Big thinking on nuclear physics

Opportunities for international collaboration in nuclear physics are to be explored by a new working group which was approved by the Megascience Forum at a meeting in June. The new working group wants to select the best opportunities for cooperation. It will analyse plans for new nuclear physics facilities in different parts of the world, including the proposed Electron Laboratory for Europe (Physics World October 1995 p5). The group will also be looking at plans for radioactive beam facilities, such as those at ie Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories in the US, and the Japanese Hadron Project JHP). The JHP is a multipurpose facility that would also be used by high­energy physicists and neutron scatterers (Physics World May p 13) .

Nuclear physics is the fourth topic to be chosen for a Megascience Forum working group since the forum's remit was strengthened early this year. Another working group on neutron sources ­ has divided its work into three sub­groups. The first will examine how to upgrade existing neutron sources, while ie other two will look at international co­operation on novel neutron instrumentation and the development of new neutron sources. The latter will also explore opportunities for collaboration on outstanding technical questions to do with building the next generation of neutron sources, such as ie Europe Spallation Source and the US Pulsed Spallation Neutron Source (Physics World June p8).

Two other topics are to be discussed at workshops early next year. Italy and Greece are to organize a workshop on a proposal for a deep­sea neutrino laboratory, while Japan is arranging a meeting on population growth, food production and energy generation. The workshops will look at how much international interest there is in co­ordinating research on the topics and whether a Megascience Forum working group should be set up.

Energy boost for Russia

Russia is planning major developments in nuclear energy. A new public company is being set up to manage the nuclear fuel industry, and a new safety programme for the remaining graphite­moderated RBMK reactors, similar to those at Chernobyl, is being implemented. Meanwhile, the nuclear equipment manufacturers, Rosenergoatom, has announced the imminent completion of the first of 20 floating nuclear power stations. These are scheduled to come on­stream in the year 2000, using two 35 MW light water reactors. They are intended for the far north and east of Russia, which can only be reached by sea or river.

But not all is well with the Russian nuclear industry. Last month, Russian radio reported that criminal proceedings had been brought against the Sosnovy Bor nuclear power station near St Petersburg regarding its failure to pay the staffs wages. Delays of several months are common in the Russian state sector, and the power station is being investigated by the prosecutor­general, the state tax service, and the department for combating economic crime.

First results from CERN upgrade

CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics, has produced its first pairs of W+ and W­ particles. These fundamental particles, along with the Z°, carry the weak nuclear force that is responsible for b­decay. The particles were produced at the upgraded large electron­positron collider (LEP).

According to Wilbur Venus, a senior physicist on the DEPHI collaboration at CERN, the mass of the particles is likely to be about 81 GeV. He adds, however, that it is too soon to be any more certain, as only about 20 pairs have so far been detected. The precise value will depend on the outcome of a calibration that was being carried out as Physics World went to press. Researchers also hope to have a better idea once the current run, which lasts until the middle of August, is over.

The upgrade puts LEP in the energy range where supersymmetry theory ­ an extension of the Standard Model of particle physics ­ can be tested. Further upgrades will eventually reach collision energies of almost 200 GeV.

Safety worry at Texas plutonium plant

A series of incidents at a plant in Texas that salvages plutonium from ageing nuclear weapons has raised concern about safety. The plant's owners, the US Department of Energy (DoE), reacted by bringing forward an inspection that was originally planned for late 1997. The Pantex plant in Amarillo employs about 300 technicians to strip plutonium from ageing conventional explosives that might detonate by accident. Security is high and safety procedures are tough. But recent inspections by the DoE have shown serious lapses, including improper storage of radioactive materials, wrongly labelled containers of explosives, and failure to check barrels of old explosives regularly.

Managers at the plant have conceded that workers failed to follow a rule that weapons must never be left under the control of a single individual. They have also admitted other lapses in safety regulations. However, they argue that nuclear weapons are fundamentally designed for safety in handling, and that there was no chance of any explosion from ie accidents. DoE officials, meanwhile, countered that low­level, low­hazard accidents can easily escalate into more serious incidents which could threaten real damage.

Another peek in the future

The UK is to undertake another Technology Foresight exercise in l999, it was announced last month by Ian Taylor, the minister for science and technology. The Foresight process was launched by the UK government in its 1993 white paper "Realizing Our Potential". It took off the following year when 15 panels of experts from industry, academia and government worked out which marked and technology opportunities were most likely to promote wealth creation and enhance quality of life in the UK over the next 10-15 years. Since then, the UK government has launched a number of opportunities to promote research in the areas recommended by the panels, including the Foresight Challenge competition. The research councils - and now the funding councils - have also started to steer public fundsinto these areas. Taylor hopes that the new exercise will "continue to promote partnerships between business, government and the science base".

SCUBA

The first results from SCUBA - the sub-millimetre common-user bolometer array - are due early this month. Astronomers will use the instrument to image primordial galaxies, the most distant objects in the galaxy, and the cosmic background radiation, which contains tiny fluctuations corresponding to the formation of large-scale structures in the early Universe. SCUBA is mounted on the James Clerk Maxwell telescope in Hawaii.

Previous

Top

Main

Next