Page 214 - Neutrons for Sciences and Society

Neutrons for Science
It was a joint team that designed and built the reactor; there again could have been problems. The French had a much greater experience in building reactors, having started earlier, and having military activities. This point was well recognised, and the design of the reactor vessel and choice of aluminium were completely left to the French in the group. On the contrary the responsibility for safety was entrusted to the German engineer Reutler who did
a superb job. All this happened with an excellent ambience. It is remarkable that more than 30 years after links were established between the French and German engineers during the construction phase that some continue to meet regularly.
Communal life at the ILL has allowed us to see to what degree the French and Germans have common cultures. Close, but not identical, as the following anecdote illustrates:
In the summer of 1973, John White, future director of the ILL, was a scientific visitor, and performed one of the first experiments on a biological sample, collagen, and he noted that it diffracted neutrons rather well. We had the following conversation:
B.J.: - Yes, collagen diffracts neutrons well; did you make any calculations before the experiment?
J.W.: (surprised) - Uh, no.
B.J.: - It is always like that with the Anglo-Saxons; they never make preliminary calculations. The Germans, they make such beautiful calculations they have hardly any need
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