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Arronax stands for “Accelerator for Research in Radiochemistry and Oncology in Nantes-Atlantique”. Arronax is also the name of the professor captured by Captain Nemo on the Nautilus. Allusion to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, written by Jules Verne, a native of Nantes.
Arronax consists of a circular magnet in two parts. Between these two parts reigns a magnetic field that rotates the particles, and an alternating electrical field that accelerates their movement on each rotation: the particles describe increasingly large circles. When they reach the outer limits of the magnet, they are ejected and directed in a line to a target, where by nuclear reaction they produce radioactive elements.
Particle α = 2 protons + 2 neutrons
Arronax is a machine with a diameter of roughly four meters in a building of 3,000 m2. Arronax can accelerate different types of projectiles (proton, deuteron and alpha particle) at energies of up to 70 MeV (70 million electronvolts).
By way of example, protons of 70 MeV have a speed of close to 1/3rd the speed of light in a vacuum.
The main purpose of Arronax is the design, production and use of radioisotopes for research in nuclear medicine, an area of medical specialization that consists in administering radiopharmaceutical agents to patients for diagnosis (by scintigraphic imagery) or treatment (by vectorized radiotherapy).
The main purpose of Arronax is the design, production and use of radioisotopes for research in nuclear medicine, an area of medical specialization that consists in administering radiopharmaceutical agents to patients for diagnosis (by scintigraphic imagery) or treatment (by vectorized radiotherapy).
->Click for more information on the cyclotron
->Click for more information on the radioisotopes produced by Arronax