are being safely kept in dry storage in two temporary buildings that we have supplied. The temporary buildings, which provide 1,975sqm of space and have steel cladding walls and single skin PVC roofs, have been installed to aid the
decommissioning and demolition process at the former Harwell research facility, near Didcot in Oxfordshire.
Harwell played a leading role in Britain's atomic industry for almost half a century. Opened in 1946, it was the country's first Atomic Energy Research Establishment, complete with five reactors, laboratories and associated facilities, but its working life came to an end in the 1990s.
Now scores of buildings are being removed as the site is reborn as part of the Harwell Oxford campus. A number of hi-tech companies are already operating on other parts of the science park and will be joined by more as new offices and laboratories are built, as clearance operations come to an end and land is released to the partnership developing the wider Harwell campus.
The decommissioning process is being handled by Research Sites Restoration Limited under arrangements with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and, although the material contained inside our temporary buildings is mainly soil, brickwork and broken concrete, inevitably, the process is being tightly controlled.
John Evans, project manager for RSRL, said that the temporary building structures are ideal for the task because they are dry and secure and can easily be sited close to where particular operations are taking place, for added convenience.
RSRL approached a number of temporary building suppliers in its quest to find the storage solution it wanted and Mr Evans said that it chose us on the strength of our products, pricing and our approach to the task in hand.
Like
any working site, Harwell has stringent health and safety and security procedures in place and Mr Evans praised our front line staff for respecting and adhering to the rules.
He said: œThe material that is being stored in the temporary buildings is just demolition arisings, but it has to be bagged up and kept out of the way prior to its removal to ensure safe and smooth operation of the site.
œThe temporary buildings allow us to do just that and what makes them perfect is that they can be set up in an area close to where the material is being generated, or in a central location, and removed when that aspect of the project is completed.
œHarwell isn't as restricted as it once was, but naturally there are guidelines and rules that visitors have to abide by.
œI have nothing but praise for the way that Spaciotempo staff have worked with us on these and have gone about their business in a safe and controlled manner while on site.
