Table of Contents

Foreword by Roy Gephart

Introduction: What is Hanford?
A Unique Geography
A Place of Paradox
The Personal Challenge
A Hanford Timeline

Part I. Hanford: The Cultural Progression
First Fishing, Then Farming
The Beginning of Hanford
The Secret Revealed
Cleanup

Part II. Hanford: The Engineering Challenge
Coming to Hanford
Archaeological Analogs and the Nuclear Priesthood
The Weeds
Natural Analogs: Designing a Water Retaining Barrier
Thousands of Wells
Tumbleweeds
Bird in a Tank and Data Overload
Pumping Carbon Tetrachloride
Glowing in the Dark
Tank Leak Controversy

Part III. Anomalies and Unusual Events
The Atomic Pond
The PUREX Railroad Tunnels
Z-9 Crib, Poisoning Plutonium and Crawler Robots
Burial Grounds
The Atomic Man
How a Japanese Balloon Shut Hanford Down Hanford

Part IV. Hanford as Home
F House
The Street Names of Richland
Part V. Hanford: The National Park
The Hanford Reach
Elk and Wild Horses
Rare Plants/ New Plants
B Reactor

Part VI. Reflecting on Hanford
Hanford as a Redemptive Quest
The Poetic Response

Glossary

References

Appendix

Plates

About the Author

Melvin R. Adams has published two other books with WSU Press, both on southeastern Oregon: Netting the Sun: A Personal Geography of the Oregon Desert and Remote Wonders: An Explorer's Guide to Southeast Oregon.

Reviews

"Atomic Geography is impressive ground."--Eugene Register-Guard

"Adams explores technical issues with clear, personable prose, [and] does a good job of putting scientific information within human context."--ForeWord Magazine

"For a book about nuclear waste cleanup, paradox and irony figure prominently--Atomic Geography is intelligent, probing, and strangely poetic."--ForeWord Magazine

"I anticipated a world of soulless drones in white safety suits. Adams proves closer to a blue-jean naturalist and poet."-- Eugene Register-Guard