The Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP), also known as 'Z Plant', was part of the Hanford Site

Hanford Site

The Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...

 nuclear research complex in the state of Washington, USA.

History

It began in 1949 with the purpose of helping Hanford make plutonium metal in a form suitable for weapons on-site. It also participated in programs to recycle plutonium. One of the projects in this program was the use of mixed plutonium-oxide uranium-oxide

Mox

MOX might be a name or acronym for:*Malaysian Oxygen Berhad - A Malaysian company that is specializes in providing total gas solutions.*Mixed Oxide Fuel, from nuclear reprocessing*An alien race in the TimeSplitters 2 video game, the Mox...

 (MOX) fuel in the Fast Flux Test Facility

Fast Flux Test Facility

The Fast Flux Test Facility is a 400 MW nuclear test reactor owned by the U.S. Department of Energy.It is situated in the 400 Area of the Hanford Site, which is located in the state of Washington.-History:...

. One of the PFP's jobs was to quality assure the fuel pins that had been constructed for the FFTF by outside vendors, such as Kerr-McGee

Kerr-McGee

The Kerr-McGee Corporation, founded in 1929, was an energy company involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas. On June 23, 2006, Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation agreed to acquire Kerr-McGee in an all-cash transaction totaling $16.5 billion plus the assumption of $2.6...

, NUMEC, and Babcock and Wilcox

Babcock and Wilcox

The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...

The PFP Closure Project intends to have the entire facility cleaned and destroyed down to a concrete slab by 2016, with all contaminated materials moved to other sites.

Purposes

• Created plutonium 'buttons', used to make weapons, until 1989
• Special nuclear material handling and storage
• Plutonium recovery
• Plutonium conversion
• Laboratory support
• Waste handling
• Shutdown and operational facility surveillances.

Divisions

Plutonium Conversion Facility

• 'Remote Mechanical A' line - created plutonium oxide powder
• 'Remote Mechanical C' line - created metallic plutonium from plutonium nitrate

Plutonium Reclamation Facility

• Produced 'high purity plutonium nitrate solution' from a 'variety of feed sources, including scrap'. Started in 1964

Waste Treatment Facility

• Neutralized liquid nuclear waste before it was pumped to Hanford
  Hanford Site
  The Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...
  
  's Tank Farms

Incinerator

• Burned old clothes, filters, etc to recover plutonium residue

Other

• Ventilation systems, nuclear storage vaults, chemical storage, office space, backup generator, etc.
• RECUPLEX process, Plutonium recovery and recycle. Contaminated the ground with plutonium
  Plutonium
  Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
  
  , carbon tetrachloride
  Carbon tetrachloride
  Carbon tetrachloride, also known by many other names is the organic compound with the formula CCl4. It was formerly widely used in fire extinguishers, as a precursor to refrigerants, and as a cleaning agent...
  
  , and acidic waste