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Rjukan.
Artist: H. C. Olsen. Woodcut from 1882. Rjukanfossen is a waterfall of 104 meter in the western part of the Westfjord valley in Tinn, a municipality in the county of Telemark, Norway, west of the industrial town Rjukan. The waterfall is a part of the River Måne, earlier a major tourist attraction, being one of the first floodlighted waterfalls by electricity produced by the same waterfall. In 1905 Rjukanfossen was built out to produce hydro electrical power for saltpetre production when Norsk Hydro was established. In the woodcut above we see the how the waterfall looked before the regulation. In 1906 construction of what was to be the world's largest hydroelectric power plant. The 60-MW Vemork power station at the Rjukan waterfall was the world’s largest power plant when it opened in 1911. In addition to the fertilizer production plant, a unit for producing high concentrations of heavy water was built, although for what purpose was not stated. Production started in December 1934. In 1940, the French Government purchased the entire stock, then available, of heavy water from Norway. The Germans had offered to purchase it, also, but the Norwegian Government was told of its possible military use and gave it to a French agent, who smuggled it to France via England. That supply eventually went back to England. During the German occupation of Norway in World War II, the heavy-water production plant was sabotaged in order to prevent the Germans from making an atomic bomb. Five separate attacks were launched during World War II to destroy heavy water factory. The famous movie The Heroes of Telemark, starring Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris, depicts one of the sabotage actions. Below: Vemork hydroelectic station in 2003. This building now houses the Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum. |
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Order a scanning in large size (12277 x 19526 pixels) The drawing, scanned in the very large size mentioned above is sold as a JPG-file for € 5 or $ 5. Mail me at henriksson@avrosys.nu. Ref. no 100776. |
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| © 2009 Lars Henriksson. Updated: 2009-05-14. | ||
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