CHYDARU, unabbreviated name Chapel Hill Youth Development and Research Unit, is an experimental youth prison operated by the Institute of Government at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

and the North Carolina prison system. Built in 1945, it opened as a prison for youth under the age of 18 on May 1, 1964. The project was as an advancement in prison structure. It closed later in 1965 due to budget shortages. Sometime during the 1970s (presumably 1973) it housed the Bureau of School Services, which was operated by UNC. Later in 1975, it was repurposed to store

radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...

. As of 1996, it became exclusively a radioactive storage-for-decay facility, where short-lived radioactive wastes are stored until they are no longer radioactive, at which point they are removed. It is inspected annually by the state government.

Buildings in CHYDARU

CHYDARU has 7 buildings located within its fence that are officially mapped and documented. There are 10 shelters included ones that have not been documented officially. Supposedly another building was destructed in 1985, but there is little evidence that it actually existed other than a crude map from 1977. Map of chydaru

Annex #1

Known also as "Shed at Chydaru", the shed it mostly open to the air except for one room with a desk and a

one way mirror A one-way mirror, also called two-way mirror (or one-way glass, half-silvered mirror, and semi-transparent mirror), is a reciprocal mirror that appears reflective on one side and transparent at the other. The perception of one-way transmission i ...

looking inwards. There is no official documentation on its purpose.

Annex #2

Annex #2 is also known as the "Radiation Annex", it was built in 1935 and listed as a shed or trailer officially. A worn sign on the front of the building mentions the Department of Environment. A newer sign below the older sign says OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER ANNEX.

Annex #3 and #4

UNC named the buildings "Extension Annex A" and "Extension Annex B", respectively. It was constructed in 1945, as many other building were. Both buildings have a bathroom built for several people and room for beds. This leads many to believe that the prisoners were housed in each building. There is little difference between the two and they are located next to each other.

Annex #6

Annex #6 is a two story building with a basement and ground floor. Built in 1945, there is no documentation for what it was ever used for.

Aviary

In 2006, an aviary was constructed along with an adjacent trailer in front of Annex #6. There is evidence that it was inhabited up to 2013. The ''UNC Satellite Facility Disaster Plan'' mentions that the aviary is near open water and not very high elevation, making it more likely for a natural disaster to effect it.

References

External links

*
Horace William Airport Study
Outlying Parcel Land use study, Appendix B Environmental concerns Study, 1995 p. 13
IN PRISON - Planned Environment Therapy Trust
D Briggs - 2000 fn17, p18 {{coord, 35.893637, -79.0160624, display=title Juvenile detention centers in the United States Buildings and structures completed in 1945 1945 establishments in North Carolina Radioactive waste repositories in the United States