On 14 April 1959, the Italian Communist daily newspaper L’Unità reports the opening of the Joint Reseach Centre (JRC) in Ispra and considers Italy’s role in Community nuclear energy.

Im Oktober 1960 beginnt die Europäische Atomgemeinschaft (EAG oder Euratom) mit dem Bau mehrerer gemeinsamer Forschungszentren. Das größte im Bereich der Kernenergie befindet sich in Ispra an den Ufern das Lago Maggiore in Norditalien.

Am 23. Dezember 1961 beschäftigt sich die französische Tageszeitung Le Monde mit den laufenden Plänen im Kernenergiebereich im Gemeinsamen Forschungszentrum von Ispra (Italien).

The Ispra site in Lombardy is one of the four research establishments in the Euratom Joint Research Centre in Europe. In 1962, major work is carried out in Ispra for the construction of the building to house the future ECO reactor (Expérience Critique Orgel).

View of the construction work on the ESSOR reactor (from ESSai ORgelExpérience Critique Orgel) shortly before it is commissioned.

View of the room located above the ESSOR reactor in Ispra from which the charging of the reactor can be monitored. This room is only accessible when the nuclear reactor is stopped. The photo shows two technicians observing the introduction of a driver element.

Overall view of staff employed in one of the workshops at the Ispra Nuclear Research Centre in Italy.

Technicians in protective clothing decontaminating the Ispra I nuclear reactor in Italy.

Technicians in protective clothing replacing the fuel rods at the Ispra I nuclear reactor in Italy.