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Work starts to increase power of SNS proton beam

Posted at 3:18 pm April 28, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Construction work has started on a part of a project to double the power of the proton beam in the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It’s the first construction work at SNS since 2006. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Construction work has started on a part of a project to double the power of the proton beam in the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

It’s the first construction work at the $1.4 billion SNS since 2006.

The current work is limited to what is known as the klystron gallery. It houses radio-frequency systems. They power the structures that are used to accelerate a negatively-charged hydrogen ion beam in the linear accelerator at SNS.

ORNL has previously said the klystron gallery construction could last about one year.

The work is part of a project called the proton power upgrade, or PPU. It will eventually double the power of the SNS proton beam from 1.4 megawatts to 2.8 megawatts. That could be a seven-year project. The potential cost has previously been estimated at $245 million.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: construction, first target station, klystron gallery, linear accelerator, mercury target, neutrons, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, proton beam, proton power upgrade, protons, Second Target Station, SNS, Spallation Neutron Source, tungsten target

ORNL pursuing two major upgrades at SNS

Posted at 1:39 pm July 27, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

An aerial view of the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo by ORNL)

An aerial view of the Spallation Neutron Source on Chestnut Ridge at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:15 a.m. Aug. 1.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pursuing two major upgrades to its Spallation Neutron Source that would allow new scientific research and could cost more than $1 billion.

The two proposed upgrades are a proton power upgrade and a second target station. The two projects are in different stages of review at the U.S. Department of Energy, ORNL spokesperson Morgan McCorkle said.

The proton power upgrade, or PPU, is being pursued first, and its current cost estimate is a little more than $200 million, McCorkle said. If approved, it would double the power of SNS’s proton beam from 1.4 megawatts to 2.8 megawatts.

The upgrade would allow new types of research at SNS, and it would increase the number of scientists who can use the facility each year, McCorkle said.

“The PPU will enable experiments that are not currently feasible, such as experiments on smaller or less concentrated samples, and experiments under more extreme environmental conditions,” McCorkle said. “The new scientific capabilities will support research in areas such as soft matter, quantum materials, chemistry, functional materials, and biology. Some examples of everyday products that may be improved by these discoveries include cell phones, batteries, computers, building materials, and drugs.”

The proton power upgrade would also eventually provide the extra power necessary for the proposed second target station, or STS. The design of the second target station is less mature, but the project could cost in the range of $1 billion and include about 300,000 square feet of new buildings, McCorkle said. The second target station would be on the east end of the SNS campus on Chestnut Ridge at ORNL.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Basic Energy Sciences, budget request, Chestnut Ridge, Congress, DOE, Donald Trump, energy and water appropriations bill, HFIR, High Flux Isotope Reactor, House Appropriations Committee, linear accelerator, mercury target, Morgan McCorkle, neutron scattering, neutron sources, neutrons, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, ORNL, PPU, proton power upgrade, protons, Scientific Research, Second Target Station, Senate Appropriations Committee, SNS, SNS accelerator, SNS upgrade, Spallation Neutron Source, STS, Trump administration, tungsten target, U.S. Department of Energy

Record-breaker: SNS operates at full power—1.4 megawatts—for users for first time

Posted at 4:43 am July 8, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

ORNL SNS Full Power

The accelerator-based pulse neutron source at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source operated steadily for users at the maximum design power of 1.4 megawatts on June 26. (Photo credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL)

 

The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory operated steadily at its full design power of 1.4 megawatts for researchers for the first time on June 26.

“We’re producing neutrons now at this intensity for user experiments,” spokesman Bill Cabage said in a telephone interview last week.

The $1.4 billion SNS is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science user facility built on a ridge top at ORNL. It uses a linear proton accelerator and mercury target to provide the most intense pulsed neutron beams in the world for scientific research and industrial development. The proton beam hits the mercury target, knocking off neutrons from liquid mercury atoms. The neutrons, which are used to study materials from superconductors to biological systems, are then channeled down 16 instrument beam lines, where neutron spectrometers produce data revealing the structures and dynamics of molecules and atoms.

The SNS has been used for experiments since it started producing neutrons in April 2006, but at lower power. Researchers wanted to eventually get to full power, even if that had to be done gradually during the past eight years.

“They didn’t want to have a lot of disruption playing with it,” Cabage said. “They wanted to keep it reliable for users.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: 1.4 megawatts, Bill Cabage, Biological and Soft Matter Division, Center for Structural and Molecular Biology, full design power, full power, industrial development, jet-flow target, Kevin Jones, liquid mercury, mercury target, neutron beams, neutrons, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Paul Langan, proton accelerator, pulsed neutron beams, Research Accelerators Division, Scientific Research, SNS, Spallation Neutron Source, target, Target 9, U.S. Department of Energy

After two target failures, user research resumes at SNS this morning

Posted at 9:24 am November 28, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Spallation Neutron Source Target Bay

A mercury target at the Spallation Neutron Source is pictured in the target bay area during a 2009 changeout. A Oak Ridge National Laboratory spokesman said the sloped part of two SNS targets failed in September and October. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

Its mercury targets have failed twice in the past two months, but the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is available for user research again.

The program resumed at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

The $1.4 billion research facility is used to help scientists study material structures and properties.

The failures of its targets 6 and 7 in September and October have been attributed to an apparent failure in a weld joint.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Science, Top Stories Tagged With: Bill Cabage, mercury target, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, SNS, Spallation Neutron Source, target

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Classifieds

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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