AREVA, through its subsidiary Canberra, has signed two nuclear measurement contracts in Canada and France, worth a total of 8.7 million euros.
The Canadian contract covers:
- the supply of detectors for the new particle accelerator at the University of Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). The particle accelerator, in which protons, particles found in the nuclei of atoms, reach speeds of 220,000 km/s, will enable us to better understand the formation of the universe. The detectors developed by AREVA will be placed in the TIGRESS detector array and will be used to recreate the path and position of the rays emitted by the atoms in the accelerator. They will provide information on the formation of chemical elements in stars and during the explosion of supernovae.
The technology for these hyper-pure detectors was developed by engineers from the Canberra Eurisys plant in Alsace, France. The same engineers designed the germanium detector for the Odyssey spacecraft, sent into orbit by NASA to study Mars (and which has revealed the presence of large quantities of water) and detectors for the Integral satellite that is orbiting the Earth to detect black holes.
The TIGRESS detectors will be delivered between 2004 and 2008.
The French contract covers:
- maintenance of radiological protection devices for the EDF nuclear power plants at Belleville, Chinon A and B, Dampierre, Nogent-sur-Seine, St Laurent A and B, Flamanville, Gravelines, St Alban, Bugey and Creys Malville. These devices are used to protect employees from radiation and contamination.
Canberra is world leader on the nuclear measurements market. It is leader for detectors used in scientific programs such as TIGRESS. Its maintenance activities focus on the French market where it offers an extensive range of services: preventive and corrective maintenance, customer training and the repair of apparatus manufactured by its competitors. The company also has one of the few privately-owned irradiators which it uses to calibrate nuclear measurement apparatus.
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