Stephen MERIGOUT
29, Radio-safety Technician
Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds (GANIL)
CEA-DSM/CNRS-IN2P3
From the French navy to GANIL, my job: to protect you
Following several accidents, people became aware of the dangers and my job was developed
Before entering GANIL, I was working with the French navy: Brest, Toulon, Cherbourg... etc. onboard the Charles-de-Gaulle aircraft carrier. On the aircraft carrier, I worked on the nuclear reactors. At GANIL, I work on a particle accelerator. However, the role I play is the same. I check people's exposure to ionizing radiation. The problem with radioactivity is that you don't feel anything, although it can be dangerous. Following several accidents, people became aware of the dangers and my job was developed. At GANIL, we are here to inform everybody and assist people who enter restricted areas. For someone working in these rooms, GANIL's targeted radiation dose is smaller than one milliSievert per year (twenty times less than the maximum authorized dose for people working in the nuclear field). This small dose is the maximum yearly dose that anyone can receive when living near nuclear installations. And also, do not forget that radioactivity is natural. Even our body is a source of radioactivity.
Image copyright: F.CASTEL
