virtually all of which were conducted at one site by one contractor. By this ime DuPont had cessed to be Hantord’s prune contractor and General Electric had acquired the managing and operating contract and assumed responsibilicy for producing plutomum. As well as overseeing ste phronmum production activities, the operations office had io ensure a smooth transition framDuPont to General Rlectric. in this period, facilities, such as the Hanford Laboratories, which comlucted resparch on the biological effects of radioactive material, were also established at the site. One laboratory mission was the study ofthe effects of radioiodine, which was emitted as 4 waste product trom the chemical seperations plants. Haniord production facilities expeided fram 1947 ta 1953 to meet Cold and KoreanWar demande for more nuclear weapons. Drawing this period five additions! production reactors were boils at Hanford Thos, the Hentord Coerations Office had to oversee 3 large construction program while i supervised increasingly efficient phuontur croduction activities, By 1949 approximately 65,000 people lived imthe Richland area, and musi of them were emploved m the plant or at the operations office. At tbat time the Hanford olants employed more than one-fourth of all contractor perscmnel engaged in operating stomuc energy plants and two-thirds of all construction workers enzamed in building atomic energy plants. By the mid 1950s the operations office was overseeing the operation of sight production reactors at Hanford. The reactors were run around the clock ard mnprovements to the three reactors buat during the war allowed themto be nun at higher then designed pawer levels. In the 1960s, one adkitional reactor, called the New Production Reactor, went inte operation atHanford. [twas a dual purpose reactor, designed in produce shutonkum and electric power. Like the other Hanford resetors, H was graphite mederated and water cooled. By the mad 1960s the AEC had met all Department of Defense requirements for nuclear weapons production and had crested 2 huge arsenal of nuclear weapons. Accordingly, President Lyndon B. Johnson decided te reduce nuclear materials production and presented it as a disarmament moasure in hie 1964 State of the Unwen address. As a regalt, ewer the next seven years, the ARC shut down all Hanford pracduction reactors, save for the New Production Reactor, Ag this time the Hanford ares was 4 one industry town. Aporosimately 8300 people worked either in site plants or in the operations office. Virtually all were dependent directly or indirectly on pluiorum production acthities, The ARC, accordingly, took steps to keep thearea economically viable by undertaking its Hanford diversification program, aiming to bring new industry and comractors inte the area. The operations office's malar task during the remainder of the decade was to oversee the Hantord diversification nrogrem for the ARC. Sot The AEC moved quickly to manlement the diversification srogram. In 1954 the ARC committed to the use ofmultiple contractors at the site and selected Battelle Memorial Institute of Cohombus, hie as one of the first of ther. In [964 Battelle contracted to run the Hanlord Laboratories, newly designated as Pacific Northwest Laboratory. The AEC then decided to build the Fast Fhix