UK Research & Innovation: STFC’s ISIS Neutron and Muon Source celebrates ten years since the first neutrons were detected in its Second Target Station (TS2)

Nervously awaiting the first neutrons on 3 August 2008
(Credit: STFC)

SWINDON, 13-Aug-2018 — /EuropaWire/ — Today (3 August 2018), STFC’s  ISIS Neutron and Muon Source celebrates ten years since the first neutrons were detected in its Second Target Station (TS2). That’s ten years of research in everything from cleft palate and antibiotics to solar energy and new battery technologies.

An online TS2 blog from that exact day 10 years ago had this entry for the 3 August 2008;

“After several hours of work this morning scanning the shutter, the beamline suddenly came into alignment at 13:08 and neutrons were measured. So many neutrons flooded down the beamline that the gas tube detector went off the scale. There are a lot of very relieved and jubilant people in the Inter control room!”

Since then the facility has grown into one that has 32 instruments with an international community of over 2000 scientists visiting every year.

With a budget of £145 million, Target Station 2 was built with the purpose of increasing the capabilities and capacity of the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.

The decision to expand was announced back in April 2003 by the then Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury. A further £21 million investment was announced by the then UK Universities and Science Minister David Willetts in 2011.

If you’d like to discover more about the incredible research that has taken place at ISIS’s Second Target Station since it opened, look no further than our latest feature article.

SOURCE: Science and Technology Facilities Council

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