en-us Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:00 EDT http://neutrons.ornl.gov/snsnews/snsnews.shtml The ORNL Neutron Sciences Directorate operates the world's highest flux reactor-based neutron source (the High Flux Isotope Reactor) and the world's most intense pulsed accelerator-based neutron source (the Spallation Neutron Source). webmaster@ornl.gov http://www.ornl.gov http://www.ornl.gov/ornlhome/rss/neutronnews.gif http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222601155 Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are citing evidence that high-temperature superconductivity derives from the same mechanisms regardless of materials. That finding has prompted speculation that magnetic spin excitations that couple electrons is the key ingredient for superconductivity. Magnetic interactions "provide the glue that binds the electrons together," Oak Ridge lead researcher Mark Lumsden. "The pairing up of electrons is essential for the formation of the macroscopic quantum state giving rise to superconductivity." High-temperature superconductivity could result in ultra-fast electronic devices that capitalize on high-speed electrons traveling in a material whose resistance has been reduced to zero. Levitating trains, ultra-sensitive sensors called superconducting quantum interference devices and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging use superconductors. Using the Spallation Neutron Source and the High Flux Isotope Reactor, the researchers applied intense neutron beams to image single crystals of superconducting iron, tellurium and selenium materials. They also observed the same spin excitations that are believed to be the source of superconducting in copper based materials called cuprates. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/science/26nuke.html?scp=1&sq=%22oak%20ridge%20national%22&st=cse Amid a global shortage of a radioactive isotope used to diagnose cancer, heart disease and kidney problems, the Energy Department on Monday moved to develop two radically different sources for the material. Supplies have been short since last May, when the reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, that used to be the biggest supplier of the isotope was shut down because of a leak...Primarily a research reactor - the High Flux Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory also produces medical isotopes. http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2010/01/vulcan_workshop_at_spallation.html VULCAN, one of the new research instruments at the Spallation Neutron Source, will be the topic of a workshop Thursday and Friday at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The engineering diffractometer received its first neutrons back in June and, according to ORNL neutron chief Ian Anderson, the Canadian-sponsored instrument is expected to become a staple of industrial research for years to come. Anderson said VULCAN was funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and, as such, Canada gets access to 20 percent of the beam time on the instruments (or the equivalent on other instruments). "It's one of the instruments where we expect to get a lot of interest from industry to use it," he said. http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2010/01/ornl_restarts_high_flux_isotop.html Following a 17-day maintenance and refueling outage that spanned the holidays, the High Flux Isotope Reactor was restarted this morning. Ron Crone, Oak Ridge National Lab's reactors chief, said the HFIR reached full power (85 mw) at 8:46 a.m. Because of the extremely cool temps (in the teens) this morning, it wasn't necessary to use any of the four fans associated with the cooling tower during startup operations, Crone said. Crone said it was a fairly uneventful outage, with normal corrective and preventive maintenance tasks. He said lab officials are trying to use info from two brief, unplanned outages in recent months to improve operations at the 43-year-old research reactor. He said ORNL has launched one of the three projects to replace some of the reactor's original instrument control systems. Some of those activities can be done while the reactor is operating, but other tasks have to be completed during outages, he said. http://www.newswise.com/articles/ut-battelles-delivery-of-science-highlights-strong-doe-performance-ratings Led by a number of scientific breakthroughs and operational milestones at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, UT-Battelle has again earned high performance ratings from the Department of Energy. The annual DOE "report card" graded UT-Battelle's management performance with "A-" scores in all eight evaluation categories. The report covers UT-Battelle's performance from October 2008 through September 2009. Last year's scores contained seven "A-'s" and one "B+." The 2009 assessment was based on three key measures related to ORNL's scientific research programs and five criteria that rate efficiency of the lab's operations. In a letter to ORNL Director and UT-Battelle CEO Thom Mason, the DOE's Oak Ridge Operations Manager Gerald Boyd said, "You and your staff are to be congratulated for achieving a high level of performance in the management and operation of ORNL." Operational high points at the lab over the past year include: Delivery on time and budget of the Department of Energy's Leadership Class Facility for high-performance computing, featuring Jaguar, the world's most powerful computer capable of 1,700 trillion calculations per second...The Spallation Neutron Source, already the world's most powerful facility for pulsed neutron scattering science, in September became the first pulsed spallation neutron source to break the one-megawatt power barrier...Managing the U.S. role in the ITER project and working with the project's international members...Breaking ground in May on a $95 million Chemical and Materials Sciences facility, the Department of Energy's first Science Laboratories Infrastructure construction project supported by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act...Energy efficiency improvements expected to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent, water usage by 23 percent, and fossil fuel use by more than 80 percent. http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=15018 Prof. Xiao Guoqing, the director of IMP (Institute of Modern Physics), CAS, visited the United States with CAS Delegation. The CAS delegation visited Argonne National Lab, Oak Ridge National Lab, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, SLAC, Michigan State University (MSU), and Santa Cruz Astronomy Observatory at University of California. It is expected that the visit will strengthen the ties between IMP and the American national labs and universities, and promote the competitive power of scientific research and accelerator technology at IMP. http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2009/11/ornl_reactors_fuel_conversion.html Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor apparently will be one of the last, if not the last, research reactors to be converted to non-weapons-usable fuel. According to Ron Crone, director of the laboratory's research reactors division, the target date is now September 2016. The conversion to low-enriched fuel (below 20 percent U-235) is part of a major nonproliferation initiative that's supposed to reduce the materials of potential use in nuclear weapons. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125910876247663245.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond The Obama administration's push to solve the nation's energy problems, a massive federal program that rivals the Manhattan Project, is spurring a once-in-a-generation shift in U.S. science. The government's multibillion-dollar push into energy research is reinvigorating 17 giant U.S.-funded research facilities, from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory here to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. After many years of flat budgets, these labs are ramping up to develop new electricity sources, trying to build more-efficient cars and addressing climate change. In fiscal 2009, the Obama administration increased the funding by 18%, to $4.76 billion, to the Department of Energy's Office of Science, which oversees 10 national labs and funds research at another seven. The office will receive $1.6 billion in government stimulus spending, as well, much of which it will also channel to these laboratories. One of Oak Ridge's biggest projects now is the Spallation Neutron Source, a billion-dollar particle accelerator that bombards a mercury target with high-energy protons, producing neutron beams. These powerful beams are then used to understand and even alter materials at the atomic level. The accelerator was turned on in 2006. The machine will be an important tool in the quest to create materials that could be used to increase computer storage capacity, as well as light alloys for space probes and military aircraft that can withstand high temperatures. Similar materials are needed to make better batteries and solar cells, and to make cars more fuel efficient and less polluting. The Boeing 757 passenger jet is made from one such novel material: It is essentially plastic. "What changes now is there's going to be a big push on the energy problems that are materials-related," said Dr. [Thom] Mason, Oak Ridge's director. "It's going to really jumpstart the science." http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-11/haog-jns110509.php A unique large-scale research device from Jülich went into operation in the USA yesterday. At the strongest neutron source in the world, the spallation source SNS in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Forschungszentrum Jülich inaugurated a so-called neutron spin echo (NSE) spectrometer. The NSE spectrometer enables detailed observations to be made of the motion of proteins and polymers. It will thus help to develop improved plastics or to understand metabolic processes in cells. "Neutron scattering gives us unique insights into matter and is absolutely indispensable as a scientific method both for basic and also application-oriented research in materials science, medicine and biology," said Prof. Sebastian M. Schmidt, member of the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich. "With our branch office at the SNS we are making the world's strongest pulsed spallation source accessible to German and European scientists." Forschungszentrum Jülich is the only research institution outside North America that has sole responsibility for operating its own instrument at SNS. "This is a visible sign that Jülich's long-standing expertise in the construction and operation of neutron instruments is recognized throughout the world," Schmidt added. The experience gained in the construction, operation and utilization of the NSE spectrometer will also be incorporated into the design and implementation of the European Spallation Source (ESS), for which concrete planning work will begin in January. http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2009/11/ornl_and_germanys_julich_lab_m.html Oak Ridge National Laboratory today hosted a workshop with its international partner, Forschungszentrum Julich, to discuss neutron science and celebrate completion of a new research instrument (the Neutron Spin Echo Spectrometer) at the Spallation Neutron Source. ORNL said the Spin Echo was installed on Beam Line 15 at the SNS. Eventually, there'll be 25 research instruments of varying types and capabilities, allowing neutron-scattering experiments to do their things in analyzing material structures and properties. In a statement, ORNL said, "The Germany lab has a research portfolio that emphasizes energy, bioscience and high-performance computing, and considerable experience in the design and construction of neutron instrumentation. The unique working relationship with ORNL has resulted in a major contribution by Julich to the SNS instrument suite. Julich funded the construction of the instrument and also supplied their staff to run the instrument for the benefit of the ORNL user program."