Why was Hanford, Washington, selected during World War II as the site of America’s first nuclear energy plant?

Question

In 1942, as part of the plan to manufacture atomic bombs to drop on Japan, the U.S. Army began to seek out a suitable location to build a factory for producing plutonium, necessary for the atomic bomb which was later dropped on Hiroshima.

Then in January 1943, after a years’ search, the U.S. Army decided on the tiny Washington village of Hanford, and began purchasing or condemning 560 square miles of land for the new plutonium production plant. Within a year, the newly government-owned Hanford had become home to 50000 workers.

Why was Hanford, of all the towns in the nation, selected for this vastly important project which led to the Allied victory over Japan in World War II?

Answer 1

A vast, isolated area was needed to produce plutonium because no one knew for sure how much damage the radiation it gave off might do. Abundant power for plutonium production and water to cool the heat that built up were also needed.

What seemed like an ideal location existed in a barren corner of Benton County in Central Washington. Hanford was isolated—the nearest large own was Yakima, a hundred miles away. Although the land was desert, the climate was fairly mild. The Columbia River, an abundant source of water for cooling reactors, flowed through the village. (This was why even more isolated areas, such as New Mexico, were not chosen for the plutonium reactor—no water for cooling was nearby.) Also, the Grand Coulee Dam was producing abundant power nearby.

And, of course, it would be easy to build a factory town here because of the smooth land—certainly not a deciding factor in the selection of Hanford, but nevertheless gratefully acknowledged by the U.S. Army engineers who were called upon to build thousands of barracks posthaste.

By the way, the actual reactor was constructed several miles north of Hanford—not right inside town, as the question implies.