Staffers maintain accelerator performance to deliver neutrons for global scientific studies
At Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a five-person team monitors the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) around the clock to ensure reliable, safe operations.
“Most people don't know that Oak Ridge also has this very large, very powerful accelerator facility,” Geoff Milanovich, group leader for accelerator operations, told WBIR’s Sam Perez. “There are not really any others like ours. Europe is building one called the European Spallation Source. But yeah, we are unique.”
The SNS’s accelerator-based system delivers short (microsecond) proton pulses to a steel target filled with liquid mercury where the protons separate neutrons from the mercury atoms − a process called “spallation.” Those neutrons are then directed toward state-of-the-art instruments that provide a variety of capabilities for researchers conducting experiments across a broad range of disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science.
Scientists from around the world come to perform research at the SNS after submitting proposals that are reviewed by independent scientists who have neutron scattering expertise, to ensure the most promising experiments are chosen.
That high demand means the SNS runs around the clock with as little downtime as possible. Operations staff carefully plan annual outages for maintenance and instrument upgrades to ensure as much beam time for science as possible.
“They're always surprised that this is a place that is constantly going, going, going,” said Control Room Accelerator Specialist Victoria Cordina-Strike, who joined the lab three years ago. “There's always someone here … holidays, days and nights.”
The control room team monitors system performance through thousands of data points, including information collected from the klystron gallery, which supplies power to the entire accelerator.
“What we do here is take bunches of protons and slam them into liquid mercury after we accelerate them to 90 percent of the speed of light,” said Milanovich, who has been with ORNL for 16 years. “What that does is produce neutrons, which researchers then use to examine materials for everything from energy storage to quantum computing and secure communications, as well as for materials you use every day. Because of neutrons properties, researchers use them to reveal fundamental scientific concepts that change how we understand the world around us. The timeline from basic science to consumer products is lengthy, but your future lightweight, more powerful battery comes out of what happens here.”
Because of its complexity and world-leading power, the accelerator requires constant monitoring.
A lot of people look at science- or technology-type careers, and they may think they have to go the academic path, but we're a great example of something you can do where maybe you don't go on and get your PhD, but you can come work at this huge facility, work on this machine and have a lot of fun doing it.
“If there's any alarm happening, then we have to immediately assess what's going on and work together to try to minimize downtime,” Cordina-Strike said.
Cordina-Strike said her favorite part of the job is problem-solving.
“If you're more interested in a different part of the accelerator or if you're interested in just subsystems, such as cooling, stuff like that, you can very easily get into that and work with the people in that area and ask them questions,” she said. “So it feels like a very open environment.”
Milanovich said the team members, who vary in experience and training, are dedicated to keeping SNS up and running for research.
“A lot of people look at science- or technology-type careers, and they may think they have to go the academic path, but we're a great example of something you can do where maybe you don't go on and get your PhD, but you can come work at this huge facility, work on this machine and have a lot of fun doing it,” he said.
For Cordina-Strike, a native of Seymour, Tennessee, working at the lab is the culmination of a lifelong goal.
“It makes me feel like I'm a part of something bigger than myself, because there's great research going on and we're working in the control room to keep the beam on,” she said. “But it's a part of something even bigger than that. I’m very, very grateful to have a job here and to be able to contribute to something so impactful for society.”
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit energy.gov/science.