Brétigny accident (Poudou99, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Brétigny accident (Poudou99, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Brétigny : an unpredictable but probable accident

On April 25, the trial of the “Brétigny disaster” will begin. The SNCF, SNCF Réseau and an SNCF executive will appear before the Evry-Courcouronnes criminal court (Essonne) for involuntary manslaughter and involuntary injury. The State, which bears a crushing responsibility in this accident, does not seem to be among the accused.

The ITER experiment is under construction at a site in southern France, with first plasma operations scheduled for 2025. The tokamak building is the mirrored structure at center. Photo credit Courtesy ITER Organization/EJF Riche.

The biggest magnet in the world comes to France

ITER or the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, currently under construction at Cadarache in the South of France, is getting ready to receive the biggest magnet in the world.