Atomic Frontier Days: Hanford and the American West (review)

John Findlay and Bruce Hevly offer a complex, multifaceted analysis of the Hanford nuclear site in Atomic Frontier Days. While the history of the Manhattan Project seems to be a well-trodden path, Findlay and Hevly demonstrate that much still remains to be studied regarding the bomb and American society. Their coauthored work effectively blends the history of the nuclear complex with the histories of environmentalism, community identity, regionalism, and politics in a book that spans Hanford's conception as a federal reservation up to the early 2000s. Few examinations of the nuclear-weapons production system have attempted such a large time period, and even those that do fail to present the layered, contextualized account told by Findlay and Hevly.

Atomic Frontier Days begins with World War II and the selection of the Hanford Engineer Works by the Army Corps of Engineers. The first chapter initially recounts well-known tales of Hanford's wartime service, the pioneering spirit that permeated the site, and the sense of sacrifice by all involved. The twin concepts of national sacrifice and pioneering spirit are themes the authors frequently touch on throughout the book. Findlay and Hevly do not stop their study of Hanford at the war's end, however; instead they carry the story forward to look at the expansion of production at Hanford during the cold war. Here, the authors note that while federal and contractor employees liked to view the site as being on the cutting edge of science, much of Hanford's nuclear technology quickly became obsolete.

The site's commitment to the nation's defense turned Hanford into a sacrifice zone, according to the authors. Not only was Hanford a likely target of Soviet warheads, but the scale and type of industrial pollution generated at the site endangered the health of workers, residents, and the local environment. The authors explore the multiple missions assigned to Hanford, from weapons production to waste cleanup. By the 1990s, these changing tasks had altered the federal government's abilities to control oversight of Hanford.

The second chapter focuses on the communities that developed around Hanford, from the project years to the 1990s. While Findlay and Hevly spotlight the evolution of Richland, a government-owned town, from 1943 to 1958, they also explore the relationships of Pasco and Kennewick to Hanford and Richland. They point out that each town maintained distinctive identities and populations. These differences occurred partly due to decisions made by the Manhattan Project at Hanford and then later by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) during the early years of the cold war.

In the next chapter Findlay and Hevly unravel the politics that surrounded Hanford. Secrecy shrouded the site during the war and was carried forward into the cold war period. People living in the Tri-Cities and politicians representing Washington State effectively used political channels to funnel funding and projects to Hanford that economically benefited the region. The plutonium production piles that lined the Columbia River were regarded as keystones to local and regional development. The authors argue that local boosters imposed their agendas on Hanford and, implicitly, on the federal government. Even after the AEC shut down eight of the nine production reactors at Hanford by the 1970s, residents and politicians pressured the federal government to undertake projects at the site.

The final chapter of Atomic Frontier Days contextualizes Hanford within the surrounding geographic region. Findlay and Hevly situate the site in the broader historical development of the Columbia River Basin. They explain the intertwined relationship between Hanford and the region's other massive federal program, the Columbia Basin Project, initiated during the New Deal. The two complemented each other and acted as rivals at times.

Atomic Frontier Days offers a fresh analysis of a key nuclear site. Most histories of the bomb complex abruptly end with the conclusion of the war or fail to contextualize a facility within the surrounding region. Past site histories have...