place

Zoé (reactor)

Heavy water reactorsMilitary nuclear reactorsNuclear power in FranceNuclear technology in France

The Zoé reactor, or EL-1, was the first French atomic reactor. It was built in 1947 at the Fort de Châtillon in Fontenay-aux-Roses, a suburb of Paris. Design work for the heavy-water reactor was started in 1947 by Frédéric Joliot-Curie, who was at the time director of the French Commission for Atomic Energy (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA)). The project manager was Lew Kowarski, who had just returned from Canada, where he had supervised the construction of the Canadian ZEEP heavy-water reactor. Zoé was activated on 15 December 1948, reaching a power of 150 kW by 1953. The nuclear fuel was provided by Bouchet of Ballancourt-sur-Essonne, which reprocessed the irradiated fuel and extracted the first milligrams of French-produced plutonium. The reactor was shut down in March 1976 and containment of the reactor was completed in 1977. The choice of moderator and fuel was dictated by the undeveloped state of the French nuclear industry at the time, which could not manufacture the corrosion-proof equipment needed for a more advanced unit. The reactor was a pool-type design, with five tons of heavy water moderator surrounded by a two-meter-thick concrete wall. The core, immersed in the pool, consisted of 60 aluminum-cased vertical rods containing three tons of uranium oxide pellets, controlled by cadmium rods. The heavy water was purchased from Norsk Hydro. A cooling system was added after the reactor had operated for a time, allowing it to run at a heat release rate of 200 kilowatts.The name Zoé was an acronym, from Zéro de puissance (zero power, that is, very little capacity to produce electricity, which made it easier and faster to build); Oxyde d'uranium (uranium oxide), Eau lourde (heavy water). The Châtillon site was superseded for later nuclear research by a new site at Saclay. The reactor was also known as EL-1 (Eau Lourde); its successor at Saclay was EL-2.The building that formerly housed Zoé is now an exhibit space, the Museum of the Atom.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Zoé (reactor) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Zoé (reactor)
Rue Joliot-Curie, Antony

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Zoé (reactor)Continue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 48.7906 ° E 2.2761 °
placeShow on map

Address

CEA

Rue Joliot-Curie
92260 Antony
Ile-de-France, France
mapOpen on Google Maps

Share experience

Nearby Places

Battle of Châtillon

The Battle of Châtillon, also known as the Battle of Châtillon-sous-Bagneux, was a skirmish in the Siege of Paris between France and North German Confederation in the Franco-Prussian War, took place on 13 October 1870. This is also considered the first battle in the history of the French Third Republic. In this fierce battle – occurred at Châtillon and Sceaux, Corps V of the Prussian army under the command of Lieutenant General Infantry Hugo von Kirchbach, along with the II Corps of the Kingdom of Bavaria by the Supreme Minister infantry Jakob von Hartmann which were the forces of the army Group 3 of Prussia by Prince Friedrich Wilhelm as General command., won a victory against an attack by the XIV Corps under General Renault - of the French army under General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot. Although some soldiers under Ducrot fought well, the majority of his army became agitated. The French were forced to flee to Paris, losing the Châtillon Plateau - a very favorable defensive position overlooking the fortresses south of Paris - to the Germans. This was a disaster for the "justice" of the French army during the war, although the French reported that they suffered only minor losses.The Battle of Sedan between the German and French armies on 1–2 September 1870 ended with the defeat of the Second French Empire. The victory in Sedan opened the way for the Germans to enter Paris, and on 4 September an uprising in Paris overthrew the Empire and led to the establishment of the Government of National Defense. Meanwhile, under the orders of Chief of the General Staff Helmuth von Moltke the Great, the German 3rd and Maas armies set out to attack Paris five days after the great victory at Sedan. Until 19 September the Prussian V Army commanded by General Von Kirchbach marched in two vertical formations to the Palace of Versailles . The French were determined to keep control of the important points in front of the capital's fortifications, and in view of the Prussian presence in the Châtillon plateau, French general Ducrot launching a breakout on the frontline of the V Corps: At dawn on 19 September, two divisions of infantry of Corps XIV of France had invaded Petit Bicêtre and Villacoublay. With strong artillery support, they drove out the German outposts (Division number 9 of Prussia), although the Germans initially defended successfully. However, although Hartmann's II Bavarian Army advanced in a different direction, their 1st Infantry Brigade was brought in to Bicêtre to support the Prussians. Simultaneously, Von Kirchbach ordered the Prussian 10th Division to respond shortly after their vanguard force reached the northeast of Villaconblay. A combined attack by the Bavarians with the Prussians still fighting at the Bois de Garenne repelled the French at Pavé blanc. Meanwhile, the French had formed their artillery, and three regiments attacked Petit Bicêtre and Bois de Garenne. Firepower of Prussian muskets defeated the French, and German shells forced the Zouaves soldiers of the Trivaux farm to flee to Paris. Part of the right flank of the French army had to flee frantically. The Prussian-Bayern coalition captured Pavé blanc, recaptured Dame Rose and stormed into the Meudon forest.However, the rest of the French forces were concentrated around a small earthen fortress erected on the Châtillon plateau. Thereafter, Von Kirchbach led V Corps back to Versailles, handing the battle over to Bavaria's II Corps. While a Bavarian brigade was sent to Sceaux, the 8th Brigade of the 4th Bavarian Army was sent to Croix de Bernis, and the 7th Brigade advanced to Bourg. The German army increased its artillery, and after a day of fighting, Ducrot ordered the destruction of the cannons at the earthen fortifications and retreated to the rear of separate fortresses. Some soldiers of the Bavarian 3rd Division followed him through Sceaux and Plessis-Picquet, and captured his abandoned fortifications. The battle demonstrated the power of the French artillery, but the German victory at the Battle of Châtillon created favorable conditions for the Bavarians to defeat all French attacks on the Chatillon Plateau. After this battle, the German army completed the Siege of Paris. The French army would conduct many more fierce breakout attempts, but they were all defeated by the Germans.