RICHLAND — Two switch engines and two rail cars that carried radioactive fuel across the Hanford nuclear reservation have been saved from burial and will go on display at the historic B Reactor.
The Tri-City Herald reports the World War II and Cold War relics were saved at the request of railroad buffs. The cars are being filled with grout to fix any contamination in place, and they’ll be fenced to prevent public contact.
Another 12 railcars at Hanford are destined for a landfill. They carried lead and steel casks to haul irradiated fuel from the B Reactor for processing.
The B Reactor produced plutonium for the first atomic explosion — the Trinity test in New Mexico — and the plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.
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Information from: Tri-City Herald, http://www.tri-cityherald.com
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