Mezzanine Level View

A view from the mezzanine inside the HIFAR containment building looks down across the reactor hall, taking in the operating floor, the reactor top, the polar crane track on the wall above, and a section of the fuel storage block. The ceiling of the hall is the underside of the containment dome, painted pale grey. Service catwalks run at intermediate levels around the inside of the cylinder. Cabling and conduit follow the curve of the wall in horizontal bands. The space is large and quiet; the geometry is dominated by the curve of the building. Sound carries differently here from the way it does in a rectangular space.

HIFAR's containment was designed to hold the entire reactor, its cooling systems, and its fuel-handling equipment in a single sealed cylinder. The mezzanine in this photograph was an operating level used for maintenance access during shutdowns and for routine surveillance during operations. From this vantage point, an operator could see the reactor top, the storage block, and the airlocks all at once. After the reactor's 2007 shutdown the mezzanine has been used by decommissioning staff. The room is preserved as a working space, not a museum, although there is no current programme of activity inside it.