Shh- People Are Watching!

 I got a tremendous reaction from yesterday's Black and White Wednesday post, which was very welcome.  Every once in awhile you wonder if you are good at what you do.  I know I'm nowhere near spectacular, but the compliments were greatly appreciated.  Not to mention, I love reading comments.

I took the camera with me yesterday, but it was raining when I got off work and nothing screamed at me to take its photo, so I abstained and just went home and did some dishes that were screaming instead...I hate noisy dishes, and this batch had grown a bit more than an attitude.  It's amazing what having a toddler with an interest in moving around does to a household.

Saturday's tour was interesting.  I look forward to going back again later this summer ( some more friends and I are going this time) because I have some more questions to ask.  For instance, what happened to the tag/label above the twin gages in the photo below?

It was really neat seeing a different side of the reactor this time.  I am talking about instrumentation.  The gages are mostly pneumatic or hydraulic.  There were small copper tubes and pipes everywhere.  Each bent to exacting standards and truly a form of art in themselves!  Here, have a look at a couple shots I got of the "behind the scenes" stuff.

Click on this image and get the largest photo possible so you can examine how the wires were held together.  Yes, someone took A LOT of time with a needle and thread keeping those wires together and tight simply by sewing them together...or tying them, either way, that is CRAFTSMANSHIP!  There was a thermometer monitoring the temperature of the electronics IN this little box!

 look at every little tube!  Each one in someway related directly to one of the 2004 process tubes in the reactor!

 Here in this last photo you can see the work a plumber must have nightmares about, each of these was sweated together.  Look closely and you can see the solder!

Thanks should go to the docent who pointed this little detail out to me, I was so engrossed in the outward appearance of the control room that I nearly forgot to dig deeper!  Just the number of man-hours necessary for this is amazing, and the entire thing was up and running in eleven months.  From the first shovel full to first reaction.  THAT is amazing!  Of course, knowing how many workers were employed at Hanford during the war, maybe this isn't as much of a surprise as it seems, still, even with multiple shifts, this is amazing!  Because when they began digging, there were NO concrete plans!  They built on the fly!

Now, with that in mind, WHO WOULDN'T find the Cold War interesting!?!?!

oh, and I hope if you are new to my blog you don't mind learning a little about my interests! History is big!