January 2011
There is a new level of buzz and activity at TRIUMF. You can sense the anticipation in the air. Everywhere, things are moving and stuff is appearing around the site—boxes, shipping crates, metal pipes, cables magnets, vacuum pumps. No longer are we the “tidy” laboratory, at least not for the next few years. People are busy, very busy. Busy with science. Busy with projects.
The Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia have funded several projects that will expand the laboratory in a number of new directions. The biggest and most significant project is ARIEL (Advanced Rare IsotopE Laboratory). ARIEL is focused on building a new powerful electron accelerator using superconducting radio frequency technology (SRF). Significant associated infrastructure across the site is needed: a new two-storey “Stores” building, a cryogenic shed to house the expansions needed for liquid helium usage, and the ARIEL facility itself. The primary purpose of ARIEL is to produce “isotopes for science and medicine.”
When Phase I is complete in 2014, TRIUMF will be a unique facility in the world: capable of producing rare isotopes with beams of both electron and protons and operating a post-accelerator complex with unparalleled capabilities. Together these will drive a suite of state-of-the-art experiments to investigate the origins of the chemical elements, understand how stars explode, and probe fundamental properties of a range of rare nuclei.
A new expanded physics program will be in place for studying fundamental symmetries of nature when ARIEL Phase II is complete (beyond 2015). The search for time-reversal symmetry violation will be a major portion of the program. Experiments that measure the electric-dipole moment of the atom and electron are planned. This will be complemented by a new program to measure the electric dipole moment of the neutron, scheduled to begin in 2015.
Safety and Quality Assurance continue to be high priorities at TRIUMF. The safety of our workers and environment is the highest priority of TRIUMF and together with new project-management techniques, we are able to maximize the potential for scientific discoveries with the resources available and at the same time build for the future.
Over the next few years, I see the following:
Science:
- Up to the time when ARIEL is fully commissioned, TRIUMF’s rare-isotope science program will focus on the new neutron-rich isotopes being produced by the low-power actinide-target program along with detailed studies of halo nuclei using high power targets.
- TRIUMF particle physicists are being inundated with excellent data. This is good. Data means new physics results. CERN’s Large Hadron Collider experiment ATLAS, an experimental program centered at TRIUMF with the large pan-Canadian involvement, is off and running. First results are already significant. Much more is on the way. The T2K experiment in Japan, of which TRIUMF and Canada are major participants, has also begun to accumulate data from their unique off-axis experiment.
- The Nuclear Medicine program has several new projects, the most important being demonstrating the production of Tc-99m using cyclotrons with partners at the BC Cancer Agency, Lawson Health Research Institute in London, and the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization(CPDC) at McMaster University.The Centre for Molecular and Materials Science (CMMS) program is commissioning two new beam lines for muon spin resonance and developing a new spectrometer. A helium recovery system is being designed. This research focuses on the study of magnetic phenomena such as high temperature superconducting materials.In accelerators, TRIUMF’s team will be busy designing, building, and installing ARIEL of course. In addition, however, we’ll be upgrading cyclotron systems, and expanding our basic research and student-training programs in accelerator physics.
Commercialization:
- TRIUMF’s technology-development partner Advanced Applied Physics Solutions (AAPS) is embarking on several new programs with industrial partners. The new CEO, Jack Scott, is developing a network with TRIUMF member universities to further enhance commercialization opportunities.
- TRIUMF scientists have begun new nuclear-medicine research collaborations with Nordion and General Electric Healthcare, and TRIUMF has recently signed a new agreement with Advanced Cyclotron Systems (ACSI) to work together on advancing cyclotrons for the production of medical isotopes.
Universities and International Partnerships:
- The University of Northern British Columbia has joined TRIUMF as an associate member. Two additional university requests for membership are being discussed at the Board of Management level.
- International agreements and partnerships in science are essential for TRIUMF to maintain its status as a world leader. Working with the best laboratories and researchers around the world is a priority for TRIUMF and Canada. The most recent and largest is the Ultra Cold Neutron Project (UCN) led by the University of Winnipeg, Osaka University Laboratory RCNP, and KEK in Japan. Japan is investing significantly in this project, which is due to receive first beam in 2015.
In summary, these are exciting times. TRIUMF has a great opportunity to shine on the scientific world stage as we continue to ratchet up our commitment to Accelerating Science for Canada.
Sincerely,
Nigel S. Lockyer
Director of TRIUMF