Why was it called FRED?

[crayola]

From the Groat.... Nuclear fast reactor was a world first (http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/7479/Nuclear_fast_reactor_was_a_world_first.html)


The Dounreay reactor - known during its operating days as FRED - is undoubtedly one of the best-known man-made sights in the Far North.
Does anyone know why it was called FRED? :confused

[dragonfly]

think it stood for Fast Reactor Experiment in Dounreay or something like that

[joxville]

Could it be an acronym for Fast Reactor, Everyone Dies?

[joxville]

Forget Reay, Everyone Does. :D

[cazmanian_minx]

Fast Reactor Experiment, Dounreay.

[oldmarine]

When I was stationed in Thurso at the Naval Station, I stayed bed & breakfast with a family whom the man of the house worked at Dounray. It provided the family and many others like them with a good sourse of income. I believed at that time it was the largest employer in that part of the country. I never knew that it had caused any problems and I always thought it served a good purpose.

[crayola]

Thanks everyone. It was obvious with hindsight. :o

[Dog-eared]

Fingerscrossed Reactor Experimentmightbe Doomed

Or the contamination of Northern Scotland. Which is why it was put up here in the first place. They were doing groundbreaking and chancy Nuclear experiments.
It was an EXPERIMENTAL REACTOR site. No matter how many name changes there have been since then.
:D

[Rheghead]

Fingerscrossed Reactor Experimentmightbe Doomed

Or the contamination of Northern Scotland. Which is why it was put up here in the first place. They were doing groundbreaking and chancy Nuclear experiments.
It was an EXPERIMENTAL REACTOR site. No matter how many name changes there have been since then.
:D

You mean to say we few were all expendable for the greater 'good' that didn't even pay off in the end?

[golach]

Fingerscrossed Reactor Experimentmightbe Doomed

Or the contamination of Northern Scotland. Which is why it was put up here in the first place. They were doing groundbreaking and chancy Nuclear experiments.
It was an EXPERIMENTAL REACTOR site. No matter how many name changes there have been since then.
:D


But it worked !!!!!![lol]

[Dog-eared]

Yes, it produced lots of weapons grade material for nuclear warheads.
So yes, it worked .
Pity about the shaft explosion that didnt happen (at the time ) , the coastal and seabed contamination and the leukemia, thyroid disorders and cancers.
All of which are not about to go away any time soon.

[Moira]

Thanks everyone. It was obvious with hindsight. :o


'Twas indeed. Here's another reminder of Fred...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1cjaheraq8

Crayola is the one in the back row pushing everyone around. :)

[upolian]

Forget Reay, Everyone Does. :D

hahaha[lol]

[Cattach]

Yes, it produced lots of weapons grade material for nuclear warheads.
So yes, it worked .
Pity about the shaft explosion that didnt happen (at the time ) , the coastal and seabed contamination and the leukemia, thyroid disorders and cancers.
All of which are not about to go away any time soon.

Poor Dog-eared - well named. Negative and cannot see all the positives for the county and country and the world. We were at forefront of nuclear power now the world has taken our science and our ideas. Everywhere they are building nuclear power stations because without them we will all fry (not in radiation from a reactor) but by way of global warming. Fossil fuels today - no world tomorrow, nuclear power today - a saved plant tomorrow.

[Stavro]

Yes, it produced lots of weapons grade material for nuclear warheads.
So yes, it worked .
Pity about the shaft explosion that didnt happen (at the time ) , the coastal and seabed contamination and the leukemia, thyroid disorders and cancers.
All of which are not about to go away any time soon.


Well said. Very true. :)

[attielattie]

My dad worked at DFR for nearly 30 years and I never once heard him refer to it as FRED. I worked there from time to time when I was in Health Physics and we referred to it as DFR or the sphere.

[Fly]

Poor Dog-eared - well named. Negative and cannot see all the positives for the county and country and the world. We were at forefront of nuclear power now the world has taken our science and our ideas. Everywhere they are building nuclear power stations because without them we will all fry (not in radiation from a reactor) but by way of global warming. Fossil fuels today - no world tomorrow, nuclear power today - a saved plant tomorrow.

Pity Alex Salmond can't see that with his no nuclear power in Scotland. He would rather see us overrun with a lot of inefficient windmills and destroy any tourism we might have up here; unfortunately we don't have much else now.[disgust]

[Dog-eared]

I'm not against Nuclear power.
As long as it is safe , clean, and does not leave future generations a waste storage problem.

This has yet to be sorted. :D

[David Banks]

Fingerscrossed Reactor Experimentmightbe Doomed

Or the contamination of Northern Scotland. Which is why it was put up here in the first place. They were doing groundbreaking and chancy Nuclear experiments.
It was an EXPERIMENTAL REACTOR site. No matter how many name changes there have been since then.
:D

You've got that absolutely correct.

All the horse puckey about bringing much development benefits etc etc etc was propaganda pure and simple - it was the distance from London that was the driving factor in the decision.
According to the bush telegraph, there was at least one 'really close call' at Dounreay which they tried to keep secret - and I have very good reasons for believing such to be true.

[Moira]

I have a special fondness for Fred.

Let's rewind the tape, spin the DVD back to the start, whatever. What's your best guess as to how Caithness would look today without the symbolic Golf Ball situated on our north-west coast ?

[Dog-eared]

Caithness would look the same as any other thinly-populated part of Northern Scotland or Orkney today.

Without Dounreay, we wouldn't have a huge amount of incomers , now recognised as local people, abandoned by an ex - experimental establishment , wondering where their families' future now lies.

[Freia]

Fudged Reactor Everyone Duck

[northener]

Caithness would look the same as any other thinly-populated part of Northern Scotland or Orkney today.

Without Dounreay, we wouldn't have a huge amount of incomers , now recognised as local people, abandoned by an ex - experimental establishment , wondering where their families' future now lies.

Economic ebbs and flows, old chap. Happens all the time all over the world.
For example, many miners from Scotland moved down to Yorkshire for work, and many Scottish steelworkers moved to Corby for work....all those jobs have gone now.
Wait until the oil runs out in the North Sea and then see what happens to the much lauded 'micro-economy' that is Aberdeen. That's going to be interesting.

Regarding 'as far away as possible from London', actually, that's not a fair criticism. There's more than a few nuclear reactors dahn Sarf.
Common sense would dictate that you don't have potentially problematic plants near large populations, but, overall, it's not been done at Scotlands' expense.
There's only three nuclear establishments in Scotland, yet there's thirteen in England and Wales.