Created in 2009, the LNE Research Award recognizes researchers who have contributed to the success and scientific reputation of the French Metrology Network and LNE's own research activities. Philippe Cassette, PhD in physical chemistry, is being honored for his research in ionizing radiation metrology.
He joined LNE-LNHB in 1991, having previously been in charge of the laboratory studying contamination transfer in nuclear facilities at the Institut de Protection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IPSN, which later became part of IRSN). He was initially responsible for primary activity measurements using liquid scintillation methods, which were then in full development.
Over time, he took on responsibility for other laboratory measurement techniques: primary and secondary measurements of radioactive gases (differential proportional counters), primary and secondary measurements of radon and thoron, measurements of neutron source emission rates (manganese bath method), making significant advances in the development of instrumentation and associated measurement methods. These advances have contributed to LNE-LNHB's good results in international comparisons of activity measurements and to the laboratory's international scientific reputation.
His expertise in the field of ionizing radiation metrology was recognized internally by the CEA, with his appointment first as a senior expert in 2004, then as an international expert in 2009.
He has also won wide recognition from his peers at international level, through numerous expert missions (including for the IAEA): ANSTO (Australia), CNEA (Argentina), IFIN (Romania), LNMRI (Brazil), NIM (China), NIST (USA), NPL (UK), RC (Poland), CENTIS (Cuba) and SMU (Slovakia), and through numerous cooperative ventures in the development of liquid scintillation counters and the hosting of collaborators from various foreign institutes.
He was coordinator of the Liquid Scintillation WG of the International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology (ICRM). He has been a member of the scientific committee of ICRM conferences since 1997, and a member of the scientific committee of Advances in Liquid Spectrometry conferences since 2001.
As part of the European Metrology Research Program, he was leader of a workpackage in the MetroFission project.
He has authored or co-authored around 80 articles, including over 70 in peer-reviewed journals in the field of radioactivity metrology.
Having obtained his HDR (Université Paris Sud) in 2008, he has supervised 9 theses (including 4 from foreign universities) and 3 engineering courses. He lectures at INSTN, Blaise-Pascal University in Clermont-Ferrand and Paris VII University, as well as at several foreign institutes.
Philippe Cassette has made a major contribution to the international reputation of LNE-LNHB, and hence of French metrology, through the quality of his scientific work and the many collaborations he has initiated.
Learn more: www.lne.fr