HANFORD, Holoi. — Ua lele aku kekahi papa o na kormoran kaulua mai ke kapakai hikina o ka muliwai Columbia, me ka hoolele ana i ka ili o ka la i ka ili o ka la i ka wa e ku ana elua mau egero wiwi keokeo ma na papapau kokoke, e hahai ana i na i'a liilii e pee ana iloko o na ohe.

He iwakālua kaʻa kaʻa, ʻo ka hapa nui o nā mākaʻikaʻi mai ka Pākīpika Northwest, i hoe, e hoʻokuʻu ana i ke au i ka hapa nui o ka hana. Ua kaʻa aku lākou ma mua o nā dia miula e ʻai ana ma kahakai, nā coyotes e ʻimi ana i nā kahakai one a me nā pali pali e kanikau ana i nā pali keʻokeʻo kokoke.

Akā, ʻo ka mea hoihoi nui aia ma ke kahakai komohana: he mau hale haʻahaʻa, ʻenehana-hinahina a me nā pahu uwahi kiʻekiʻe, kahi hōʻuluʻulu o nā hale i hānau ai i ka makahiki ʻAmelika ʻAmelika.

Welina mai i ka Hanford Reach, kahi o nā kahe kahe hope loa o ka muliwai ʻo Columbia e hālāwai ai me kahi kahua nuklea ʻino loa o ʻAmelika.

Ma keia palahalaha, ka hapanui laau ole, ua kukulu ke aupuni US i eiwa mau reactors mai ka makahiki 1943 a hiki i ka makahiki 1963, me ka B Reactor kaulana nana i hana i ka plutonium o na mea kaua mua loa o ka honua no ka poka nukili i haule ma Nagasaki, Iapana, i ke Kaua Honua II.

Ua hoʻokuʻu nā reactors i ka radioactivity i ka lewa, ka ʻāina a me ka wai i mea ʻole ka hoʻohaumia ʻana e ka ulia nuklea ʻekolu Mile Island ma ka hoʻohālikelike ʻana.

Eia naʻe, ʻike nā mea kālepa a me nā alakaʻi mākaʻikaʻi ma ka mokuʻāina hema o Wakinekona i ka muliwai a me nā reactors pani ʻia ma ke ʻano he kiʻi mākaʻikaʻi e ulu nei.

E noʻonoʻo ʻoe i kahi paka kumuhana ma ka ʻaoʻao o ka hale mana nuklea o Chernobyl. E like me ke kani ʻana, e hana ana ka manaʻo ma Hanford.

ʻO nā huakaʻi kayak kaulana kekahi laʻana. Ua ʻōlelo ʻo Pat Welle, nona ka Columbia Kayak Adventures, nāna e alakaʻi i ʻelua a ʻekolu mau pūʻulu i kēlā me kēia mahina ma mua o nā kahua nuklea, ua ʻoi aku ka pālua o kāna ʻoihana ma mua o kona hoʻomaka ʻana i ka makahiki 2004. Hoʻolālā ka mea hoʻokele waʻa huakaʻi e hoʻohui i kahi moku lua, a ʻo ka Hoʻokani ka muliwai i nā hoʻokūkū lawaiʻa bass i kēlā me kēia makahiki.

"Manaʻo wau ʻo ka mea hoihoi ka hui kūʻokoʻa o nā hiʻohiʻona - nā bluffs keʻokeʻo a me nā holoholona hihiu - a me kēlā hōʻiliʻili ʻokoʻa o nā kahua nuklea," wahi a Welle.

Ua pani lōʻihi ʻia nā reactors, akā haʻalulu ka ʻāina a puni me nā bulldozers, dump trucks a me nā luina i nā lole radiation e hana ana i kahi papahana hoʻomaʻemaʻe $ 2 biliona i hoʻokahi makahiki - ʻo ia ka papahana ʻoi loa ka pipiʻi o ka honua, e like me ka US Department of ikehu.

ʻO ka mea hoʻohenehene ʻoiai ʻoiai ua hoʻohaumia nā reactors i nā haneli o nā ʻeka, ʻo nā kaohi ʻana o ke aupuni i ke komo ʻana i waiho i nā ʻāina a puni ʻaʻole i hoʻopilikia nui ʻia no nā makahiki he 40, e ʻae ana i nā holoholona hihiu e ulu.

Ua hoʻoikaika ʻia ka hoʻoikaika ʻana e hana i ka Hanford Reach i wahi wela o ka mākaʻikaʻi i ka makahiki 2000 i ka wā i hoʻolaha ai ʻo Pelekikena Bill Clinton i 195,000 mau ʻeka ma ka muliwai a puni ka kahua nukili he monument aupuni. Ma kahi o 60,000 ka poʻe e kipa mai i kēlā me kēia makahiki, me ka poʻe lawaiʻa, ka poʻe hele wāwae, ka poʻe manu a me ka poʻe moʻolelo.

Piʻi paha kēlā helu ma lalo o kahi hoʻolālā a ka National Park Service e hoʻomaikaʻi i ka hoʻokuʻu ʻana o ka waʻa a me nā wahi pīniki a e wehe i ka B Reactor no nā huakaʻi lehulehu mau. Manaʻo ʻia ʻo Kakauolelo Kalaiaina ʻo Dirk Kempthorne e ʻae i kahi ʻōlelo aʻoaʻo i kēia mahina e haʻi aku i ka B Reactor he ʻāina mōʻaukala aupuni.

Ua hoʻomaka ka moʻolelo i ka makahiki 1942 i ka wā i hoʻomaka ai ka US Army Corps of Engineers e ʻimi i kahi kahua hana plutonium no ka Manhattan Project huna. Me nā ʻāpana ʻāina nui a me ka loaʻa ʻana o ka nui o ka wai e hoʻomaʻalili i ka reactor, ʻo ka wahi ʻo Hanford ma ke kahawai ʻo Columbia he mea kūpono loa.

Ua kūkulu ʻia ka reactor nuklea nui mua loa ma ʻAmelika ma kahi o hoʻokahi makahiki. ʻAʻole maopopo ka hapa nui o nā limahana ma ka B Reactor i ka mea a lākou e hoʻomohala nei a hiki i ka wā i hoʻolei ʻia ai ka pōkā atomika ma Nagasaki. Ma hope mai, ua hoʻolaha ʻia kahi poʻomanaʻo ma ka nūpepa kūloko: “Peace! Ua Paʻi ʻia kā mākou Bomb!"

I loko o nā makahiki he 20 e hiki mai ana, ua kūkulu ke aupuni pekelala i ʻewalu mau reactors ma ke kahawai ʻo Columbia ma kahi ʻāpana 586-square-mile i kapa ʻia ʻo ke kahua ʻo Hanford.

I ka makahiki 1948, ua haki ka pahu ma kahi loko wai ʻōpala reactor, e hoʻolei ana i 28 paona uranium i loko o ka muliwai Columbia.

I kēia mau lā, hoʻāʻo nui nā kānaka ʻepekema a me nā mea olaola i nā mea ola a pau ma ka muliwai, inā he tadpole a he dia paha.

Ua ʻōlelo kekahi waha ʻōlelo no ka Washington State Department of Health Office Of Radiation Protection i nā hoʻāʻo ʻana o nā iʻa mai ka muliwai ʻaʻole i ʻike i nā pae i ʻoi aku ma mua o nā kūlana olakino o ka lehulehu no ka radiation.