Some employees at CRNL who worked in certain parts of the Active Area of the laboratory often were involved with tasks that could lead to the radioactive contamination of their clothing. To limit the contamination to the Active Area and to prevent contamination of personal clothing, those employees wore AECL-supplied apparel. This clothing, which they donned at the start of tasks and then removed before leaving the work area in rooms set aside for that purpose often had distinctive features. A special laundry in the Active Area then washed all such clothing.
Some of the clothing, such as coveralls and lab coats, had the building or lab logo prominently stamped on the items while others such as socks and underclothing were distinctive in colour. In the case of CRNL, the prominent colour was an inescapable bright red. No one could accidently or otherwise leave the working area wearing this potentially-contaminated clothing and not be spotted by others.
These items of clothing form part of the nuclear heritage that the Society for the Preservation of Canada’s Nuclear Heritage Inc (SPCNHI) wishes to collect and display. The laboratories have been able to provide the Society with lab coats, coveralls and a pristine pair of red socks but to date we have been unsuccessful in obtaining samples of the red underclothing – undershorts and vests.
As the Society builds up its collection, it has learned that certain items normally limited to the lab may have “accidentally” migrated into the community as souvenirs. It is also apparent that the holders of these items are often at a loss as to what they should do with them. Jim Ungrin, Artifacts Chair of the Society, has discovered that one (of the few) advantages of increased age is that he very quickly can forget who some of the donations to the Society came from. As a result, some artifacts are listed in the Society artifact catalogue as coming from an anonymous donor.
The Society would be very pleased to receive a donation of clean, used or new, red Active-Area undergarments from any donor (anonymous or otherwise) who may have some. Some of the yellow AECL tape that was used to seal off the area at clothing cuffs and that often ended up securing hockey pads at the local arena would also be welcome. The same holds true for any other artifacts that may have migrated to the community from the laboratory over the past 75 years. To donate please contact any member of the Society Executive or contact Jim (the one with the leaky memory) directly at ungrinjr@gmail.com or 613-584-3055. Articles can also be mailed anonymously to the SPCNHI at P.O. Box 441 Deep River ON, K0J 1P0.