Novel target station concept a milestone in the technical design of ESS
ESS has decided to use tungsten as target station material in the future research facility European Spallation Source. The decision is a milestone in the technical design of ESS, and will secure the best scientific performance combined with minimum environmental impact.
The current decision means that the ESS baseline design is a rotating target made of the metal tungsten, which is a novel concept, but based on international experience. It will now be the base for the final ESS technical design, to be completed in early 2013. The decision is based on detailed studies of several materials and concepts, to which a large number of international scientists have contributed.
- The choice of target conceptual design is probably the most important single decision in the technical design of ESS, says Patrik Carlsson, ESS Machine Director. This choice means that we will can reach a very high performance, excellent scientific opportunities and fulfill environmental safety requirements comparatively easy.
ESS will be a research facility where neutrons are use for the scientific study of organic and inorganic materials. The neutrons are produced in the target station, and the design of the target station is therefore of vital importance to the future scientific opportunities at ESS. Since ESS will be the most powerful neutron source ever constructed, the design of the target is based on a significant amount of R&D and the assembled knowledge of a large number of experts worldwide.
- I am particularly pleased that the decision will make an important contribution to minimising the environmental impact of ESS. Reducing the environmental impact has been one of our main selection criteria, says Colin Carlile, ESS Director-General. I see it as natural for a modern large-scale laboratory to take responsibility for making research sustainable.
The decision has been taken by the ESS AB Board of Directors and by the representatives from the 17 Partner Countries in the ESS Steering Committee, on the basis of work performed by ESS and the ESS collaboration partner laboratories. The new target station design replaces the 2002/2003 ESS technical design based on a liquid mercury target. Other alternatives, which have been studied, are for example pure lead in liquid form and a mixture of lead and bismuth.
Frequently Asked Questions about the decision:
See the ESS web site: http://www.ess-scandinavia.eu
For more information, please contact:
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 research infrastructure project, and it will be built in Lund in southern Scandinavia. At least 17 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 and the Danish states. ESS AB is currently working on finalizing the ESS technical design, planning the future research at ESS, preparing for construction, and planning the future international ESS organisation. This is done in collaboration with a large number of international research institutes and laboratories. Construction is expected to start in 2013, the first neutrons to be produced in 2019 and the facility to be fully operational around 2025.
ESS is expected to support a user community of at least 5000 European 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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