Turbine Hall Basement Storage

Storage space in the turbine hall basement at White Bay Power Station is an area off the main basement corridor used to house plant spares and maintenance equipment. Steel shelving carries replacement valve components, gasket material in cut sheets, and condenser tube end-plugs in boxes sorted by diameter. A pallet of packaged pipe fittings sits in one corner, still wrapped in plastic. Above the shelving, steel hooks carry lifting slings and inspection mirrors. The floor area around the shelves has been swept but retains the oil staining that comes from decades of plant maintenance activity. A board on the wall lists the contents of each shelf bay with a handwritten location code that matches the labels on the shelving.

Stores in the turbine hall basement at White Bay Power Station held the spares required for the condenser and circulating water plant. Condenser tube replacement was a regular maintenance task on a plant of this type, and the condenser tube inventory was kept close to the work site to minimise the time taken to move parts from the surface stores down to the basement work level. White Bay ran its turbine plant continuously from 1917 to Christmas Eve 1983 across four build phases, with the condenser plant expanded during the Phase 2 (completed 1928) and Phase 3 (completed 1953) works. After the shutdown and 1990s decontamination the basement storage areas were left with some residual plant material in place.