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T Plant
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Aerial photo of T-Plant
T Plant is located in the 200 West Area of the Hanford Site. 
 
 
When construction was complete on T Plant in 1944, it was the world’s first large-scale plutonium separation facility. A series of chemical processes at T Plant extracted plutonium from uranium fuel rods irradiated at the B Reactor.
 
The plutonium processed at T Plant was used for the Trinity Test in New Mexico in July 1945 and in the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. T Plant ceased plutonium separation in 1956 and in 1957 resumed service as a decontamination, repair and waste handling facility.
 
For more information, please see the T Plant and Sludge Interim Storage Fact Sheet.
 
Recently, workers at T Plant repackaged radioactive wastes generated on the Hanford Site.
Workers at T Plant repackaged radioactive wastes generated on the Hanford Site.
 
To prepare for receipt and storage of sludge containers, crews cleaned out the T Plant canyon (left), modified the cells beneath to accept the containers, and performed extensive testing and training (right).
To prepare for receipt and storage of sludge containers, crews cleaned out the T Plant canyon (left) and performed extensive testing and training (right).
 
Irradiated rods stored in the fuel storage pool contained tiny amounts of plutonium; chemicals dissolved the fuel rods, allowing workers to extract the plutonium.
Irradiated uranium fuel rods stored in the T Plant fuel storage pool contained tiny amounts of plutonium. Chemicals dissolved the fuel rods, allowing workers to extract the plutonium.
Last Updated 05/13/2024 12:08 PM
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