On Aug. 9, 1945 -- 66 years ago today -- an atomic bomb armed with plutonium produced at Hanford was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, helping to end World War II.

The bomb killed 70,000 people initially, but the total fatalities eventually would climb to more than 100,000. Five days after the bomb was dropped, Japan surrendered, ending a war that had taken about 60 million lives.

Today, B Reactor is among the Manhattan Project properties being considered for a proposed national historic park.