04.20.05

Cantwell Urges Senate to Fully Fund B Reactor Proposal Letter to Appropriations Leaders: Make “timely investment in preserving our nation's past and educating our future leaders”

WASHINGTON , D.C. – Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today urged Senate Appropriations leaders to fully fund the study to preserve Hanford 's historic B Reactor. Last year Cantwell teamed up with Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA-04) to pass legislation that directs the National Park Service to conduct a study on the potential for developing B Reactor and other Manhattan Project facilities as historical sites.

"While World War II was the central event of the 20th century, the Manhattan Project's role in that war was critically important," wrote Cantwell, a member of the Senate Energy Committee. "We urge you to consider this important and timely investment in preserving our nation's past and educating our future leaders."

In 1943, only months after Enrico Fermi first demonstrated that controlled nuclear reaction was possible, ground was broken on the B Reactor – the world's first full-scale plutonium production reactor. B Reactor produced the plutonium for the first-ever manmade nuclear explosion – the Trinity test in New Mexico, and for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki that helped win World War II. Plutonium production at B Reactor continued until its decommission in 1968.

"The Manhattan Project National Historical Park Study Act" was approved by the Senate last September, and signed into law by President Bush on October 18, 2005.

Local organizations that support development of a B Reactor historical park include: the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau, the B Reactor Museum Association, and the Atomic Heritage Foundation.

Cantwell and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), the ranking member on the Senate Energy Committee, sent the letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Appropriations. They requested that $2.8 million be appropriated to begin the study and temporarily preserve the Manhattan Project sites.

The letter follows below:

April 20, 2005

The Honorable Pete Domenici; Chairman

The Honorable Harry Reid, Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Appropriations

United States Senate

Washington , DC 20510

Dear Chairman Domenici and Ranking Member Reid:

Thank you for your support for the "Manhattan Project National Historical Park Site Study Act" (PL 108-340). Now that the Study has been authorized, we are urging that $2,800,000 be appropriated to implement it and to take urgent actions to preserve historic Manhattan Project sites under the Energy and Water Development Appropriations in FY 2006.

The National Park Service estimates that it will cost $800,000 to complete the study authorized in the "Manhattan Project National Historical Park Site Study Act." The Department of Energy will be working closely with the National Park Service on the study. Following precedent set by Air Force which funded a National Park Service Study of the Minuteman Missile Sites, we recommend that the funds for the Manhattan Project Study be appropriated under Energy and Water Development Appropriations.

This request also includes $2,000,000 in fiscal year 2006 for needs identified in discussions with the members of the Manhattan Project communities for the preservation of priority Manhattan Project historical sites. These funds will ensure that the essential properties, equipment and artifacts are preserved and interpreted for potential Manhattan Project National Historical Park Sites at Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Hanford.

While World War II was the central event of the 20th century, the Manhattan Project's role in that war was critically important. It established America as a Super Power and has influenced the course of domestic politics and international relations ever since. We urge you to consider this important and timely investment in preserving our nation's past and educating our future leaders.

Sincerely,

Jeff Bingaman U.S. Senator

Maria Cantwell U.S. Senator