Page 288 - Neutrons for Sciences and Society

POSTSCRIPT
Translator’s note
When I arrived at the ILL in 1974, with the exception of
Bernard Jacrot and Paul Ageron, the original reactor design
and construction team had left the site and returned to the establishments whence they had been detached. This book therefore offers unique insight into the creation of the ILL by one of its originators. By 1975 there were over a dozen scientists from Britain at the ILL, who had known each other either at university, or, had met at Harwell working on their theses with help from their neutron scatterers to use the British instruments. They
were also involved there in the design of ancillary equipment, and the control systems. While the design of the ILL reactor was exceptional, the instruments reflected some inexperience in design, sample environments were inflexible, and the control systems were inefficient. With their prior experience there was pressure from the new arrivals to bring about improvements rapidly.
In 1976 a mixed group of about 30 scientists set off for a
neutron scattering meeting in Gatlinburg, USA. This was the
first occasion to display the range of results (albeit with our grey Polaroid slides and all too brief measurements due to scheduling pressures) which could be obtained in Grenoble. The Americans were amazed by results from the new high resolution instruments, long wavelength and small angle scattering facilities, unavailable in their laboratories. The ILL scientists were equally surprised
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