The Atomic WestThe Manhattan Projectthe World War II race to produce an atomic bombtransformed the entire country in myriad ways, but it did not affect each region equally. Acting on an enduring perception of the American West as an empty place, the U. S. government located a disproportionate number of nuclear facilitiesparticularly the ones most likely to spread pollutionin western states. The Manhattan Project manufactured plutonium at Hanford, Washington;