, looked only at fallout in the contiguous United States (the 48 states between Canada and Mexico). The study found that any person living in the contiguous United States since 1951 has been exposed to some radioactive fallout, and all of a person’s organs and tissues have received some exposure.” (CDC website)

Native American Tribes: The Hanford site was built on the ancestral land of several Native American Tribes who have been here since time immemorial. When the government started building Hanford in the early 1940s, the Wanapum were forced to relocate and other tribes lost access to the land and fishing grounds, including the Yakama Nation, Nez Perce Tribe, and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Nation. Tribal governments who signed treaties in 1855 with the United States (Yakama, Nez Perce, and Umatilla) have rights to hunt, fish, and gather in "all usual and accustomed places," which includes land occupied by the Hanford site, but access continues to be restricted due to the extensive contamination at Hanford. It is an ongoing fight to have the United States honor treaties, and many Bands and Tribes did not enter into treaties, such as the Wanapum.

Japanese Hibakusha: On August 9, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan killing 70,000 people. The plutonium in this bomb came from Hanford. The connection between Hanford and Nagasaki has resulted in efforts between the two communities to reckon with the past, with many hibakusha visiting the Hanford site.

In August 2021, artist Yukiyo Kawano, a third generation Hiroshima hibakusha, installed her “Fat Man” sculpture of the Nagasaki bombing near the Hanford site. “The installation of the work, just across the river from the restricted Hanford zone, invites us all to dwell on and dwell within this mythic space of free fall. In so doing, we join with the artist in ‘dwelling’ within the ethical position of falling, perpetually failing, in effect, to reach a state of true compassion and atonement for the historical failings of both Japan and the United States.” (Asia-Pacific Journal article)

Downwinders: Producing plutonium at Hanford created contamination that was released in the air, soil, and water. The largest intentional release of Iodine-129 took place in Dec 1949 for the “Green Run” experiment, showering communities near and farther afield with radiation. “Though the Green Run released a considerable amount of radiation, it pales in comparison to the total amount, 739,000 curies of iodine-131, released at Hanford over the period 1944-1972. The people affected from the Green Run and other radiation releases due to accidents or negligence are known as the Downwinders. The Green Run experiment resulted in long-term health problems for many of the Downwinders, such as increased cancer rates and lymphatic illnesses.” (National Park Service) Similar to other downwinder communities around the country, downwinders near the Hanford site struggle to get recognition and compensation for their illnesses.

Uranium Mining: The uranium fuel rods needed to produce plutonium at Hanford were created by refining and enriching uranium ore from mines around the world. Uranium ore for the Manhattan Project primarily came from Shinkolobwe in the former Belgian Congo, the Eldorado mine in northern Canada, and mines in the western United States.

“The story of the Nuclear Age began on the homeland of North America’s Indigenous peoples. From uranium mining to atomic bomb tests to the perpetual search for radioactive waste storage sites, the primary target remains Native lands.” (Uranium Atlas)

We have a long list of ever expanding resources on Hanford on our website.  We want to share a "shorter" list of our favorite Hanford resources for those who want to dive in and learn more. If you are looking for something specific please contact us, we’ll be happy to help.

  • A Poisonous Cold War Legacy that Defies a Solution, New York Times (2023, article)

  • Hanford: The big, expensive, environmental dilemma plaguing the Pacific Northwest, INLANDER, Samantha Wohlfeil (2019, article)

  • Why Is Hanford the Cold War’s Hot Mess by EarthFix Media (2016, video)

  • Cold War, Hot Mess by Lois Parshley (2021, article)

  • Plume by Kathleen Flenniken (2012, poetry) This collection reflects the poet’s experience growing up in Richland, working as an engineer, and hydrologist at Hanford, and holding the complexities of nuclear waste, illness, and weapons production.

  • Plutopia by Kate Brown (2015, book) Back and forth storytelling about Hanford and its sister city in the Soviet Union, Mayak.

  • Unmaking the Bomb: Environmental Cleanup and the Politics of Impossibility by Shannon Cram (2023, book) Cram’s book blends history, ethnography, and memoir, and explores what it means to reckon with a contaminated world in the context of Hanford.

  • The Apocalypse Factory by Steve Olson (2020, book) Great storytelling takes the reader inside the Manhattan Project with the focus on Hanford’s pivotal role and impact of the plutonium fueled bomb on the Japanese people of Nagasaki. Particularly good history to read in the context of the Oppenheimer movie.

  • Hanford Cleanup: The First 25 Years by the Oregon Department of Energy (2014, report)

  • King5 news stories and series on Hanford (video)

  • Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud by Tom Mueller, Chapter 5 is about Hanford (2019, book)

  • On the Home Front: The Cold War Legacy of the Hanford Nuclear Site by Michele Gerber (2007, book)

  • Atomic Frontier Days: Hanford and the American West by John M. Findlay and Bruce Hevly (2011, book)

  • Hanford: The big, expensive, environmental dilemma plaguing the Pacific Northwest INLANDER, by Samantha Wohlfeil (2019, article)

  • The Hanford Whistleblowers, Ephraim Payne & Ray Ring, High Country News (2014, article)

  • Nuclear Attack on the Yakama Culture, Russell Jim, Talking Stick TV (2010, video)

  • Rex Buck’s Interview, Voices of the Manhattan Project (2003, video)

  • Veronica Taylor’s Interview, Voices of the Manhattan Project (2003, video)

  • Let’s Talk about Hanford: Umatilla First Foods, Wenix Red Elk (2023, presentation)