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Re:BYU profs create new nuclear reactor to produce nuclear e... by seanmcdirmid on Friday October 07, 2022 @07:14PM (#33128109)
He worked at building the power station, it is still operational. Hanford has a complex history with experimental reactors, a reactor to produce plutonium (I think?) and a full power producing reactor that provides ~8% of WA’s power needs.
Re:BYU profs create new nuclear reactor to produce nuclear e... by coryrc on Friday October 07, 2022 @09:34PM (#33129009)
There are no running reactors at Hanford and haven't been since 1987.

While one reactor did generate power, they were all designed to create plutonium, which you would not otherwise do if power was the only goal. Thus, the blame is solely on weapons development, not power.

1987: https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/HanfordHistory

Re:BYU profs create new nuclear reactor to produce nuclear e... by seanmcdirmid on Friday October 07, 2022 @11:00PM (#33129424)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site

> The weapons production reactors were decommissioned at the end of the Cold War, and the Hanford Site became the focus of the nation's largest environmental cleanup. Besides the cleanup project, Hanford also hosts a commercial nuclear power plant, the Columbia Generating Station, and various centers for scientific research and development, such as the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Fast Flux Test Facility and the LIGO Hanford Observatory. In 2015 it was designated as part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Generating_Station

> The nuclear power plant was also known as Hanford Two, with Hanford One being the 800 MWe power generating plant connected to the N-Reactor (decommissioned in 1987), a dual purpose reactor operated by the Atomic Energy Commission: producing plutonium for the nuclear weapons stockpile, as well as generating electricity for the grid.[4]

...

> Columbia's original NRC license to operate was scheduled to expire in December 2023. In January 2010, Energy Northwest filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year license renewal – through 2043. In May 2012, the NRC approved the 20-year license renewal.