January 2013
More than Science
The year 2012 was the 50th anniversary of Thomas Kuhn's treatise, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions." "Structure" (as it is referred to) is arguably one of the defining collections of prose that define the scientific process as we understand and apply it today. It starts with run-of-the-mill "everyday" measurements contrasted with theory all the way to scientific revolution. If we take the discovery of the Higgs boson as an example of the modern scientific method, then "Structure" describes what happened and will happen in general terms about the evolution of science.
However, this approach misses a big part of the modern science story. Scientific research is no longer driven solely by scientists' expectations and desires for a more complete understanding of natural phenomena: Each year the bar is raised---by the public that supports scientific research. The public expects more than just knowledge from science. They expect technology to be advanced. They expect a better outcome for disease treatment. They expect solutions to the "carbon" energy crisis and to unfriendly climate change. Science can no longer be done in the lonely backyard or the isolated lab. It has to be relevant on the short time scale. Revolutions in scientific practice, then, can be driven by more than just new paradigms in understanding.
So where does that leave TRIUMF and its broader community? The quick answer is: very well-positioned. TRIUMF is poised to not only support revolutions in science but also to deliver a combination of short and medium-term value.
TRIUMF is a multidisciplinary laboratory. We build off our significant strengths in accelerator-based particle and nuclear physics, (after all the Council of Canadian Academies said this was one of the top research areas in which Canada excels) but also compliment that with novel research on materials and medical isotopes. These programs have been in place almost since the beginning of TRIUMF.
The challenge in the coming year is not to simply match the highly successful year 2012, but to select one or two places where we as a lab, as a community, will "nail" a couple of projects that are relevant and capable of triggering revolutions
It is hard to talk about 2013 without recognizing the scientific momentum generated in 2012. The Higgs-like boson has been discovered after decades of searching. The world was enthralled with the discovery and its meaning. Will the discovery lead to a new era in particle physics, a revolution of sorts? Another major piece of the neutrino mixing puzzle has been measured. Our ability to trap and measure anti-hydrogen was demonstrated... all projects that TRIUMF and our fellow Canadian scientists played a key role in achieving.
"Isotopes for science and medicine" moved decisively forward with the world's most precise mass measurements of halo and neutron rich exotic nuclei. TRIUMF along with our sister nuclear physics labs around the world are actively studying exotic nuclei with the ultimate aim of a truly fundamental theory of nuclei. The launch of the francium trapping research program at TRIUMF has begun. Francium will be a laboratory for tests of fundamental physics laws. The first trapping of francium atoms and laser spectroscopy on these exotic atoms never before performed was accomplished this last year and much more is to come in 2013. Nuclear astrophysics measurements were performed that will impact understanding of neutron stars, novae, and supernovae. Most significant on the shorttime scale "relevant" category was the refinement of the technique of producing significant quantities of the most widely used medical isotope Tc-99m with a small accelerator. Our TRIUMF flagship project ARIEL, steamed ahead. Construction of conventional facilities and services will finish in mid-2013. The beginnings of the electron linear accelerator (e-linac) are appearing.
On the operations front, 2012 ended with a tremendous yeoman effort across a broad spectrum of groups. Cyclotron operations were superb once again this year. Beam delivery to ISAC was above our goals for the second year in a row. The delivery of high quality beam on schedule is the fuel that drives the science program at TRIUMF. One great example of our operational commitment was the effort to recover from a major power glitch just two days before the holiday shutdown period. It could have been justified we just start the shutdown early. But we didn't. Two days of beam is valuable to our international and national user community and they wanted it! The drive to bring back the site and deliver beam to the science experiments and the industry users waiting required an extraordinary effort in order to meet our promises. Once beam was delivered and the accelerators turned off for the shutdown, the week between Christmas and New Year's saw the e-linac 12 kV equipment successfully installed, connected and energized at 00:11 AM on Dec 28,2012 after 19 hours of continuous effort by a large team from the engineering and accelerator divisions, contractors, and consultants. This was followed by our 12 kV five-year maintenance that ended Dec 29. Congratulations to the TRIUMF accelerator operations team. You set the standard high for all of us.
Now, let's get onto this year, 2013. This is a big year for the e-linac. Without a doubt, the major portions of the e-linac will have to come together this year for us to stay on the tight and ambitious ARIEL schedule. Klystrons, power supplies, cryogenics, the injector cryomodule (ICM) and system commissioning all take shape this year in order to create a first electron beam test in late 2014. The ICM design and commissioning is a sub-project of ARIEL in partnership with the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) in Kolkata, India. VECC is also building a new green-field rare-isotope beam facility in Rajarhat (near the Kolkata airport) that will utilize the superconducting technology that is being co-developed with TRIUMF. The multi-year project builds on our partnership with PAVAC Industries in Richmond and is on track for a full power test by late summer 2013. As we move into the next five-year plan and the commencement of ARIEL, an obvious question arises: Will the study of neutron-rich isotopes lead to a scientific revolution in nuclear physics?
Every five years, in concert with the TRIUMF Five-Year Plan, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) conducts an International Peer Review (IPR) of TRIUMF. This review will take place in late 2013. This is a major event for TRIUMF and our national and international research community. Science is the main focus of the review. TRIUMF had a banner science year in 2012 and we will be trying to repeat equivalent success in 2013. A 5-year research plan, 2015-2020, built together with our university research community will be a focus of the review. Simultaneously, NRC will be conducting an audit and evaluation of the TRIUMF program. This is a first such exercise and has been mandated by new Treasury Board rules. The outcome of the audit and evaluation and the International Peer Review will be the main (but not only) information that goes into the funding decisions for TRIUMF for the period 2015-2020. The status and organization for this process can be found on the TRIUMF web page at http://www.triumf.ca/five-year-plan-2015-20 .
TRIUMF has always been more than science. As you may have been following now for the last three years, TRIUMF, BC Cancer Agency, McMaster University's Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization, and Lawson Health Research Institute (our Canadian partners) are moving forward with the medical-isotope Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) development program. Together we are developing the technology that will allow medical centres across Canada and around the world with small medical cyclotrons to produce significant quantities of Tc-99m for use in urban centres. For example, one cyclotron should be sufficient to supply Vancouver. In the next year, tests with patients will begin, and over the next 3 years, we anticipate Health Canada will evaluate and make decisions on whether the product meets their requirements so that it can be used in hospitals across the country.
With the increased emphasis by the Government of Canada on generating economic activity, TRIUMF has several initiatives underway to ramp up our isotope technology transfer activities. Over the next year, TRIUMF will be moving Advanced Applied Physics Solutions (AAPS), a Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research, a non-profit company initially created by the Network Centres of Excellence (NCE) to a more permanent and sustainable structure. After a recent review by NCE, TRIUMF has been told that AAPS may keep it present funds (the grant expires March 2013) beyond the final date of the program in order to become sustainable. This will involve launching of several new projects with the private sector.
In closing, TRIUMF is at its heart a particle and nuclear physics basic research laboratory. This is what we do for a living. However, the importance of helping propel the high technology economy forward in Canada and having social impact with educational programs, medical isotopes, and nuclear medicine in general, is being fully recognized by our community as a part of our collective mission. It looks like 2013 will be an exciting and important year: Thomas Kuhn would approve of the paradigm shift to do "more than just science" in our mission.
Sincerely,
Nigel S. Lockyer
Director of TRIUMF