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

of toeboards, separating an inner clean magazine area from the outer dirty area. The
two bays differ slightly in size, the south bay measures 7.45m (24ft 6ins) by 4.55m (15ft),
and the north bay measures 9.15m (30ft) by 7.45m (24ft 6in), both are 5.12m (16ft) high.
Each was ventilated through a roof vent with a tall vertical stack projecting through the
roof, and by a pair of vents leading into a rear air conditioning plant room, which was
entered through a single door to the south.
Final AWRE phases
The final structural phases of AWRE Orford Ness are represented by two discrete
building programmes. The first was probably begun in late 1962 for the evaluation of the
WE177 series of tactical freefall nuclear weapons and resulted in the construction of the
Impact Facility F5 to the east of Laboratory 1 F3 (Figures 37 and 49). In one operational
mode it was designed to be dropped by parachute and to skid along the ground before
detonation, to provide enough time for attacking aircraft to make its recovery. To
simulate the forces the weapon would be subject to on impact fully assembled weapons,
minus their fissile cores, were propelled on a rocket sled at up to 150 mph (241kph)
against a solid concrete wall (Figure 38). This measures 15.27m (50ft) by 3.67m (12ft)
and stands to a maximum height of 3.05m (10ft). Set on top of the wall was a wooden
Figure 37: An aerial photograph taken in 1965 showing to the left Laboratories 1 and 3 and
to the right the Impact Facility F5, note the rocket sled tracks and the shadow of the timber
photographic tower. OS/65054 V108 30 April 1965 (c) Crown copyright. Ordnance Survey
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