Atomic Window from the Manhattan Project, 1944

This incredibly heavy, 70%-lead-glass window block is a glowing relic from the development of the first atomic bomb.

The Hanford T Plant was the world’s first large-scale plutonium extraction facility, located in Southeast Washington. This glass protected the workers as they used mechanical remote-manipulation arms to produce the plutonium that powered the world’s first atomic bomb explosion — the Trinity nuclear test where Robert Oppenheimer recited the words of the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

Hanford also produced the plutonium used in the “Fat Man” atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 to end WW II. The intense yellow hue comes from cerium added to the glass to prevent the clear lead oxide from turning brown over time with radiation exposure.

During the decommissioning, one of the panes broke and this is a large block from it, measuring 17 x 8.5 x 6 cm, and weighing 5 kilograms.