Establishment ( AERE ). It functioned as an outstation of Harwell and was later managed by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority ( UKAEA ) following its establishment in 1954 . TRC ’ s purpose was to process materials irradiated at Harwell , to purify , standardise , label compounds and develop and manufacture sealed radiation sources .
Although nuclear research reactors were still the principal source of radioisotopes , there were some commercially needed radioisotopes that could be made only in a cyclotron . The decision was made for TRC to design and operate its own cyclotron solely for isotope production – the first of its kind , producing isotopes by the bombardment of metallic targets by high speed electrically charged nuclear particles . The Philips cyclotron was completed in April 1966 and quickly came into routine production use , enabling the whole of the Centre ’ s sales of cyclotron isotopes such as sodium-22 , cobalt- 57 , arsenic-74 and cadmium-109 to be reliably produced . On 16 July 1969 , distribution of the products reached new heights when smoke detectors containing americium-241 manufactured in Amersham were carried to the moon in the Apollo 11 spacecraft .
Dr Grove demonstrates housing enclosures that enabled operators to stand safely outside and manipulate radioactive materials .
Radiation Protection Today Summer 2021
During the next two decades , the government transferred functions of the UKAEA to private companies and The Radiochemical Centre Ltd was established . With this independence , many new and innovative products were born , such as the Amertec II technetium-99m generator , helping TRC to become a world leader in radioactive materials . Customers , suppliers and staff worldwide referred to TRC Ltd as simply “ Amersham ” and in 1981 TRC changed its name to Amersham International Ltd . Amersham International became the first business to be fully privatised under Margaret Thatcher ’ s government , with nearly 99 % of the staff becoming shareholders .
In 2001 the name of the Amersham facility was changed to The Grove Centre ( TGC ) in recognition of its founder , Dr Patrick Grove . Three years later Amersham plc was acquired by General Electric Company for $ 10 billion to form GE Healthcare , merging GE ’ s medical imaging expertise with Amersham ’ s medical diagnostics and life sciences businesses . GE Healthcare ’ s vision was to enable personalised healthcare .
Manufacturing activities at TGC were ended in 2019 and the facility began an extensive programme of decommissioning . This marks the end of radiochemical activities at the site which has been designated as a Historic Chemical Landmark by the Royal Society of Chemistry for its pioneering work in radioactivity .
See links below for more information :
• The Grove Centre 75 year Anniversary ( 1940- 2015 ) booklet produced by GE Healthcare
• Amersham ' s Modern Alchemists – a visit to Amersham Museum
• Photos taken in the labs in the late 1950s / early 1960s ( published by Buckinghamshire Live )
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