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Caption: Harwell at 70 A retrospective
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Caption: Harwell at 70 The Harwell site enjoyed its 70th year in the nuclear business in 2016. We hope you enjoy this this brief retrospective of 70 years of research, operations and cleanup at Harwell
Caption: 1946 to 1955
In total 14 reactors were built at Harwell, starting with GLEEP in 1947, which was destined to run for 43 years. A number of other low energy experimental designs were built alongside the more powerful DIDO and PLUTO which played important roles in the development of nuclear power.
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Caption: GLEEP - the first reactor in Europe - under construction in 1947
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Caption: Checking the alignment of the graphite blocks used in the construction GLEEP
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Caption: Much construction work was required in the early years.
Top: raising the roof of Hangar 10 to accommodate BEPO.
Bottom: the Radiochemical Facility.
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Caption: Sir Winston Churchill (1954) was one of many important visitors to Harwell over the years
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Caption: DIDO under construction, 1955
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Caption: When BEPO came online it was the most powerful reactor outside of the USA/USSR.
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Caption: CADET - which came into operation in 1955/56 was the world's first transistorised computer.
Caption: 1956 to 1965
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Caption: Russian leaders Bulganin and Kruschev were among the more high-profile visitors to Harwell in the early years (1956)
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Caption: The Van den Graf generator under construction in 1958. It was used for high energy physics experiments.
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Caption: Next: HM The Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh paid the site a visit in 1957
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Caption: DIMPLE operations in 1960
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Caption: The Liquid Effluent Treatment Plant came on stream in 1961
Caption: 1966 to 1975
As the nuclear research programme peaks Harwell starts to take on more commercial research.
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Caption: Working on the top of PLUTO - 1966
Next: the Pluto control room.
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Caption: An aerial of DIDO and PLUTO in 1967
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Caption: Radioactive isotopes were produced for a range of medical, technical and research uses. (1970)
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Caption: Nondestructive testing work - 1973
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Caption: Margaret Thatcher visits PLUTO in 1973
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Caption: 'Gibraltar' desalination plant - 1975
Caption: 1976 to 1985
Continuing with a mix of nuclear and commercial research
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Caption: Above: At work in the radiochemical facility - 1976
Next: Inside the B351 Chemical Engineering building
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Caption: Material testing reactor fuel in the storage pond 1982. The blue glow is Cerenkov radiation.
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Caption: The GLEEP reactor in operation in 1983
Also in 1983 - Harwell was involved in researching metal fatigue in Big Ben.
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Caption: 1986 to 1995
Continuing commercial activity and a start to decommissioning.
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Caption: Commercial work studying fluid flows for the oil industry.
Previous: Laser isotope separation studies.
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Caption: 1987 - The world's most powerful computer
Caption: Next: Cold fusion was the talk of the town in 1989. Researchers at Harwell played a significant role in checking the claims, but were ultimately unable to verify them.
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Caption: In 1994/5 both DIDO and PLUTO were taken to Stage 2 Decommissioning.
Caption: 1996 to 2005
The 90s and onward saw the focus change. Reactors closed down, redundant facilities are decommissioned and waste recovery and processing operations gear up.
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Caption: Demolition of the Chemical Engineering Building 1997
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Caption: Clean up in the B220 Radiochemical Facility in 2000
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Caption: Above and previous: GLEEP dismantling in 2004
Caption: 2006 to 2016
Into the sites 70th year
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Caption: Intermediate level waste operations, 2008
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Caption: 2012 saw the demolition of two wings of the Radiochemistry facility.
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Caption: After more than 40 years in care and maintenance decommissioning work starts on BEPO in 2013
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Caption: The Liquid Effluent Treatment Plant made sure that discharges from the Harwell site did not harm the environment. It is now being demolished.
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Caption: A key feature of cleanup is releasing the land for other uses. By July 2014 25% of the original licenced site had been delicenced. Harwell is now a major science and engineering park.
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