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Now we show you unique images of the basement of the Palace of Parliament. A Digi24 team filmed the venues and machines that operate 24 hours a day to ensure the comfort of senators and deputies. For example, the air that reaches the meeting rooms is first purified and then cooled or heated, depending on the season, in several special pools. Furthermore, all light bulbs and electrical installations are controlled from a control center so that electricity can only be switched on or off in the area of the building where it is needed. The Palace of Parliament is the second largest building in the world, after the Pentagon.
In winter MPs obviously need warmth. The thermal power station of the Palace of Parliament is so large that it can serve even a smaller neighborhood. However, some installations are so old that rust has corroded them.
George Dumitrică, Deputy Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies: We are talking about quite old facilities. We try to keep them working, to repair them when necessary … We recently had a little problem here … Look, this is a valve that needs to be replaced and that has caused us a lot of problems in the last period. It is difficult to find bypass valves of this type, we are struggling to change it, it is not the only one, but we wanted to see how old they are and some are even damaged.
The air for parliamentarians, first purified, then cooled or heated
Before reaching the parliamentarians’ meeting rooms, the air is purified. Depending on the season, after purification, the air is cooled or heated in several special pools so that the chosen ones have all the necessary comfort.
George Dumitrică, Deputy Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies: We treat the incoming air and services the plenum zone and the most frequently used P1 zone.
Reporter: What does treat, debug or … mean?
George Dumitrică: Purify the air, cool or heat as appropriate. In winter we usually heat the agent with the thermal agent. This air is heated in very large pools, you will see them immediately, and is transmitted through the vents into the plenum area. In these specially constructed pools, the air is treated and transported to the plenary halls.
The Palace of Parliament is also a large consumer of electricity. Each bulb is controlled from a room in the basement of the building.
George Dumitrică: Ahere we have an area that represents practically all the automation part in the electrical zone, from here the electrical energy is controlled throughout the house. This is an old system, since the house was built and this whole system has been replaced by a simple computer, mouse and keyboard and that means new technology.
Reporter: You have evolved …
George Dumitrică: I have evolved a lot in that area.
Reporter: But tell me, here I am curious because I have never seen, it is the first time I see …
George Dumitrică: Please do not press any buttons.
Reporter: I don’t touch anything, I don’t touch … You have C1, C4 bodies, practically just by pressing a button you interrupt or turn on the energy in that body.
George Dumitrică: Yes, in those bodies and in those areas.
File, treated with gamma rays at the Institute of Atomic Physics in Măgurele
In the event of a breakdown, Parliament can provide the necessary electricity itself. There are six state-of-the-art generator sets that start automatically with a maximum of 7 seconds of damage.
George Dumitrică: Not to mention consumption, because this group consumes 60 liters per hour and must be started every 14 days.
The last stop in the basement of the building was in the archives. The documents can be found here since 1866, the year the Chamber of Deputies was established.
Operation: A small part of the archive of the Grand National Assembly, that is, how the legislatures keep the records of the deputies.
George Dumitrică, Deputy Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies: You can see them now in boxes, because we had an action with this whole file and we managed to treat it with Gamma rays if I’m not mistaken at the Institute of Atomic Physics in Măgurele.
Web Editor: Liviu Cojan
