Page 86 - Neutrons for Sciences and Society

Neutrons for Science
4.1.2 The Reactor Building
The coolant choice was of primary importance since this influenced the whole reactor design. Choices concerning the building were less demanding, though Maier-Leibnitz thought
it was of great importance. The building enclosing the reactor
at Munich was and is very elegant in the form of the nose of a rocket (Germans speak of it as an egg). Maier-Leibnitz hoped
that the ILL would be as beautiful. He also wanted to be able to mount cumbersome instruments within the building. As other experiments might use less space he insisted that the reactor was placed off-centre in the building. In fact in the draft presented at Santa Fe the reactor is quite off-centre. This would have led to great problems in providing adequate handling means (overhead cranes etc). There were bitter and sterile discussions on this subject which lasted up to April 1967. Finally it was decided to construct a very large building, about 60 m in diameter which would leave about 25 m, as demanded by Maier-Leibnitz, between the central reactor and the walls; it is indubitably a world record. Aesthetics were sacrificed to technological imperatives. The new reactor at Garching too lacks the beauty of its predecessor. I see
in my notes that during a meeting with Chatoux, 1 February 1968, that Maier-Leibnitz again insisted on the need to study a self- supporting building, as had been constructed at Garching.
Another problem for the building was that it had to have a sealed atmosphere. This was discussed at length at a meeting in Munich on 6 June 1966, where Kouts was present. It would be necessary to take into account a possible meltdown of the fuel element (which has never occurred). It was essential that
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