The Tri-Cities is a wind-blown, sunny metropolitan area in the southeast corner of Washington State. The unique history of the area is tied to the Hanford Site – part of the Manhattan Project of World War II. The Tri-Cities played a key role in ending the war and developing nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War, and the thousands of men and women who worked on these projects from 1942 through the 1980’s have a connection to the area and are an integral part of the industry's history.

USTUR Laboratory and Offices

In a nondescript warehouse on the edge of the Hanford site, a small team of health physicists and scientists is carrying out one of the final missions of the Cold War - researching past uranium and plutonium poisoning and exposure to Hanford and uranium workers, and discovering new ways to treat these types of accidents when they do occur. This team makes up the United States Transuranium & Uranium Registries (USTUR).

USTUR - Part of the WSU Campus

The USTUR is operated through the Washington State University College of Pharmacy and located in Richland, Washington. The project, funded as a grant through the U.S. Department of Energy, takes information from former U.S. plutonium workers and applies those lessons to future work, safety procedures, and applications. According to the USTUR, 327 previous workers with plutonium, americium, and/or uranium actinides have voluntarily donated their tissues for the USTUR’s scientific research.

Early USTUR Meetings - Courtesy of USTUR

Some plutonium workers were exposed during incidents over 50 years ago – a 1948 Hanford inhalation of uranium, a plutonium-contaminated puncture wound in the 1960’s – but they and their families are all eager to see what good can come of those incidents. Many of the donations are people that have moved away and have fond memories of the area, but want to see that their experiences are logged and accounted for – and want their own personal test results to live on through fellow Hanford plutonium workers.

Liver Contamination in Donation - Courtesy of USTUR

Research professor Dr. Anthony James has been project director of the USTUR since 2005. His work at the laboratory involves donation coordination, database development, and truly significant research in the area of plutonium safety. When looking at his years of research in forensics, plutonium spread, and aerosol inhalants, visitors to the lab can feel his dedication to learning more about his craft.

“We are trying to find a way to have science affect policy – when that science is properly managed,” he says. “Most of these individuals have been registered for forty to fifty years, and are excited to have their families see what will come of it.”

Contaminated Radium Painter Bones - Courtesy of USTUR

The incidents and difficult working conditions that plutonium and radiation workers encountered in the early days of the Cold War have come full circle – the project's first whole body donation, in 1972, now lives on in a plastic, full-scale, and very realistic to the touch leg, head, and torso. These plastic body parts, with some of the donated bones actually in the prosthetic limbs, are used to calibrate radiation detectors all over the world. Other body donations are used for determining proper, secure, and quick reaction and response when the original incident occurs.

USTUR Records Room - Courtesy of USTUR

When asked about the value added by the USTUR to the Hanford community, Dr. James said: “Radiation is one of the few contaminants that you can actually measure, highly accurately.” He said, “We are a resource of knowledge, bringing all of this science together for international research.” The USTUR is a valuable resource, to the Hanford community and to the plutonium worker community at-large.