Page 88 - A Life - my Live - my path

My career - the IRE

From the point of view of nuclear control, the IRE was in
class 2. A nuclear power plant is in class 1.
Radioactive areas were formally marked. They were in a
slight depression, the air was sucked in and not expelled.
What was released into nature had to pass through filters
placed in appropriate chimneys. This could surprise the
people living around the IRE, because these chimneys never
emitted smoke.
During an intervention in a hot zone, inside the casemate
(where the cyclotron was located), we were equipped with special
overalls, a headdress, gloves, shoe covers and different types
of badges to measure the radioactive doses received. The
personnel of the nuclear control service were always present
at the entrance to a hot zone and gave us the body measuring

devices.
Before being able to enter the casemate, the level of ambient
radioactivity had to be below the security level.
During production, the level of radioactivity was very high,
but as soon as the machine was stopped, it went down fairly
quickly. After having carried out the various planned works,
at the exit of the hot zone, all our clothes were confined in
special containers, and we had to pass through much more
sensitive devices to check that no radioactive contamination
was present. Our wearable devices were also checked and
reset for the next use.
Each year, major maintenance was planned, sometimes over
several weeks. This was meticulously prepared months in
advance. Everything was perfectly planned. We knew in
which order we had to perform the tasks and for each task,

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