Guidance

Dounreay Heritage Initiative 2021/22 annual report

Published 4 April 2016

Dounreay heritage strategy

The Dounreay heritage strategy was published in 2010 and is managed by James Gunn, Dounreay Information and Knowledge Manager, with advice from a panel of external experts. The strategy and annual heritage reports can be found on the website.

Heritage Advisory Panel

The Heritage Advisory Panel held its tenth meeting on 23 June 2021 via Microsoft Teams. The key aspects were:

• The use of laser scanning in the oil industry is a normal practice and helps with safety aspects. It was suggested that Dounreay increase the use of this technique to help in planning for decommissioning. The digital output could also be a significant historic record of facilities and be archived at Nucleus; the Nuclear and Caithness Archive.
• The DFR control room is currently under a joint ownership agreement between the Science Museum and National Museums Scotland (NMS). This will change in 2022 and it will come under the sole ownership of NMS. It will be transferred from the Science Museum store to the NMS collection centre at Granton, Edinburgh
• There continues to be interest in the recent PhD thesis; “Nuclear fission and social fusion: the impact of the Dounreay experimental research establishment on the built environment and communities of Caithness, 1954 – 1966.” The author has had articles published in various prestigious publications and given talks at events and conferences. The thesis is available to read at Nucleus: the Nuclear and Caithness Archive
• Recent innovations for the much more affordable and long-term painting of steel (e.g., Forth Rail Bridge) is likely to reduce the long-term costs for maintaining the sphere. Members thought that the decision to demolish the sphere could be revisited considering this technology advancement. However, it was noted there are other issues to take into consideration and that the rationale for its removal has not changed
• The Norwegian oil industry has done good work on its heritage and should be reviewed for any lessons learned. The links to this had been detailed at the recent Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) heritage Advisory Panel meeting.
• The Head of Industrial Heritage at Historic Environment Scotland thanked James Gunn for all his work on nuclear heritage. The subject is now attracting an international audience and there are conferences dedicated to it. This was not the case back in 2010 when the Dounreay heritage work started.

Collecting objects

There were 6 objects collected throughout the year:

• Wooden clock (engraved) presented to a Dounreay Police Constable on his retirement in 2004
• Sky blue work shirt with UKAEA coat of arms and wording “UKAEA restoring our environment”
• Hand gel spray tube with Dounreay logo
• Three sections of unused fuel pin separators/grids for PWR, AGR and PFR fuel assemblies
• PVC airline suit and respirators (for working in contaminated areas) that were used for training purposes.
• Sodium firefighting protective suit (silver material) that was used for training purposes

A total of 453 objects have been collected since 2008 with numerous items donated to the Caithness Horizons Museum, the NMS, and the Science Museum. Highlife Highland (HLH) is now responsible for the collections in the Caithness Horizons Museum, which re-opened in late 2021 as the North Coast Visitor Centre (NCVC).

The NDA heritage initiative includes compilation of a list of the nuclear artworks created over the years. Some of the known Dounreay artworks are on display in the NCVC.  It is suspected that there may be many more in the public domain.

Recording history

A process to capture the memories of those leaving the site is in place and 13 forms were completed and returned.

Knowledge sharing

Talks about the early history of Dounreay were given to:

• Summer students
• New graduates
• New craft apprentices
• Members of UK Alpha Resilience and Capability programme

Advice was given to the Communications Manager at Hunterston B nuclear power station about possible heritage activities. The station shut down in early 2022.

James Gunn continued in the role as the NDA Heritage Officer and managed the NDA’s heritage initiative alongside his Dounreay duties. He wrote a conference paper about the NDA heritage initiative for an international conference organised by The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage. It was accepted and James is due to give a presentation at the conference in Montreal in August 2022. It will feature the Dounreay heritage work and gives international exposure to industrial heritage experts, along with networking opportunities.

Educational studies

Discussions were held with a nuclear historian who is studying for a masters degree with the University of South Wales (Pontypridd). The research is entitled “The Philosopher’s Plutonium Stone:  The Dounreay Fast Reactor.” It is about the rise and fall of the UK fast reactor programme.

Dounreay, along with Sellafield and the NDA, is supporting an international research project on nuclear heritage. This involves sharing and learning knowledge with representatives from academia, national museums, national archives, and the nuclear industry, covering Sweden, Lithuania, and the UK. This will be over a 3-year period starting with a workshop in Cumbria in May 2022.

Media interest

The BBC programme “Scotland from the Sky” interviewed the Heritage Officer about the history of Dounreay and the effect on the community. The production team also interviewed numerous people living in Caithness, including Alistair MacDonald, former Dounreay Stakeholder Chairman. Unfortunately, the producer decided not to use any footage.

Community project

James Gunn and June Love have suggested a community project involving ex-employees. This entails gathering a group of former Dounreay staff to review old photographs with the intention of enhancing the metadata and creating a social network that helps camaraderie and general wellbeing. There could also be an opportunity to record oral history.  Six ex-employees were contacted and all very willing to participate.

This project is a joint venture between Dounreay, the NDA, HLH and Restore Digital (Nucleus operations). The first gathering was due to be held in December 2021 at the NCVC but was postponed due to the upsurge in COVID-19 cases. If the trial is successful, it may be expanded and opened to other nuclear sites.

Nuclear history timeline

The NDA has commissioned the design and installation of a series of outdoor information panels that cover the entire history of the civil nuclear industry.  James Gunn has been leading a small team covering the research into significant events and historic facts that should be featured. Eight large “monoliths” were installed in March 2022, leading from the carpark to the entrance at Nucleus: The Nuclear and Caithness Archives, Wick, Caithness. The information panels are currently blank and will be completed in the summer.

Exhibition

Staff of HLH based at Nucleus: The Nuclear and Caithness Archives organised a virtual exhibition entitled “Atomic Recreation”. It covered the history of the Dounreay workers early recreational activities, particularly at Viewfirth (former UKAEA Sports and Social Club) and Ormlie Lodge. It had text, photographs and links to small clips of oral history recordings undertaken by James Gunn. It proved to be very popular with a significant number of views.