Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. Orford ... - English Heritage

The centrifuge arm was 16ft (4.88m) in diameter, was capable of supporting a test piece
weighing up to 1,000 lbs (453.6 kg), and was rated at 100,000 ‘g’ lb (AWRE nd, 13). In
the south bay adjacent to the centrifuge is a large red concrete mounting block that
probably held some of the control equipment for the centrifuge. At the western end of
the central bay is a raised control room, accessed from a flight of concrete steps on the
north wall.
At the western end of the building is a large reinforced concrete plant room, which is
divided into two bays. To the north is a small control room and to the south was a large
air conditioning plant. Surviving drawings indicate that the plant room was modified in
1963, alterations include the insertion of a single door to give access to the control room
and the addition of a brick outshot to house a transformer and rectifier.
A number of features and documentary sources suggest that the centrifuge is a
secondary feature. In contrast to the remainder of the structure the circular feature
surrounding the centrifuge was brick built rather than concrete. Unfortunately, the wall
surfaces are painted and also in part covered by grime and vegetation growth, which
makes any assessment of the relationship of this feature to the original structure difficult.
The entrances to either end are also large enough to accommodate a large trailer and
potentially a full size Blue Danube casing. Within the main chamber the working area
to the east of the centrifuge also appears disproportionately large. In addition amongst
the surviving drawings is a record plan of the centrifuge installation dated June 1962 and
plans for the extension of the plant room dated September 1963 (UKAEA Lab No.2
Centrifuge Details of plant room extension SW/S7851/Lab2/AD18339 24 9 63).
Also built during the first construction phase were two structures described as Plinth F
F6/113 and Plinth G F7/112, which housed electrical transformers. They are both simple
reinforced concrete structures comprising an open rectangular bay with wing walls to
either side to retain a shingle traverse. F6 is located to the northeast of Laboratory 2 F1
and F7 is positioned to the south of Laboratory 3 F2.
Second Phase AWRE Buildings
As discussed above, in autumn 1959 proposals were put forward for the expansion of
Orford Ness’ facilities marking the beginning of the next main development phase (Figure
52). This included the construction of the distinctive ‘Pagodas’, or more formally, the
Vibration Test Buildings E2/136 and E3/135, Control Room E4/139, Magazine E5/140 and
associated infrastructure. The new structures were built to the west of the previously
developed area. To simplify access to this area a new single track road with passing
places was constructed from the quay track to the western end of The Street. At this
point a new Bridge C53, rated at 12 tons, was constructed across Stony Ditch (Figure
53). On the southern side one branch of the road continued southwards splitting shortly
afterwards, with one track heading for the new Magazine E5/140, while the main track
continued southwards. The other branch of this track headed westwards and parallel
to Stony Ditch for just over 200m before turning southwards. On the northern side of
this track between it and Stony Ditch the land may have been used as a builders’ yard.
In this area are the concrete footings for a temporary hut, a Toilet E6 and the concrete
supports for a static water tank.
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10 - 2009