Manhattan Project Nuclear Sites to Transform into National Park

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The Hanford Nuclear Reservation situated 200 miles east of Seattle in south-central Washington was once considered as the country's most polluted nuclear weapons production facility.

The site is due to transform into the nation's newest national park with thousands of people expected to indulge in a tour experience around the area by next year.

Although the dangerous site is said to undergo major transformation into a widely secure national park, proximity would still be established to avoid people from making close contact to certain areas where collection of toxic radioactive waste are still present.

"Everything is clean and perfectly safe," said Colleen French, the U.S. Department of Energy's program manager for the Hanford park as cited in dailymail.co.uk.

"Any radioactive materials are miles away", she added.

According to the United States Department of Energy website, they have spent over a decade together with other Federal agencies and stakeholders to examine and prepare several draft bills to include important properties in the past within Manhattan Project national park.

After numerous efforts being exerted, Congress finally passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 which covered provisions allowing for the park to be located at three specific sites: Oak Ridge in Tennessee, Hanford in Washington and Los Alamos in New Mexico.

President Barack Obama through National Defense Authorization Act, signed the Manhattan Project National Historic Park into existence on December 19, 2014.

The creation of parks out of what used to be nuclear weapons production sites is aimed at the enhancement of ‘public access, management, interpretation and historic preservation’.