3.27.24
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a unique international particle collider being constructed to explore the building blocks of matter at the smallest scale, will get a significant boost from colleagues in the United Kingdom (UK).
The UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Infrastructure Fund, has announced its commitment to support UK personnel involved in research, development, and major equipment contributions towards the successful completion and subsequent research program of the EIC.
The contribution from DSIT is one of the first from DOE’s international partners and will help to develop the new detector and infrastructure for the EIC. Spanning a period of seven years, the financial support from the DSIT will support a consortium of UK laboratories and universities to partner with the EIC collaboration. The EIC will be looking for answers to some of the most important questions in nuclear physics, like how quarks and gluons interact via the strong force to create the most fundamental building block in nature—the proton.
“The EIC is a great example of international collaboration. This unique collider will delve deeper than ever into the origin of the building blocks of nature – and breakthroughs from it will impact the world’s understanding of the universe,” said Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Director of the DOE’s Office of Science. “It continues a long-standing tradition of ground-breaking scientific exploration with one of DOE’s oldest and strongest partners.”
UKRI’s support for EIC — £58.8 ($74.2) million to develop new detector and accelerator infrastructure — came as part of the agency’s announcement of plans for £473 ($598) million investment in infrastructure to equip UK science and innovation for the future.
“Through these investments, UKRI continues to equip the research and innovation community with the tools it needs to explore and develop the science and technologies needed for the coming decades,” said Mark Thomson, Executive Chair for the Science and Technologies Facilities Council and Infrastructure Champion for UKRI. “These projects will strengthen the UK community’s quest for discovery and innovative applications. The long-term nature of this investment also helps to maintain the UK’s key position on the world stage of research and innovation for the future. On a personal level, I am particularly pleased that today’s announcement will strengthen the UK’s collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, in the development and delivery of a major new scientific facility.”
The EIC is being constructed at the DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in partnership with the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Construction of the EIC will also include teams from the Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, as well as multiple U.S. universities and international partners. The EIC is the only facility being constructed in the coming decades capable of colliding a beam of high-energy polarized electrons with a counter-circulating beam of high-energy polarized protons or heavier ions. At the collision point of these two beams, a complex detector system will capture individual collision events, providing crucial information on the forces and interactions inside protons and atomic nuclei, and producing what many have referred to as “a CT scan of the proton.” Besides the benefits to fundamental scientific knowledge, the EIC will significantly advance research in other fields including accelerator physics, medical physics, artificial intelligence, computing, electronics, and radiation safety. Numerous jobs requiring a highly skilled workforce will be needed to construct and operate the EIC.
The EIC project is currently supported by an international collaboration of over 1,400 researchers representing nearly 300 institutions in 40 countries. Scientists in the UK are major contributors to the EIC collaboration and have taken on a prominent role in the research and development of specific critical components of the EIC.
See the full article here.
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The United States Department of Energy is a cabinet-level department of the United States Government concerned with the United States’ policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material. Its responsibilities include the nation’s nuclear weapons program; nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy; energy conservation; energy-related research; radioactive waste disposal; and domestic energy production. It also directs research in genomics. the Human Genome Project originated in a DOE initiative. DOE sponsors more research in the physical sciences than any other U.S. federal agency, the majority of which is conducted through its system of National Laboratories. The agency is led by the United States Secretary of Energy, and its headquarters are located in Southwest Washington, D.C., on Independence Avenue in the James V. Forrestal Building, named for James Forrestal, as well as in Germantown, Maryland.
Formation and consolidation
In 1942, during World War II, the United States started the Manhattan Project, a project to develop the atomic bomb, under the eye of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After the war in 1946, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was created to control the future of the project. The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 also created the framework for the first National Laboratories. Among other nuclear projects, the AEC produced fabricated uranium fuel cores at locations such as Fernald Feed Materials Production Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1974, the AEC gave way to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which was tasked with regulating the nuclear power industry and the Energy Research and Development Administration, which was tasked to manage the nuclear weapon; naval reactor; and energy development programs.
The 1973 oil crisis called attention to the need to consolidate energy policy. On August 4, 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed into law The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 (Pub.L. 95–91, 91 Stat. 565, enacted August 4, 1977), which created the Department of Energy. The new agency, which began operations on October 1, 1977, consolidated the Federal Energy Administration; the Energy Research and Development Administration; the Federal Power Commission; and programs of various other agencies. Former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, who served under Presidents Nixon and Ford during the Vietnam War, was appointed as the first secretary.
President Carter created the Department of Energy with the goal of promoting energy conservation and developing alternative sources of energy. He wanted to not be dependent on foreign oil and reduce the use of fossil fuels. With international energy’s future uncertain for America, Carter acted quickly to have the department come into action the first year of his presidency. This was an extremely important issue of the time as the oil crisis was causing shortages and inflation. With the Three-Mile Island disaster, Carter was able to intervene with the help of the department. Carter made switches within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in this case to fix the management and procedures. This was possible as nuclear energy and weapons are responsibility of the Department of Energy.
Recent
On March 28, 2017, a supervisor in the Office of International Climate and Clean Energy asked staff to avoid the phrases “climate change,” “emissions reduction,” or “Paris Agreement” in written memos, briefings or other written communication. A DOE spokesperson denied that phrases had been banned.
In a May 2019 press release concerning natural gas exports from a Texas facility, the DOE used the term ‘freedom gas’ to refer to natural gas. The phrase originated from a speech made by Secretary Rick Perry in Brussels earlier that month. Washington Governor Jay Inslee decried the term “a joke”.
Facilities
The Department of Energy operates a system of national laboratories and technical facilities for research and development, as follows:
Ames Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
National Energy Technology Laboratory
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Sandia National Laboratories
Savannah River National Laboratory
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Other major DOE facilities include
Albany Research Center
Bannister Federal Complex
Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory – focuses on the design and development of nuclear power for the U.S. Navy
Kansas City Plant
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory – operates for Naval Reactors Program Research under the DOE (not a National Laboratory)
National Petroleum Technology Office
Nevada Test Site
New Brunswick Laboratory
Office of River Protection
Pantex
Radiological and Environmental Laboratory
Y-12 National Security Complex
Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository
Other:
Pahute Mesa Airstrip – Nye County, Nevada, in supporting Nevada National Security Site
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