In the blinding light of the Spallation Neutron Source, it's easy to lose sight of the other side of the neutron scattering equation in Oak Ridge.
But the HFIR, one of the world's most powerful research reactors, is undergoing a renaissance of its own.
Mentioned on a recent episode of the NBC hit show "West Wing," the High Flux Isotope Reactor, located on the southeast side of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory campus, has been attracting attention to the Atomic City since criticality was achieved August 25, 1965.
Now the reactor is gearing up ‹ enlarged beam tubes have been installed, 15 new state-of-the-art instruments and a cold source are on tap, a new guide hall is under construction ‹ to work in neutron-scattering concert with the SNS.
"SNS is the shot gun, HFIR is the laser beam," said Jim Roberto, associate lab director for physical sciences.
While scientists are expected to travel from far and wide for the SNS's pulsed neutron shots, they've been clamoring for decades for the HFIR's steady state beams.
Because neutrons can go where X-rays never dreamed. From a neutron's point of view, solid matter is just not all that dense, making the uncharged particles the only option for many research probes ‹ like, studying the structure of new materials for lighter weight, more fuel-efficient cars.
"You get to a certain point and you need neutrons to study materials," said Jerel Zarestky, scientist from Ames Lab, a Department of Energy facility out of Iowa State University. Zarestky is one of multitudes of scientists from universities and labs around the country who need a neutron fix for their experiments. He's worked at ORNL since 1979, and has an instrument housed in the beam room at HFIR.
Zarestky is also part of a wealth of neutron heritage emanating from HFIR, as many scientists housed there are first- or second-generation Clifford Shull students. Shull won the 1994 Nobel Prize for his pioneering neutron scattering work done during the lab's early days.
During the recent 14-month maintenance and upgrade outage at HFIR, Zarestky's instrument was removed and rebuilt to accommodate the changes.
The idea behind the upgrades is to get more neutrons on sample, to enable scientists to look at smaller samples and to perform work quicker.
So expect the neutron beam time frenzy at HFIR to continue. Even without the upgrades completed, the docket is already over-subscribed for when the reactor kicks back into gear for another operational cycle May 13.
Roberto has one simple description for the improvements at HFIR:
"We're excited ‹ we are very, very excited," he said.
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R. Cathey Daniels can be contacted at (865) 220-5515 or danielsrcd@oakridger.com.
