Plutonium Finishing Plant, Waste Incinerator Facility, 200 West Area, Richland, Benton County, WA

Significance: Building 232-Z, a waste incinerator facility, was constructed to recover plutonium from miscellaneous solid wastes produced by the adjacent Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP), the Plutonium Isolation Facility and the REDOX and PUREX plants in the 200 Areas on the Hanford Site. Known officially as the Contaminated Waste Recovery Process Facility, the 232-Z incinerator was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places because it was a prototype for the incineration of contaminated wastes. 232-Z was unique for its equipment design and first-of-a-kind method of automating and executing the incineration of plutonium-bearing wastes. From 1961 to its closure in 1972, 232-Z recovered significant amounts of plutonium through the incineration of contaminated combustible scrap material.
Survey number: HAER WA-128-A