CEA Paris-Saclay | |
Formation | March 1, 1946 |
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Location |
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Christian Bailly, director (2021–present) | |
Parent organization | French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) |
Website | www |
Formerly called | CEA Saclay center (+ separate sites) |
The CEA Paris-Saclay center is one of nine centers belonging to the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). Following a reorganization in 2017, the center consists of multiple sites, including the CEA Saclay site (formerly a "center"), the Fontenay-aux-Roses site and the sites of Paris, Évry, Orsay and Caen.[1]
Historically, as the main Saclay site was the heart of French nuclear research it was called Saclay Nuclear Research Center prior to the shift towards other fields of research and innovation beyond nuclear.[2][3]
The center has close ties with Paris-Saclay University, being located on the Saclay plateau and active in the Paris-Saclay project for innovation.
Since February 2017, various sites were grouped together to CEA Paris-Saclay, including[4][1]
On 10 October 1945, Charles de Gaulle launched the CEA. In 1946, the Fontenay-aux-Roses site was realized, followed by the Saclay site 6 years later in 1952. The Saclay site, located 20 km south of Paris on the Saclay plateau, is much bigger and was chosen in part to be close to Université Paris-Sud (which today is part of Paris-Saclay University).[7]
The Saclay site was designed by the architect Auguste Perret.[8]
The complex employs more than 7,500 scientists.[7] Although CEA Saclay was initially focused on nuclear research, multiple domains of research are carried out there since a few decades back. These include:[9]
The Saclay site has been home to multiple nuclear research reactors, including the Osiris , Isis and Orphée reactors.
The Osiris and Isis reactors (operated between 1965–2019[10]) inspired the design of Iraq's Osirak facility.[11][12] Multiple bacterial species were discovered to thrive in those reactor cores during operation, and may have fed off hydrogen from radiolysis.[13]