Page 78 - A Life - my Live - my path

My career - the IRE

onto a target to cause nuclear reactions. These reactions
produce radioactive elements used, for example, in nuclear
medicine, such as Iodine 123 to mark the activity of the
thyroid gland, or Fluorine 18, which makes it possible to
produce a radioactive sugar (fluorodeoxyglucose) that
cannot be used by healthy cells, but which accumulates
preferentially in cancer cells, which are high consumers of
glucose. A β+ positron emission tomography (PET) scan
(anti-electron) enables certain cancers to be detected
particularly accurately and treated at an early stage.
Unlike linear accelerators (which
take up a lot of space), in a cyclotron the
particle beam is deflected by powerful
magnetic fields to follow the trajectory

of a spiral. As a result, a cyclotron can be
built in a conventional building. What sets it apart is the
protection required around the machine itself. This
69
protection, known as a "casemate", can be 2 to 3 metres thick
and is made exclusively of special concrete.
The IRE was to set up a team to monitor the site and ensure
the operation of the cyclotron once it was up and running.
Management appointed my department head , civil
70
engineer, to head up the new department, one of my
colleagues , mechanical engineer, for the mechanical,
71
hydraulic and vacuum technology sections, and myself for

69 Particularly against Ɣ (gamma) radiation.
70 Jacques DEPOITIER
71 Roger VANDERICK
66