NBCRightNow.com -- Two U.S. senators are putting a bill to preserve the Hanford's B Reactor back on the table.
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell has teamed up with a Tennessee senator to introduce legislation to create a National Historical Park at Manhattan Project Related sites.
The B Reactor is currently a national landmark, but raising it's status to park would ensure the reactor will not be torn down.
Last year, a U.S. House of Representatives voted down a bill that would have established the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
Cantwell released the following statement on the bipartisan bill to preserve Hanford's B Reactor:
Today, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) teamed up
to introduce bipartisan legislation that would create a National Historical Park
at Manhattan Project-related sites at Hanford as well as Oak Ridge, Tenn., and
Los Alamos, N.M. Cantwell and Alexander both serve on the Senate Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), the committee of jurisdiction for this
legislation.
The Hanford sites that would be included in the new
park include the historic B Reactor, the first full-scale nuclear reactor ever
built. Currently designated a National Historic Landmark, elevating the B
Reactor's status to a National Historical Park would ensure it will not be torn
down and increase public access to the historic reactor, helping to attract more
visitors to the Tri-Cities. A National Historical Park designation would give
Hanford sites the same status as Independence Hall, Valley Forge and Abraham
Lincoln's birthplace.
U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Patty Murray
(D-WA) and Tom Udall (D-NM) are original cosponsors of the bipartisan
Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act [bill
text]. Heinrich also serves on the
ENR Committee. The bill must first pass the ENR Committee before going to the
full Senate for a vote. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), ENR Committee Chairman,
expressed support for the legislation on February 19, while on a
fact-finding visit to Hanford. Congressman Doc Hastings (R-WA-04), Chair of the House Resources Committee, oversees the
committee of jurisdiction on the House side and has introduced similar
legislation in the past.
"Designating
the B Reactor as a National Historical Park would secure its long-term
preservation while expanding visitor access to a key site in our nation's
history," said Senator
Cantwell. "Giving
historic sites at Hanford the same status as Independence Hall will help honor
the groundbreaking engineering achievements and tremendous sacrifices of those
who labored there. And it will help boost the Tri-Cities' tourism
economy, supporting local businesses. We're encouraged that Chairman Wyden has
expressed support for this bipartisan legislation, and look forward to working
with the committee and Chairman Hastings in the House to pass legislation giving
Hanford the status it deserves."
"As Americans, we have a special obligation to
preserve and protect our heritage, and the Manhattan Project National Historical
Park will ensure that all Americans learn about the significance of the
Manhattan Project and how it continues to shape our history," said Senator Alexander.
"The B Reactor
is an important part of our nation's history, and the Manhattan Project National
Historical Park will ensure that generations to come appreciate the sacrifices
made by Washington state families to build and operate this facility,"
said Senator
Murray. "Through their work at the B Reactor, thousands of Tri-Cities
residents played an important role in World War II and the Cold War, and this
federal designation will give them the recognition they
deserve."
The
Cantwell-Alexander bill would also preserve several other key Hanford sites that
tell the story of the Manhattan Project, including the Hanford High School and
Hanford Construction Camp Historic District, White Bluffs Bank building, the
warehouse in the Bruggemann's Agricultural Complex, the Hanford Irrigation
District Pump House, and the T Plant 221-T Process building, which also tell
about the sacrifices of local communities that were relocated due to security
needs.
Preserving the
B Reactor and other key sites at Hanford would enable future generations to
learn about the scientific contributions and enormous sacrifices made by those
who labored at Hanford during its remarkable run. The cost to dismantle and
"cocoon" the B Reactor would have cost more than $105
million.
The introduction of this legislation builds on years
of efforts to preserve the historic B Reactor. Last Congress, Cantwell and Murray were lead sponsors of the
Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act (S.
3300), and Congressman Hastings
introduced a similar bill (H.R.
5987) in the House.
On June 27, 2012, the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Subcommittee on National Parks discussed S. 3300 for the first time.
During
the hearing, the National Park
Service (NPS) agreed that elevating B Reactor to National Historical Park status
would increase Tri-Cities tourism. Last year, B Reactor tourism brought $1.5
million to the Tri-Cities economy, according to the Tri-Cities Visitor and
Convention Bureau. Since the U.S.
Department of the Interior designated the B Reactor as a National Historical
Landmark in August 2008, opening it to the public for the first time, more than
20,000 visitors have toured the B Reactor from all 50 states and more than 48
countries.
Since 2003,
Cantwell, Murray and Hastings have advocated for the historic preservation of
Hanford's B Reactor. The Washington state representatives sponsored bipartisan
legislation that was
signed into law in 2004 directing the NPS to conduct a study on the potential
for developing and utilizing the B Reactor and other key historic sites on the
Hanford complex.
In December
2009, the Park Service released a draft study concluding that only part of the
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory National Landmark District in New Mexico should
be considered for a new national park. The draft study excluded Hanford's B
Reactor and historic facilities at the Oak Ridge site in Tennessee, citing
concerns over public access to Department of Energy (DOE) facilities and how the
site would be co-managed by the NPS and DOE. Following the release of the draft
study, Cantwell, Murray and Hastings all urged the NPS to
reconsider.
On July 13,
2011, the National Park Service finalized its study, which recommended Hanford's
B Reactor be included in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The NPS'
recommendation was announced along with the results of its long-awaited study,
which determined that "the best way to preserve and interpret the Manhattan
Project is for Congress to establish a National Historical Park at three sites
where much of the critical scientific activity associated with the project
occurred: Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge,
Tennessee."
