Category Archives: Nuclear Legacy

Download April 2025 Atomic Tourism Calendar

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This month’s featured image looks southeast across the Columbia River to the B Reactor on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the Hanford Reach.

The Hanford Reach is a free-flowing section of the Columbia River which is the only section that is not tidal nor part of a reservoir. Most of this flows through the Hanford Site. The Reach was created as a National Monument in 2000 encompassing the original security buffer surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

The image was taken from a pullout on northbound WA-24 on the north side of the Columbia River, just east of the Vernita Bridge. From this vantage point, visitors can see nearly all of the remaining buildings, processing plants, and reactors of the Hanford Site.

Also this month, you’ll find some interesting atomic events that occured in April over the years as well as 88 atomic shots that occured organized by day.

If you visit the Hanford Reach, be sure to visit the REACH museum in Richland which provides geographical, biological, and historical displays of the area from Ancestral land usage, through early settlements, to the Manhattan Project, and current communities and wildlife.

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Download March 2025 Atomic Tourism Calendar

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Featuring the M65 Atomic Cannon (“Atomic Annie”) across from Fort Riley in Junction City, Kansas.

March 2025 Calendar download

March’s calendar features the M65 Atomic Cannon (“Atomic Annie”) which is right off I-70 outside Junction City, Kansas. This view shows Fort Riley in the distance. The calendar also features some interesting March Atomic Events as well as a complete listing of all atomic shots during March from 1955 through 1984.

This Atomic Annie is located in Freedom Park near Junction City, Kansas, at exit 301 on I-70. The trail to the top of the hill with the cannon has recently been improved and was reopened for visitors.

Atomic Annie Kansas
M65 Atomic Cannon (“Atomic Annie”) atop a hill in Freedom Park, Junction City, Kansas

The M65 Atomic Cannon was built by the United States and capable of firing a nuclear device. It was developed in the 1950s during the Cold War and fielded between April 1955 to December 1962 in West Germany, South Korea, and on Okinawa.

On May 25, 1953, the Atomic Annie was tested at the Nevada Test Site as part of the Upshot-Knothole series of nuclear tests. Codenamed “Grable,” it resulted in the detonation of a 15kt shell at a range of 7 miles. This was the first and only nuclear shell to be fired from the cannon.

Of the 20 M65s produced, seven are on display. Only two have their original prime movers:

Atomic Annie in Albuquerque
Atomic Annie at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Albuquerque, NM

You can visit any of these Atomic Annie cannons. However, if you’d like to visit the one featured, and you’re traveling through Kansas, be sure to stop and take the hike to the top of the hill.

Download your calendar for March:

AtomicTourism March 2025Download

SmarterEveryDay @ EBR-1

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Destin Sandlin of the Smarter Every Day YouTube channel recently visited the EBR-1 outside Arco, Idaho. As Atomic Tourists, we wanted to share his video.

Destin goes on a tour of the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-1) with the Idaho National Laboratories. In addition, as an engineer and science communicator, he provides a great explanation of nuclear power and specifically a breeder reactor.

As a reminder, the EBR-1 is a National Historic Landmark where usable electricity was first generated in 1951. The facility is open to the public from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, every day from 9am to 5pm, for self-guided tours. Usually, during Atomic Days in Arco (third weekend in July), INL volunteers are are on hand to answer questions and provide guided tours.

Self-guided tour brochure:

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