my photo blog

During the Hanford B Reactor's long tenure (1944 to 1968), this area was one of the only positions where you could sit and monitor various states of the reactor, although the whole room was filled with racks of analog gauges, plotters, screens, and controls.

Italian Nobel Laureate Enrico Fermi sat here when the B Reactor went crititical in September, 1944. His office was on the other side of the small monitoring room.

The red lever at the far right of the frame is where the reactor could be shut down, if needed. It was covered with a plastic case, after an accidental leaning on the lever caused a shutdown.

Taken with a Leica M8, and Canon 28/2.8 ltm lens.