I can understand your reluctance given the scary nature of plutonium and uranium and neutrons and bombs and Silkwood showers. Seriously scary stuff, but the B Reactor on the Hanford Reservation isn't scary. It's fascinating. Why?

Let's start with the fact that the US Army Corps of Engineers built the B Reactor in less than 12 months and in only 16 months the reactor was producing plutonium. How about that the whole Manhattan Project was kept secret including operations at Hanford; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Los Alamos, New Mexico? If you still need more, just consider that nobody had ever built a reactor before and they did it anyway!

So now you're convinced it's pretty awesome. How do you get to see it for yourself? First thing you have to do is make a reservation through the web site. I'd recommend a morning tour if there's one available. Hanford's the kind of place that gets HOT so the earlier you go the better. The spots fill up fast so register soon.

The tour starts with a talk by one of the interpretive guides. There's so much history it's delivered through a virtual fire hose, but somehow it sinks in. The hardest part is the physics, but even that is made understandable. After 20 minutes everybody gets on a bus for the 45 minute drive to the reactor.

45 minutes sounds like a long time, but it's actually not. The guide provides a running narrative that keeps you looking out the windows and totally engaged. All that pretty much changes, though, when you get near the Reactor.

The first views are from the public highway. Even early in the morning the air shimmers with the heat. Getting closer, you drive past an old farm house. Surrounded by barbed wire and warning signs. It's one of the many that were abandoned when the government chose the area for the Manhattan Project. (If you have extra time you can also take the Pre-War Historic Sites tour that visits some of the towns that were abandoned and look across the river to the White Bluffs.)

Most of the buildings that supported the operations have been torn down so the reactor stands pretty much alone. It doesn't look like much. The bus parked and we walked in through a set of doors, down a hall, and into a huge room where you stand directly in front of the face of the reactor. It's huge. 2004 metal tubes protrude from the surface. That's where the uranium was inserted and converted to plutonium. There was another short presentation and then we were let loose to wander the facility.

Don't worry, the areas that are allowed are clearly marked. There's no chance you'd get into a dangerous place. Plus all the radioactive warning signs are brightly colored and impossible to miss.

There are two more presentations, one in the Valve Pit and one in the Control Room. Both were full of additional information including why the Russians keep visiting and why a man with an axe was super important in the original experiments. Confused? I guess you'll just have to go visit.

There was just enough free time in the facility for us to see everything. The kids chased their Junior Ranger badges and we all looked for clocks that weren't telling the right time, weird flags, and toilet paper that wasn't near a toilet. Again, confusing, right? Don't worry. It will make sense when you go.

10 years old is probably the youngest kid I would recommend for the tour even though younger visitors are allowed. For everyone else with an interest in history, this is a definite must-see. And don't worry if you're not in Washington. The Manhattan Project National Historical Park also includes the sites in Tennessee and New Mexico. We'll see you there.