Senate OKs bill to make Hanford reactor part of Manhattan Project National Historical Park

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate has passed legislation to preserve Hanford's B Reactor near Richland, Wash., as part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The bill was included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 that passed the Senate on Friday.

It now heads to President Obama's desk for his signature.

Hanford was created during the Manhattan Project in World War II to make plutonium. The B Reactor was the first full-sized nuclear reactor in the world and made the plutonium for the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

The defense bill also expands the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area by 22,000 acres, and designates the Middle Fork Snoqualmie and Pratt Rivers as Wild and Scenic.