Atomic Housing: Online exhibition looks at expansion of Thurso with arrival of Dounreay
A new online exhibition looks at the expansion of Thurso after Dounreay was chosen in 1954 to be the site of a nuclear reactor.
The exhibition, Atomic Housing, is being launched today (Friday) by Nucleus: The Nuclear and Caithness Archive.
Nucleus is closed to the public because of the Covid-19 pandemic, so the team has been looking at new ways to make the archive collections available to the public. This is Nucleus's first online exhibition.
In just 10 years, Thurso trebled in size with the coming of atomic power. The exhibition features rare photographs from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority archive, architectural plans and recollections of former Dounreay workers from an oral history project conducted by James Gunn, Dounreay’s information and knowledge manager.
The Dounreay Householder’s Handbook, which gave practical advice to new residents – from the control of earwigs to gardening tips – is also reproduced in full.
The exhibition can be viewed from noon today on the Nucleus website.
