At Hanford Reach, located between McNary Pool and Priest Rapids Dam and the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River, salmon swim through the transparent pipes into a cooling pond.
This is a one-acre pool, 17 feet deep, into which two to six million gallons of fresh water from the Columbia River is pumped.
This is needed for fresh oxygen, cooler water and imprinting.
This pond was used originally as a cooling pond for the Hanford Nuclear Reactor's K East and K West.
These reactors were built and used for the production of weapons-grade plutonium for bombs.
