‘A picture of hell’: inside the UK’s nuclear reactors – in pictures

Armed with a Geiger counter, Michael Collins was given access to multiple power stations across the UK – he found them tranquil, beautiful and sinister

Main image: ‘Unaffected beauty’ … Turbine Hall, Chapelcross, No. 1, 2023 Photograph: Michael Collins

  • Gas Circulator, Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor, Torness, 2023

    Over a period of three years, Michael Collins photographed the interiors of historic and live nuclear reactors and power stations across the UK. Collins was granted unprecedented access to Dounreay, Sellafield, Chapelcross, Winfrith, Dungeness, Trawsfynydd, Sizewell A and B, Wylfa and Torness. Documenting infrastructure spanning seven decades, these photographs depict the present state and future of Britain’s nuclear industry – usually hidden from public view. The Nuclear Sublime by Michael Collins is published by RRB PhotoBooks
    Gas Circulator, Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor, Torness, 2023Documenting infrastructure spanning a period of seven decades, the photographs in The Nuclear Sublime depict the present state and future of Britain’s nuclear industry— usually hidden from public view. Collins was granted unprecedented access to Dounreay, Sellafield, Chapelcross, Winfrith, Dungeness, Trawsfynydd, Sizewell A and B, Wylfa and Torness. The Nuclear Sublime by Michael Collins published by RRB PhotoBooks in January 2024

  • Refuelling cavity, Reactor, Sizewell B, No 2, 2023

    The live reactor at Sizewell B with the head (back, left) removed for maintenance. Once exposed, the reactor’s rods are flooded in water to contain the radiation, which has turned it into this unique shade of blue.
    Refuelling cavity, Reactor, Sizewell B, No. 2, 2023

  • Interior of Vacuum Vessel Module in the Tokamak assembly pit, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, 2022

    The world’s largest fusion reactor under construction. The silver inside reactor is lined with extremely powerful magnets to keep the plasma circulating around the middle, generating temperatures equal to the sun. Still in their developmental stage, it is hoped that fusion reactors will be the future of nuclear energy, as they are theoretically more efficient and produce significantly less radioactive waste
    Interior of Vacuum Vessel Module in the Tokamak assembly pit, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, 2022 His photographs depict both the vast scale of the austere chapel-like spaces and intricate details such as rusting control panels with wonky labels, peeling paintwork and miles of wiring.

  • Inside the Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor sphere on the reactor floor, No 1, 2023

    Michael Collins: ‘This is inside the spherical dome of the reactor, which is at the very tip of Scotland. It was the first time I had entered one of these iconic “golf balls” and it felt very strange and unnerving – unlike anywhere I’d ever been or seen before. The only other round buildings I’d visited were sacred, such as the Pantheon, whereas Dounreay’s Prototype Fast Reactor was distinctly secular. It dates from 1966 and is now in the process of decommissioning, hence the mix of old and new equipment’
    Inside the Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor sphere on the reactor floor, No.1, 2023 MC “ This is inside the spherical dome of the reactor, which is at the very tip of Scotland. It was the first time I had entered one of these iconic “golf balls” and it felt very strange and unnerving – unlike anywhere I’d ever been or seen before. The only other round buildings I’d visited were sacred, e.g. the Pantheon; Dounreay’s Prototype Fast Reactor was distinctly secular. It dates from 1966 and is now in the process of decommissioning, hence the mix of old and new equipment.

  • Turbine Hall, Chapelcross, No 1, 2023

    ‘Uniquely in the UK’s power generation industry, the turbine halls in some obsolete nuclear plants remain intact. This one is similar to what the turbine hall at what is now Tate Modern would have looked like. Engineers are pragmatists – each turbine and its pipework was painted a distinct colour to facilitate maintenance – which is one reason why industrial design has such an unaffected beauty. I photographed these pictures with “focus stacking”, the same technology as product photographers would photograph, say, a watch’
    Turbine Hall, Chapelcross, No. 1, 2023 Uniquely in the UK’s power generation industry, the turbine halls in some obsolete nuclear plants remain intact. (This one is similar to what the turbine hall at what is now Tate Modern would have looked like.) Engineers are pragmatists - each turbine and its pipework was painted a distinct colour to facilitate maintenance – which is one reason why industrial design has such an unaffected beauty. I photographed these pictures with focus stacking, the same technology as product photographers would photograph, say, a watch, by exposing a series of successively deeper focus points to achieve overall sharpness, creating an even greater sense of photographic realism.

  • Module for Central Solenoid, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), 2022

    ‘ITER is an international nuclear fusion collaboration in France. Fusion is, hopefully, the future of nuclear energy because it is held to be much more efficient and creates less nuclear waste. Built on a French mountainside, the scale of ITER is huge. When constructed, this solenoid will be the most powerful magnet in the world. And yet something so mighty is covered with a pink plastic tarpaulin. Oppenheimer meets Barbie!’
    Module for Central Solenoid, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), 2022ITER is an international nuclear fusion collaboration in France. (Fusion is hopefully the future of nuclear energy because it is held to be much more efficient and creates less nuclear waste.) Built on a French mountainside, the scale of ITER is huge. When constructed, this solenoid will be the most powerful magnet in the world. And yet something so mighty is covered with a pink plastic tarpaulin. Oppenheimer meets Barbie.

  • Pile Cap Detail, Reactor 2, Dungeness A, No 1, 2022

    ‘The pile cap is the top of the reactor, and covering the floor in a matrix are these manholes through which a crane would raise or lower nuclear fuel. The windows of the crane operators’ control room overlooked this vast room; the floor was painted in this colourful way to enhance visibility. Even though when I first saw it, I was conscious of walking across the top of a reactor, I also felt as though I was walking into one of Monet’s paintings. I found it astonishing that something so deadly could be so beautiful’
    Pile Cap Detail, Reactor 2, Dungeness A, No. 1, 2022 “The pile cap is the top of the reactor, and covering the floor in a matrix are these manholes through which a crane would raise or lower nuclear fuel. The windows of the crane operators’ control room overlooked this vast room; the floor was painted in this colourful way to enhance visibility. Even though when I first saw it, I was conscious of walking across the top of a reactor, I also felt as though I was walking into one of Monet’s paintings. I found it astonishing that something so deadly could be so beautiful.”

  • Control Room, Reactor 2, Dungeness A, 2022

    ‘The only lighting in this control room was from the fluorescent tube hanging in the centre, but we supplemented this with portable construction lights and the torches on our hard hats. Everything looked like it had lain undisturbed for decades, which it had. Dungeness A began operating in 1966’
    Control Room, Reactor 2, Dungeness A, 2022The only lighting in the control room was from the fluorescent tube hanging in the centre, but we supplemented this with portable construction lights and the torches on our hard hats. Everything looked like it had lain undisturbed for decades, which it had. Dungeness A began operating in 1966.

  • Turbine Hall Gauge Board, Sizewell A, No 1, 2022

    ‘Sizewell A opened in 1966, and its control panels are exemplars of this era in industrial design. I love these control panels: the colours, lines, buttons and signs. I tried to photograph them as carefully and exactly as possible, showing the patina of the decades and the shadows of that day, to make the most faithful photograph I could of something I admire’
    Turbine Hall Gauge Board, Sizewell A, No. 1, 2022Sizewell A opened in 1966, and its control panels are exemplars of this era in industrial design. (Ironically, the X with the lines across top and bottom is similar to Extinction Rebellion’s symbol.) I love these control panels; the colours, lines, buttons and signs, and tried to photograph them as carefully and exactly as possible, showing the patina of the decades and the shadows of that day, to make the most faithful photograph I could of something I admire.

  • Obsolete Master Slave Manipulator, Dragon Reactor, Winfrith, 2023

    The imagery reveals the contrasts between the monumental size and heights of scientific endeavour with the reality of the sometimes dusty, worn and outdated equipment and interiors. ‘Dungeness A ceased power generation at the end of 2006 and is being decommissioned. Reactor 2 occupies its own building. I photographed here twice; each time it was deserted and appeared to be long abandoned’
    Obsolete Master Slave Manipulator, Dragon Reactor, Winfrith, 2023The imagery reveals the contrasts between the monumental size and heights of scientific endeavour with the reality of the sometimes dusty, and worn, outdated equipment and interiors. Dungeness A ceased power generation at the end of 2006 and is being decommissioned. Reactor 2 occupies its own building. I photographed here twice; each time it was deserted and appeared to be long abandoned.

  • Waste skip (old) Chapelcross, 2023

    Highly radioactive objects from inside the reactor are placed inside these skips before being stored in the ponds
    Waste skip (old) Chapelcross, 2023These highly radioactive objects from inside the reactor are placed inside these skips before being stored in the ponds.

  • Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor Mortuary Control Panel, 2023

    ‘The mortuary is where highly radioactive items that had been inside the reactor (for example, casings for the fuel) were stored. Originally the mortuary was filled with argon gas to prevent combustion; subsequently this was replaced with nitrogen (shown by the newer labels). My access to such a wide range of nuclear energy sites enabled me to photograph almost the entire archaeology of an industry, and some of the most telling and fascinating types of equipment were the control panels’
    Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor Mortuary Control Panel, 2023 The mortuary is where highly radioactive items that had been inside the reactor (e.g. casings for the fuel etc.) were stored. Originally the mortuary was filled with argon gas to prevent combustion; subsequently this was replaced with nitrogen (shown by the newer labels). My access to such a wide range of nuclear energy sites enabled me to photograph almost the entire archaeology of an industry, and one of the most telling and fascinating types of equipment were the control panels.

  • Window No 10, Irradiated Fuel Cave, Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor, 2023

    ‘This window is composed of six panes of glass totalling over a metre in depth. Inside each “cave” are highly radioactive objects from inside the reactor. The arms hanging down have robotic claws to use the lathe in the epicentre. The nuclear industry’s terminology (“cave”, “mortuary”) and the colours I found there only increased my sense of wonder and dread – or what the Romantics termed “the Sublime”’
    Window No.10, Irradiated Fuel Cave, Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor, 2023Plate 8. Window No. 10, Irradiated Fuel Cave, Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor, 2023. The window is composed of 6 panes of glass totalling over a metre in depth. Inside each “cave” are highly radioactive objects from inside the reactor. The arms hanging down have robotic claws to use the lathe in the epicentre. The nuclear industry’s terminology (“cave”, “mortuary”) and the colours I found there only increased my sense of wonder and dread – or what the Romantics termed “the Sublime”.

  • Master Slave Manipulator, Dragon Reactor, Winfrith, 2023

    ‘A commonly used engineering term begging revision, these are examples of the use of robotics in nuclear energy. The industry takes apprentices from the gaming industry; only a small proportion make the grade. The window on the right shows a fuel spike protruding from the red box, part of the decommissioning process for Winfrith’s Dragon Reactor. Photographically, the focus stacking has enabled me to show the windows in sharp definition as well as the view inside the room’
    Master Slave Manipulator, Mortuary Holes B78, Dragon Reactor, Winfrith, No. 4, 2023A commonly used engineering term begging revision, these are examples of the use of robotics in nuclear energy. The industry takes apprentices from the gaming industry; only a small proportion make the grade. The window on the right shows a fuel spike protruding from the red box, part of the decommissioning process for Winfrith’s Dragon Reactor. Photographically, the focus stacking has enabled me to show the windows in sharp definition as well as the view inside the room.

  • Inside Emptied Pond, Chapelcross, 2022

    ‘These “ponds” are essentially pools in which highly radioactive objects from inside the reactor are stored under water to prevent combustion. At this site, one of the ponds was still full, the other had been emptied. To photograph inside this pond, nothing could touch the ground (or any surface) and everything was covered with protective latex’
    Inside Emptied Pond, Chapelcross, 2022 These “ponds” are essentially pools in which highly radioactive objects from inside the reactor are stored under water to prevent combustion. At this site, one of the ponds was still full, the other had been emptied. To photograph inside this pond, nothing could touch the ground (or any surface) and everything was covered with protective latex etc.

  • North Fuel Element Debris Retrieval Plant Sort Cell Waste Transfer Tray, Trawsfynydd, 2021

    ‘Photographed through a thick protective window, in colour and content, this is a picture of hell. This robotic claw is sorting through debris from inside Trawsfynydd’s reactor. Those shards are casings from the uranium rods. That trident is the Devil’s’
    North Fuel Element Debris Retrieval Plant Sort Cell Waste Transfer Tray, Trawsfynydd, 2021Photographed through a thick protective window, in colour and content, this is a picture of hell. This robotic claw is sorting through debris from inside Trawsfynydd’s reactor. Those shards are casings from the uranium rods. That trident is the Devil’s.

  • Intermediate Level Waste Store, concrete overpack, No 2, Trawsfynydd, 2022

    ‘Intermediate level waste is highly radioactive and includes items such as debris from the reactors. This waste store was as tranquil as a mausoleum but also extremely sinister. That all you could actually see was almost entirely bland concrete made it even more compelling. Photographing here was the only time that my dosimeter (Geiger counter) bleeped’
    Intermediate Level Waste Store, concrete overpack, No. 2, Trawsfynydd, 2022 Intermediate level waste is highly radioactive and includes items such as debris from the reactors. This waste store was as tranquil as a mausoleum but also extremely sinister. That all you could actually see was almost entirely bland concrete made it even more compelling. Photographing here was the only time that my dosimeter (Geiger counter) bleeped.
Topics