Dalston Laboratory
Dalston Laboratory was Nevrin's flagship scientific laboratory, located in Dalston, Cumberland. One of the largest laboratories in the world during its period of activity, it performed research into everything from nuclear physics and bioscience to materials science and even particle research. After its abandonment, it was considered to be one of the most hazardous locations on Earth, alongside the likes of the Girvan Offshore Science Facility (GOSF) and the irradiated wastelands of the Silent Zone. It initially opened in 1947, after 5 years of construction, and operated continuously until the company's collapse in 1996.
| Established | January 1, 1947 |
|---|---|
| Research type | All types |
| Budget | £121 billion (1996) |
Field of research | |
| Director | Jeremy Hill |
| Staff | 33,000 (1996) |
| Location | Dalston, Cumberland, Cumbria, Great Britain 54°50′16″N 2°59′23″W / 54.83786°N 2.98959°W |
| Affiliations | Ministry of Supply |
Operating agency |
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| Map | |
  Location in Cumbria | |
The site's location near the coastline was highly strategic, chosen for its proximity to The Island (Ailsa Craig), which at the time Nevrin was still in the process of constructing. Its proximity to Carlisle also gave it strategic rail connections to both Scotland and other parts of Cumberland, including the scientific complex at Sellafield. Nevrin's deep finances and its leaders' political connections allowed it to successfully lobby for lax regulations; there was reportedly an informal agreement that inspectors would never be allowed on-site.
Buildings
There were three complexes at Dalston, arranged in a "Y" formation around a central administrative complex. These were the nuclear physics complex, the biomedical complex, and the materials science complex. An intricate network of underground tunnels transported electricity, water, steam, and other materials between each side of the facility.
Prominent buildings and areas at the Nuclear Physics complex included the Dalston Test Reactor (DTR), Uranium Sulfates Reprocessing Plant (USRP), Uranium Salt Storage Area (USSA), Isotope Handling Building, Experimental Fuels Building, Ammonia Cooling Stacks, Liquid Waste Disposal Ponds, Fuel Processing, and the Gas Management Building.
Fate
When Nevrin collapsed in 1996, the facility was abandoned; it was later declared an environmental danger after an investigation revealed extremely hazardous conditions at the site, including multiple buildings contaminated with radioisotopes, open high-level radioactive waste pools that had seeped into the groundwater, two fluid-uranium reactors still in meltdown, uncontained Nevrin-54 neurotoxin, and mercury and beryllium dumping sites. Originally, plans were made to decontaminate the site, and the contract was given by the UK government to HELIOS; through widespread corruption, barely any cleanup work was carried out, and Helios in fact had illegally deposited the nuclear material that it did remove from the site in the Caldew River.
In the present day, post-London Revolution, Great Britain has suspended decontamination works indefinitely and instead built a containment sarcophagus around the entire site, much like that used in Chornobyl. Raven was asked to assist in the cleanup of the site during Operation Lighthouse, but it rejected the government’s request, claiming it had already fulfilled its mandate by clearing the site of its remaining exophysical materials. The site is seen as a very dark place by most of the general public due to its role as the source of the galraite used in the Entropic Flashover Bombs detonated by the Helios Private Military Corps in the Southern Exclusion Zone; a formal memorial has now been erected outside the sarcophagus by the government of Great Britain, even though Helios attempted to oppose its installation.