A technician cleans lead glass blocks forming part of the OPAL detector at CERN, the European centre for particle physics near Geneva. OPAL is one of 4 giant particle detectors at the LEP collider. LEP collides electrons & positrons accelerated to an energy of 50 GeV in a circular tunnel 100m underground & 27km in circumference. OPAL is a cylindrical assembly of many types of apparatus which fit together like layers of an onion around the point where the particles collide. It includes 2 huge semi-cylinders of black lead glass blocks, which will move in to fit snugly around OPAL's central detector. Part of OPAL's magnet is seen at far right. Photo taken April 1989.