Hastings pushes bill to preserve Hanford reactor

RICHLAND, Wash. — U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings says he is pursuing legislation to recognize the world's first full-scale nuclear reactor as a national historic park.

Last month, the Interior Department recommended that Congress establish a national historic park to commemorate the top-secret World War II Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb.

Included in those sites is the Hanford nuclear reservation's B Reactor. The reactor was built in 13 to produce plutonium for the atomic bomb.

Hastings visited B Reactor on Monday to celebrate the push to preserve the reactor. The Washington state Republican says the effort recognizes those who labored there and who were forced to leave their homes for its construction.

The other two sites recommended for recognition are Los Alamos, N.M. and Oak Ridge, Tenn.