Breakthrough achieved towards a world leading new accelerator demonstration in the UK
In a major step forwards the UK project known as CONFORM - the COnstruction of a Non-scaling FFAG for Oncology, Research and Medicine – is able to announce the successful first stage of commissioning of a new type of particle accelerator with far reaching potential applications likely to be available from a cheaper, more compact alternative to existing conventional accelerators. The CONFORM team has just completed construction of the world’s first ns-FFAG, called EMMA, at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire. EMMA, a beautifully small and elegant 20 MeV prototype designed to demonstrate the new technology, has already reached a major milestone by successfully steering its first electron beams through a major fraction of the accelerator circumference. The next step in commissioning is now underway that will demonstrate the feasibility of the unique acceleration and beam dynamics characteristics of the ns-FFAG and pave the way to the construction of more powerful proton and heavy ion accelerators utilising this landmark technology.
The electron beam for injection into EMMA is generated by another accelerator system, ALICE, that is operated by STFC at Daresbury as an important R&D test bed for forefront accelerator technologies, including studies for next generation light sources. ALICE is based upon an unusual mode of operation that minimises the power needed to accelerate the beams, which at maximum level would otherwise require a small power station to operate. ALICE is the first accelerator in Europe to operate in this way.
The exploitation of particle accelerators has expanded well beyond the confines of fundamental physics to many areas of science, technology, manufacturing and medicine. However, the potential for even greater deployment is now limited by their size, complexity and cost. In order to circumvent these limitations BASROC, a remarkably diverse collaboration of accelerator scientists and engineers, radiation oncologists and particle and condensed matter physicists from several UK Universities, Laboratories and Institutes, was formed as a cross-disciplinary grouping and was awarded £7.5M from RCUK’s Basic Technology programme for a project to develop a unique, innovative type of accelerator, the non-scaling fixed field alternating gradient accelerator, or ns-FFAG.
A particular feature of CONFORM is that the exploration of novel uses for ns-FFAGs is firmly embedded in the project. Consequently other significant breakthroughs have already been made in key areas as diverse as the design of next generation high energy proton and heavy ion accelerators (PAMELA) for accurate and effective particle beam cancer therapy, through to proposals for the world’s first dedicated muon science facility for the study of the physics and chemistry of advanced materials.
One CONFORM initiative that has attracted particular attention has been that associated with the thorium-fuelled energy amplifier (ThorEA). CONFORM has contributed to a far reaching proposal for an alternative nuclear future based upon ns-FFAG accelerator driven subcritical reactors (ADSRs), in which fission is enabled by high energy proton beams spallating neutrons from a target embedded in the thorium fuelled reactor. Not only is the ADSR safer than conventional nuclear reactors but thorium is a sustainable, high energy density nuclear fuel, which is proliferation resistant and produces far less radiotoxic waste than either uranium or plutonium. ADSR systems can even be used to burn or transmute legacy nuclear waste.
Accelerator scientists in the EMMA control room EMMA the world’s 1st ns-FFAG accelerator
31 August 2010