The Department of Energy (DOE) has designated its Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as the “preferred alternative site” for a new neutron source, an accelerator facility that will help ORNL maintain its role in neutron science.
The DOE budget for fiscal year 1996 includes $8 million for a conceptual design report on the accelerator facility. That report will determine the cost and construction schedule of the facility.
Dr. Alvin W. Trivelpiece, director of ORNL, described the new neutron source as “a major facility on the order of approximately one mile long. The accelerator will be operated at an energy level of one megawatt.
“I am pleased that the Department has decided to proceed with this project,” Dr. Trivelpiece added. “I hope that the conceptual design efforts will lead to a decision to proceed with construction and operation of this facility, which is critical to advancement of the field of neutron science.”
Neutron science was identified as one of ORNL’s four “core competencies” as part of a study done for the Galvin Task Force, which last week delivered its report on “Alternative Futures for the Department of Energy National Laboratories” to Secretary of Energy Hazel O’Leary. A core competency is distinguished by six criteria: investment of at least $100 million a year, national or world prominence, a high degree of integration, relevance to Laboratory missions, difficulty to reproduce, and demonstrated success.
ORNL, one of the Department of Energy’s multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, which also manages the Oak Ridge K-25 Site and the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant.