Editing Hanford Site (section)

===Plutonium Finishing Plant===
{{main|Plutonium Finishing Plant}}
During [[World War II]], Hanford produced  [[Plutonium(IV) nitrate|plutonium nitrate]] ({{chem2|Pu(NO3)2}}), which was shipped to Los Alamos, where it was turned into metallic plutonium and made into [[pit (nuclear weapon)|pit]]s.{{sfn|Gerber|2001|pp=1-3}}{{sfn|Jones|1985|pp=205–206}} After the war ended, the Los Alamos Laboratory moved to divest itself of production activities in order to devote itself to research.{{sfn|Hewlett|Duncan|1969|pp=58-59, 135}} The [[Plutonium Finishing Plant]] was built at Hanford to carry out the purification and reduction of the plutonium to metallic form, known as "buttons", and then perform the [[casting]], [[grinding (abrasive cutting)|grinding]] and [[lathe|lathing]] of the plutonium to turn it into pits.{{sfn|Gerber|2002|pp=2-5.2–2-5.3}}

[[File:200 West Area looking south towards Rattlesnake Mountain.jpg|thumb|left|200 West Area looking south towards Rattlesnake Mountain. The Plutonium Finishing Plant is marked as PFP.]]
The plant operated from 1949 to 1989.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plutonium Finishing Plant - Fact Sheet |publisher=Hanford Site |date=January 2022 |url=http://www.hanford.gov/files.cfm/PFP_Fact_Sheet_2022.pdf |access-date=26 January 2025}}</ref> In 1953, it began shipping plutonium buttons to the new [[Rocky Flats Plant]] in Colorado, which fabricated pits.{{sfn|Gerber|2002|p=2-5.10}} Between 1957 and 1961, nine different types of pits were produced at Hanford.{{sfn|Gerber|2002|pp=2-5.4–2-5.7}} Pit production ended in 1965, when the  AEC decided that henceforth this work would be undertaken at the Rocky Flats Site.{{sfn|Gerber|2002|pp=2-5.17–2-5.18}} As demand for [[weapons-grade plutonium]] declined after 1964, the Plutonium Finishing Plant began producing [[MOX|mixed plutonium-oxide uranium-oxide]] (MOX) fuel for the [[Fast Flux Test Facility]] and [[reactor-grade plutonium]].{{sfn|Gerber|1997|pp=13-1–13-6}}{{sfn|Gerber|2002|pp=2-5.21–2-5.22}}

Plutonium was valuable, and reducing waste saved landfill and preserved the long-term radiological safety of the area by not burying quite so much highly contaminated waste. The Plutonium Finishing Plant reclaimed solid wastes in its RECUPLEX facility, combustible ones in the 232-Z Incinerator, and liquid ones in the 242-Z Waste Treatment Facility. A multi-purpose Plutonium Reclamation Facility opened in 1964.{{sfn|Gerber|2002|pp=2-5.25–2-5.26}} 

[[File:Pubutton.jpg|thumb|right|A plutonium button]]
A serious accident occurred at the 242-Z Waste Treatment Facility in 1976, when the contents of a glove box containing [[americium]] and plutonium exploded, seriously injuring an operator, [[Harold McCluskey]]. This accident prompted a series of reviews and evaluations that led to a 1978 decision to close most of the Plutonium Finishing Plant's facilities.{{sfn|Gerber|1997|pp=11-1–11-5}}{{sfn|Gerber|2002|pp=2-5.25–2-5.27}}<ref name="tristateherald">{{cite news |first=Annette |last=Cary |title=Doctor remembers Hanford's 'Atomic Man' |newspaper=[[Tri-City Herald]] |url= http://www.hanfordnews.com/news/2008/story/11403.html |date=April 25, 2008 |access-date=March 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210232231/http://www.hanfordnews.com/news/2008/story/11403.html |archive-date = February 10, 2010 | url-status = dead}}</ref>

Before the plant could be demolished, approximately 18 metric tons of plutonium-bearing material was stabilized between 1996 and 2004.{{sfn|Charboneau|2006|pp=1–3}}<ref>{{cite report |title=Final Environmental Impact Statement - Plutonium Finishing Plant Stabilization |date=May 1996 |id=EIS-0244 |publisher=US Department of Energy |url=https://www.energy.gov/nepa/articles/eis-0244-final-environmental-impact-statement |access-date=19 January 2025  }}</ref> Legacy plutonium from plant systems was removed by 2005, and all weapons-grade plutonium was shipped to the Savannah River Site by 2009.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Timeline: 25 years of Hanford Cleanup |newspaper=Tri-City Herald |date=11 May 2014 |url=http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/hanford/article32178795.html |access-date=10 August 2017}}</ref> Demolition work on the plant began in July 2017 and was completed in January 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Annette |last=Cary |date=27 July 2017 |title=End in sight for Hanford plutonium processing center — Z Plant starts to fall |newspaper=Tri-City Herald |url=http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/hanford/article163998772.html |access-date=10 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Plutonium Finishing Plant |publisher=Hanford Site |url=http://www.hanford.gov/files.cfm/PFP_Fact_Sheet_2022.pdf |access-date=14 January 2025}}</ref>