The U.S. Department of the Interior says the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor is now a National Historic Landmark.
The B Reactor at the Hanford nuclear reservation in southcentral Washington produced plutonium for the first man-made nuclear blast, as well as for the second bomb dropped on Japan during World War II.
Local officials have been seeking the landmark designation for years, hoping to save the reactor from being permanently cocooned as part of the cleanup of the highly contaminated site. (AP)