European Spallation Source interrim report for third quarter: Operations are built up according to plan
The new public company European Spallation Source ESS AB has published its first interrim report, showing an organisation in a strong growth phase.
European Spallation Source ESS AB has existed as a company for four months, after the transfer of the activities from Lund University on 1 July. The company is today wholly owned by the Swedish state through the Ministry of Education.
ESS AB is responsible for planning, financing, constructing and operating the research facility the European Spallation Source. The ESS is partnered by 16 European countries, represented through a Steering Committee.
- ESS AB is building up its operations and is progressing according to plan, says Colin Carlile, CEO of ESS AB. It is important that we are able to recruit the competence we need to construct what will be the world’s foremost research facility of its kind, and we are doing just that. ESS is becoming very international.
Since European Spallation Source ESS AB has only existed as a company since 1 July, the result for the third quarter corresponds to the three months of transactions that have taken place since the transfer of operations from Lund University. Net revenue therefore amounts to 0 KSEK and result after tax to -20 219 KSEK.
The activities today consist mainly of project planning, technical design, licensing and planning, and building-up of the organisation, including recruitment of senior and junior staff. With the growth of the organisation, the emphasis will be more on technical and scientific issues. This work, that includes the Design Update and Preparation for Build and is expected to be finalized in 2012, will be financed through the Swedish State’s guarantees of cash funding and in-kind contributions from the partner countries.
For more information, please contact:
Colin Carlile, ESS AB Director. E-mail colin.carlile@esss.se, Tel. 46-(0)46-222 83 02
Marianne Ekdahl, Communications Officer Press & Politics. E-mail marianne.ekdahl@esss.se, Tel. 46-(0)46-222 83 89
ESS IN SHORT:
The European Spallation Source – the next generation facility for materials research and life science
The European Spallation Source (ESS) will be a multi-disciplinary research laboratory based on the world’s most powerful neutron source. ESS can be likened to a large microscope, where neutrons are used instead of light to study materials – ranging from polymers and pharmaceuticals to membranes and molecules – to gain knowledge about their structure and function. ESS will be up to 100 times better than existing facilities, opening up new possibilities for researchers in for example health, environment, climate, energy, transport sciences and cultural heritage.
ESS is an intergovernmental project resembling CERN in Geneva, and it will be built in Lund in southern Scandinavia. At least sixteen European countries will take part in the construction, financing and operation of the ESS. Sweden and Denmark will co-host the ESS and cover 50 percent of the 1,4 B€ investment costs and 20 percent of the operating costs together with the Nordic and Baltic states.
The European Spallation Source ESS AB is a public limited company, today owned by the Swedish State. ESS AB is planning the future international ESS organisation. Building is expected to start around 2013, the first neutrons to be produced in 2019 and the facility to be fully operational around 2025.
ESS will support a user community of 5000 researchers and will have great strategic importance for the development of the European Research Area. Near by there will be complementary laboratories, such as the synchrotron MAX IV in Lund and XFEL and PETRAIII in Hamburg.
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