Page 116 - Neutrons for Sciences and Society

Neutrons for Science
5.2 The construction of the reactor
At this stage of the reactor construction the work consisted of refining and terminating the design studies. Placing orders then followed. To do this work the team of about 25 (15 French, 10 German engineers and 2-3 translators) stayed in the Paris area
in unused buildings belonging to the CEA. This offered it some breathing space from the reactor division which the Germans found to be a little overwhelming. At this stage there was no need to be located in Grenoble. An industrial architect was chosen
by strong mutual agreement to act as the project coordinator
and construction manager. This was actually a consortium of Interatom on the German side (an associate of AEG and Siemens), and GAAA79 and GERI80 for the French. For the ILL an additional task of the architect was sharing the orders equally between the two countries. A small part of the team only moved to Grenoble
at the end of 1968 when the heavy construction work started; the others shuttled back and forth from Paris.
The works in Grenoble began well. Sadly, 1970, a crucial year in the development of the Institut, was marked by a terrible accident on the reactor building site.
79 Groupement Atomique Alsacien Atlantique later known as Novatome.
80 Gestion Etude Réalisation Ingénierie Sarl, a group specialising in civil engineering.
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