virtually afl of which were combhected at one site by ane contractor. By this time Dub'ont had ceased w be Hantord’s prime contractor and General Electric had accuired the managing and operating contract and assumed responsibility far producing pluteniom As well as oversesing site plutonium production sctivities, the operationsoffice had to ensure a smooth tramition from DuPont to General Electric. in this period, facilities, auch ag the Hanford Laborstories, which conducted research on the biological effects of radioactive material, were aise established at the site. One ixboratury mission was the study ofthe effects of radioiodine, which was emitted as a waste product from the cheoucal separations plants " Hantord production facilities expanded from 1947 ta 1953 tw meet Cold and Korean War demande for more nucleer weapons. During this period five additional production reactors were built at Hanford. Thus, the Hanford Operations Office had to oversee a large construction program while 2 supervised morsasingly efficient plutonium production activities. By 1949 approumately 63,000 people Hved m the Richland ares, und most ofthem were employed in the plant or at the operations office. As that time the Hanford clants employed more than one-fourth of all comtractor personnel engaged mm operating aiormuc energy plants and two-thirds of all coustruction workers engaged in building atomic energy plants. By the mud 1950s the operations office wes overseeing the operation of eight production reactors at Hanford. The reactors were run round the clock and improvements to the three reactors built daring the war allowed them to be run at higher than designed power levels. In the 1960s, one additional reactor, called the New Production Reactor, went inte operation at Hanford. 1 was a gual purpose reactor, designed to groduce pliutoniure and electric power. Like the other Hanford reactors, i was graphite madersted and water cooled, By the mud 1960s the AECbad mer all Department of Defense requirements for suclear weapons production and had created a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons. Accordingly, President Lyndon ®. Johnson decided to reduce miclear materials production and presented it as a disarmament measure in hus 1964 Biete of the Union address. As a result. over the next seven vears, the ABC shut downall Hantord production reactors, save for the New Production Reactor. Ad this time the Hanford area was a one industry town. Approximately $300 neople worked either in site plants or in the operations office. Virtually al were dependent directly ar indirectly on plutonium production zctivities The AEC, accordingly, tocksteps to keep the area economically viable ty undertakingite Hanford diversification program, aiming to bring new industry and contractors into the ares. The operations office's maior task during the remainder of the decade was to overser the Hanford diversification pragrem for the AEC. The ARC moved quickly io implement the diversification program. In 1964 the AEC communed to the use of multiple contractors at the site amd selected Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, hie as one of the first ofthem. in 1965 Battelle contracted to run the Handerd Laboratories, newly designated as Pacific Manhwest Laboaratery The AC then decided to build the Fast Flux