National Museums Scotland and the Science Museum in London are too share panels from the control room of the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR), which is an iconic feature of the Dounreay site in Caithness because of its large sphere or Dome.
Dounreay was the UK's centre for experimental fast breeder research and development from 1954 until 1994. While plans to keep the 1950s-constructed steel Dome as an historical monument have been dropped, the DFR control room has been designated of national significance. DFR went critical in November 1959 and operated until March 1977. The site is to be decommissioned and closed by 2025.
The control room contained an operator's desk and 14 panels along three sides of the room. The panels have been dismantled and packed into two containers, and the control desk was cut into three sections to make possible its removal from the building before being placed inside a separate container. Dounreay has also recently transferred the Dounreay Materials Testing Reactor control room to local museum Caithness Horizons in Thurso.
In late July, Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) announced that Phil Craig had been appointed managing director designate. He joined Babcock International Group in 2010 and is currently business director of Cavendish Nuclear EDF. He will take over from DSRL managing director Mark Rouse at the end of September.
