Berkeley Nuclear Power Station Boilers

Here is something interesting that happened a few days ago and not too far away down in South Gloucestershire. I would have loved to have seen this! Two 310-tonne steel boilers from the decommissioned Berkeley Nuclear Power Station on the first leg of their journey to Sweden to be recycled. They were taken by road from the power station to Sharpness docks where they were transported to Avonmouth by barge before being shipped to Sweden.

Boilers being transported through Berkeley (image: Magnox)

You can get a clearer idea of the scale of these vessels by taking a look at a short video on the BBC Gloucestershire website, filmed as they trundled through the village.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-17432106

and for those interested in more than just the visual appeal of this operation, there is more background and detail on the World Nuclear news website.

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR-Bon_voyage_to_Berkeley_boilers-2003127.html

Concrete Wall

I have just completed a new painting that I have been working on since January. It is loosely based on a section of concrete wall on the old Sizewell A nuclear power station that happened to catch my eye. In this particular section of wall there are no actual holes but there are evenly spaced circular forms which are clearly visible on the surface and it is these which provided me with the starting point for this painting.

Nic Pehkonen, Concrete Wall, 2012, 
Household emulsion paint on unstretched canvas
 hung off 4 x tarpaulin clips, w 169 cm x h 178 cm

Concrete Wall (detail)

Concrete Wall (even more detail)