Arial photograph (1951) of the area near Hill Park showing the 14 “POW buildings”
In a previous nuclear heritage article (NRT, 6 October 2021) a low-background laboratory in the town of Deep River was discussed. This lab, set up by Bill Grummitt, was established to look at samples collected in the air at various locations around the world to gain information on Russian nuclear weapons tests during the early 1950s. A question arose as to where this laboratory was located.
Because of the sensitive or “semi-secret” nature of the work carried out, nothing about this laboratory appears to have been reported in any of the normal AECL publications nor in the numerous books that have been written about Chalk River and the nuclear industry.
Jim Ungrin, Artifacts Chair of the nuclear heritage group, made numerous phone calls to nuclear pioneers in Deep River but hit dead ends on most of his calls. Finally, he called long-time resident, Betty Robertson, who not only knew details about the laboratory but also worked in it for a while.
Betty Ullman arrived in Deep River from Montreal in 1948. She worked initially with Tom Hardwick and Tim Kegan at NRX. Work rules in that era for females forbade their participation in experiments where they might be exposed to high radiation fields. This was especially true once a woman became pregnant. As a result, Betty’s employment at Chalk River ended in 1950 when she married Don Robertson and became pregnant.
Three children later by 1957, Betty was recruited for work again, but this time not by AECL but by Alex Cruickshank, formerly of AECL but now an employee of the Defence Research Board. Officially she became an employee of the Department of National Health and Welfare and was on attachment to CRNL.
Betty’s sharp memory recalled that the original low-background lab was located near the present Hill House. A 1951 arial photograph, donated by Don Stewart, shows the area around Hill Park and Mountainview Crescent occupied by fourteen so-called “POW buildings” of which only Hill House remains today. One of these housed the original low-background laboratory.
In 1952 both the building housing the Society collection (AECL designation, Bldg. 462) at 51 Poplar Street and an adjacent building (Bldg.463), located closer to Huron Street, were constructed. Bldg. 463 became the “Town Labs.” and home of the new low-background lab.
Betty was able to work part-time in the new lab and was even able to squeeze in a fourth pregnancy during her period there. Her task was mainly to look at samples of milk collected from across Canada and to determine levels of radioactive strontium-90. Strontium-90 is one of the most worrisome fallout products from nuclear weapons tests. Another food product of concern was wheat and Betty assessed samples of wheat grown in Canada, from several other northern hemisphere countries and even some South American countries.
The low-level food monitoring program ended in 1970. Betty then joined the Environmental Research Branch at Chalk River. Bldg. 463 remained idle for a period and was demolished in 1980.
