The PFR stone table with the inscription 'Out of Caithness to the World' will become the centre piece of the NDA Archive when it opens its doors in 2017.
Construction of the new facility has begun at Wick and was officially opened by David Flear, Dounreay Stakeholder Group chairman, when he cut the first turf at an opening ceremony in August. David said: "The Dounreay Stakeholder Group has been involved with the NDA on this project for some time now and we are very pleased to see everything
we hoped for appears to be coming to fruition."
The construction contract was won by Morrison's Construction with Dingwall based company Crimson, selected to set up and manage the UK's new nuclear archive. Records from all the UK civil nuclear sites will be relocated to Wick with Crimson being responsible for the management of this large, unique and historic archive.
Irreplaceable information will be available in the future to support both research endeavours as well as nuclear decommissioning. The records will fill many kilometres of shelving with much of the information being converted into digital format and made available in electronic form. The NDA Archive is one of the priority projects for the Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership and part of the NDA's contribution to sustainable economic development in the region.
Anna MacConnell, NDA socio economic and stakeholder relations manager, said: "The Archive will leave a lasting legacy
for Caithness.
"The NDA ensured there is local benefit associated with both the commercial partner contract and the design and build contract. I am really pleased that the companies “The Archive will leave a lasting legacy for Caithness"
“This project, part of the CNSRP programme, showed real partnership working with the site of the archives being provided by the Highland Council in return for a new modern home for the Caithness Archives, currently stored above the Wick Library.
“The project will create over 20 new jobs and that can only be good for Caithness."