 The geography of the area around the village and the plant meant that attacking the plant and destroying the existing stocks of heavy water would be extremely difficult. Both were situated in a deep valley which possessed thickly – forested sides that rose almost vertically from a narrow river – bed, and which was overlooked by Gaustatoppen, a mountain approximately 5,400 feet (1,600 m) high; the plant itself had been built on a broad rock shelf 1,000 feet (300 m) above the river bed.
