Bill Gates, son take personal tour of Hanford

The Hanford nuclear reservation had a famous guest this month: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who toured the site with his 10-year-old son.

The Tri-City Herald says the Department of Energy confirmed the visit Monday.

Gates spokesman John Pinette says his boss toured the site March 5 when workers were off and used the visit as a science learning experience with his son. Parts of the tour were led by the Energy Department's top two managers at Hanford.

Usually people have to sign up for one of the public tours of Hanford. Registration for all 2,544 seats on tours this year filled in 13 hours and 9 minutes when registration opened a week ago.

Hanford produced plutonium during World War II and the Cold War for the nation's nuclear weapons program. Now about $2 billion is spent annually to clean up environmental contamination left from plutonium production.

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Information from: Tri-City Herald, http://www.tri-cityherald.com