First U.S. nuke plant at Hanford might become museum. But who writes the history?

B reactor is a marvel of American engineering chutzpah -- created in secret during World War II in just under a year, based on a mockup built on a Chicago basketball court. It's plutonium fueled the country's first atomic bomb detonated in New Mexico. Now some Tri-Cities residents want to give their region an economic boost by turning the reactor into a tourist destination. Will a delegation from Nagasaki be invited to a grand opening? Will the local high school still insist on calling itself the the "Bombers" with a mushroom cloud logo as a mascot? The Seattle Times explores the social implications.

"Even if you disagree with the principle of this, even if you believe this reactor never should have been built, you have to admire the complexity of what they built here -- the genius of it," Hanford historian Michele Gerber said while leading a tour of B Reactor.

Without question, the reactor is a marvel of science, engineering and craft. B Reactor was constructed in a mere 11 months, a millionfold scale-up of an experimental reactor built on a Chicago sports court.

But the reactor's place in the sociopolitical history of the U.S. and the world is more volatile and open to debate.

Dr. David Hall, of Seattle, a past national president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said the story told at a B Reactor museum must include a fair accounting of the human and financial costs of developing nuclear capabilities. He isn't sure that side of the story would get a full airing at a museum on the Hanford site.

"It depends on who's writing the history," Hall said. "I want to honor the good intent and patriotism of the people who worked at B Reactor. On the other hand, science needs to be honest about its consequences and understand the Pandora's box that was opened."