DANGER AREA - Fissile core storage "IGLOOS"
Barnham had 4 distinct areas for storing the fissile cores from BLUE DANUBE and RED BEARD. Each core was stored underground in a metal (some reports of lead/aluminium, steel) container with a hefty metal lid on it. These were contained within a small building approximately 6ft by 5ft known to those on site as an Igloo, but more officially a fissile storage building. It has been reported on the internet that a handful of the slightly larger Igloos on site with 2 core safes instead of one, stored cobalt cores. However, this has not been confirmed and may just be supposition.
The Igloos had power for lighting and heaters and were fitted with door alarms which would alert the main guardroom if one had been opened. A copper earthing strip ran down the buildings in case of a lighting strike.
The Igloos were positioned in a very organised manner with set concrete paths and guard rails leading back to the main loop road within the Danger Area. The railings served no purpose other than to neatly mark out the routes to and from the hutches and prevent slipping on the ramps, as it is reported that no flares or trips were within the Danger Area compound. The inner area was not trip-wired like the sterile fence areas.
The fissile cores in their cases could be carried on a handle by a single person, requiring no other equipment and were only moved one at a time.
A 2 man rule was in place to ensure no-one person could gain access to a core. The Manifoil combination lock on the outer door to an igloo was known only to the Site Officer - a flight lieutenant of the Equipment Branch. The key to the inner safe would be carried by an RAF Engineer officer. As an additional security precaution, the guardroom would be pre-warned that an Igloo was about to be opened, as it would trigger the door alarm.
At least one of the sheds was reported to have been used for more normal purposes. Near to the Eastern Explosives Storage building, one igloo was commandeered to be a paint store by the RAF Stores personal looking after the weapon components in the adjacent large building. This adds weight to the argument that not all the igloos were required to store cores.
The Igloos had power for lighting and heaters and were fitted with door alarms which would alert the main guardroom if one had been opened. A copper earthing strip ran down the buildings in case of a lighting strike.
The Igloos were positioned in a very organised manner with set concrete paths and guard rails leading back to the main loop road within the Danger Area. The railings served no purpose other than to neatly mark out the routes to and from the hutches and prevent slipping on the ramps, as it is reported that no flares or trips were within the Danger Area compound. The inner area was not trip-wired like the sterile fence areas.
The fissile cores in their cases could be carried on a handle by a single person, requiring no other equipment and were only moved one at a time.
A 2 man rule was in place to ensure no-one person could gain access to a core. The Manifoil combination lock on the outer door to an igloo was known only to the Site Officer - a flight lieutenant of the Equipment Branch. The key to the inner safe would be carried by an RAF Engineer officer. As an additional security precaution, the guardroom would be pre-warned that an Igloo was about to be opened, as it would trigger the door alarm.
At least one of the sheds was reported to have been used for more normal purposes. Near to the Eastern Explosives Storage building, one igloo was commandeered to be a paint store by the RAF Stores personal looking after the weapon components in the adjacent large building. This adds weight to the argument that not all the igloos were required to store cores.
Picture FC3 © Sam Tolley. A typical type A igloo viewed from the front with the radioactive symbol on the front. The Igloos had a concrete loading ramp leading down the main path which was bounded by the metal railings. Each Igloo had its own identifier above the door, this one has unfortunately worn off, but I believe it was number "1", situated in the western Igloo area.
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Picture FC8 © Nick Catford. This isn't at Barnham but is at RAF Wittering. It shows the type of security collar that would have been fitted to the casing that the cores were stored in. A heater can be seen at the back.
FC8a & FC8b © Nick Catford. Fissile Core Safes photographed at RAF Scampton in their equivalent of the inspection room.
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Picture FC10 © Sam Tolley. On the left of each door was another sign, all of which had faded beyond legibility. This one was missing altogether but I believe they were talking about the flame proof nature of the electrics within.
These signs has probably been retrofitted as they covered up the letters as seen here with "A". This refers to the type of Igloo, of which both type A and B were on site. |
Picture FC15 & FC16 © Sam Tolley. The type B Igloo, wider than the type A. This group could house 2 cores at a time and are in the northern Igloo area.
There were several of these wider 2 capacity Igloos, this one has been painted in dark green as part of the heritage work to provide a chronological representation of the site. |
Northern Igloos
NE Igloos
Picture FC27 © Sam Tolley. A view of the area from the central U-shaped traverse between the northern and eastern explosives storage buildings. Igloos 25-32 are in the middle ground facing each other and in the background Igloo 57. The area's emergency water tank is in the foreground. In the centre background is the watch tower, under restoration as at August 2013.
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SE Igloos
Western Igloos