The occupation of the Goudsmitpaviljoen could be life-threatening, warns lab director Arno Kentgens. He urges the campaigners to allow technicians access at all times. ‘The protesters could suffocate in the lab.’

The Goudsmitpaviljoen houses superconducting magnets cooled with liquid helium, several degrees above absolute zero. ‘If that gas escapes, it will displace oxygen in the air’, explains director Arno Kentgens. ‘I don’t think I need to explain what will happen next.’

According to Kentgens, who is also a professor at the Magnetic Resonance Research Center, activists could quickly get into trouble if that happens. ‘When there is too little oxygen, you cannot think clearly and you end up suffocating. A person trying to help another may themselves succumb.’

‘If a small defect occurs somewhere, all the stored energy can be released in one fell swoop’

According to a spokesman for the pro-Palestine demonstrators who have been occupying the building since this morning, oxygen detectors have been installed in the building. ‘If those go off, we will know something is wrong.’ But Kentgens calls that an insufficient safety measure. ‘You cannot fully rely on those detectors. Under no circumstances should anyone enter the building.’

Extremely high current

The magnets also need regular refilling with refrigerant. If that maintenance is delayed, a dangerous situation could arise, according to the director. ‘An extremely high current is flowing in the magnets, of more than 100 amps. If a small fault occurs somewhere, all the stored energy can be released in one fell swoop. The helium will then evaporate at lightning speed and the oxygen content in the room will drop within seconds.’ The result: a huge explosion could occur.

Apart from the danger to those present, the director fears major damage to expensive research equipment. ‘We’ve been working on this for years’, he says. ‘And what I also don’t understand is this: we have no ties with Israel at all. Why it is precisely our lab that is being occupied is beyond me.’