Peace cranes being sent to Hanford to mark 75th anniversary of the end of WWII

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park is collecting paper cranes with messages of peace at its Hanford and other park sites as the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II is marked this month.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic the visitor center for the Hanford nuclear reservation unit of the park is closed and tours are not being offered.

But park officials are asking that origami cranes with a message of peace written on their wings be sent to park units by Wednesday Aug. 5. The address of the Hanford unit is Manhattan Project NHP, 2000 Logston Blvd., Richland, WA 99354.

Images of paper cranes or messages of peace also will be accepted at mapr_information@nps.gov.

The cranes will be saved in a time capsule that will be opened in 2045 on the 100th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, Aug. 6 and Aug. 9.

B Reactor, part of the national park at Hanford, produced plutonium used in the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, after the Allies raced to build the first-production scale reactor in the world before Nazi Germany.

Paper cranes are a symbol of resilience, strength and peace and their messages will be used to foster discussion about the “complex and fraught legacies” of the Manhattan Project, according to the Park Service.

“You cannot gain peace without understanding and empathy,” and “Happy are those who live in peace with themselves and others” are among peace messages already submitted.

The park service asks that origami cranes be made from paper no larger than 6-by-6-inches square.

Folding directions, a template for a flat crane to cutout and more information is posted at bit.ly/HanfordPeaceCranes.