The Hanford field study was definitely one of the best trips I have been on. With a focus of the Manhattan Project of World War II, we visited places that exhibited information about it as well as visited parts of the Manhattan Project. From the Reeds College nuclear reactor two Hanford where plutonium was enriched for nuclear bombs, all of these places offered a great deal of information that culminated in the History in 5 project that my group completed. On a more casual note, the food was excellent on this trip courtesy of the teachers.
Reed College Chemistry wing. This is where we got an introduction to their nuclear reactor, “Triga”
Hanford’s B Reactor, a plutonium enriching facility that provided weapons grade plutonium for the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The “Fat Man”
The Manhattan Project and the need of Hanford:
The Manhattan Project was a nuclear bomb program developed by the United States during World War II. The pressure of Germany developing a nuclear bomb first and the pressing issue of the mainland invasion of Japan moved the United States to decide upon this project. The importance of Hanford comes when it was time to enrich Plutonium to act as a fissile material for the bomb. Locations had to be evaluated for the right points to host a Plutonium enriching plant. Hanford was chosen because it had many of the points that were needed which will be explained in the video.
Summary of Project:
Our project was to create a History in 5 points format video which would explain part of the project. My group chose to explain the land of Hanford with subtopics like why it was chosen and what were some of the reasons that the land is contaminated by radiation today. My topic centered around the natural formations of the land and how it was great for supporting the project. To support our reasons with facts and primary sources, this field study was devised which included a trip to B reactor at Hanford. The information it offered me from information panels to interviews with previous staff were very helpful in providing solid information for the project. Two different locations that we went to also but were not the centerpiece of the field study was Reed College in Portland and The Reach Museum in Richland. Both locations offered me insight on the principles behind the science of nuclear reactors and increased my understanding of what I was looking at in B Reactor.
A sign to show that the radioactivity still has not completely left the reactor.
Process Of Creating Video:
When I entered B reactor, I immediately took pictures and stills of interesting things that we could use for background or material (which was largely unused). Interviews were directed by all group members. Since there were only two mics and there was not too much time, some of the footage had audio which was recorded by our phones but was held close to the people who spoke to act as mic. My role of the project was to investigate why the Hanford area was chosen for the Manhattan Project in terms of natural formations. I later discovered many points but I had to reduce them down a lot due to time issues of the video. We first filmed using a green screen and stills of the nuclear reactor. We were rushed for time because the previous groups took forever with the green screen so the result looked like trash. iPad placement with the script on it became a problem but was later corrected. We filmed again most of our narrative parts around the school in a cheesy way because Luciano started out that way when we filmed him first for the second round of filming. We took the surrounding area for inspiration for random things like the choir room with Spencer’s piano playing. At this point, we pooled all of our interview footage and recording. Matthew D. requested his face not be in the video because of reasons the group was not made privy to. Editing took a long time with Kirby doing all of it because she took it upon herself when we recognized she was the best at the job. We offered assistance but she was intent on editing it herself. Setback after setback occurred when iMovie refused to cooperate with us and the video was redone at least two times due to not correctable technical difficulties. After much toiling the video was completed in a satisfactory state for the group.
The inside of B Reactor. All the little pegs can open and Uranium rods are inserted to be enriched into Plutonium.
Some replica spacers used to center the Uranium rods in the reactor.
Things to improve upon:
Some things that I wish for to be improved next time I do this project is to bring more recording equipment for filming, more interesting footage, and use the experience acquired from this project improve the next project. The process of recording good footage for the project was a hassle because Spencer had the only proper camera that could take good quality pictures. Bringing some more personal equipment could improve the team’s coverage of interesting events that are happening and also make better use of time allocated. Finding interesting footage is connected to bringing personal equipment because interesting things tend to happen when Spencer’s camera was not around.
The barren landscape of the Hanford area which is why it was chosen to host a component of the Manhattan Project.
The Final Product:
This project really gave me insight as to what the PLP program can achieve and what it expects of the work that students provide. Thanks to Mr. Hughes and Ms. Willemse for such a informative and fun trip (And the food).