29.05.2009

Risø DTU may utilize the world's largest neutron microscope for the benefit of Danish research and industry

The location of the future neutron source European Spallation Source (ESS) has possibly been settled. Seven European member states on the evening of May 28th, 2009 gave support for the Lund site.

Properties of neutrons make them a unique tool for materials research. Among disciplines that benefit significantly from these properties are:

  • Development of superconductors, for use in cables and generators, MRI-scanners, radiation therapy and fusion reactors of the future
  • Materials for energy storage, e.g. metal hydrides
  • Thermoelectrics for cooling purposes and effective use of excess heat
  • Materials for magnetic cooling
  • Materials for fuel cells
  • “Soft matter materials”, i.e. for windmill wings

Due to a close collaboration between researchers and instrument developers that assured utilization for materials research studies, the research reactor DR3 at Risø was a world known neutron scattering facility until its closure in year 2000. In this way DR3 put Denmark on the world map of materials research in its dawning era.

When DR3 was closed, the two best instruments from DR3 were transferred to the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, where they provide a framework for a Danish-Swiss neutron collaboration programme.

Risø DTU is continuously leading the development of the McStas software package, started in the production phase of DR3, and McStas is today the world leading simulation tool for neutron scattering.

With an ESS in Lund, researchers will have access to neutron intensities up to 1000 times that of DR3, opening up completely new opportunities, not least in Risø’s materials research programmes.

ESS will become a Scandinavian joint-venture, and Denmark will develop software and IT infrastructure for a proposed ESS Data Management Centre, to be placed in the Copenhagen area. Compared to existing facilities, the increased data volume puts new demands on data treatment, - also an area where Risø and other DTU institutes have special competences.

For further information contact professor Niels Hessel Andersen, Telephone +45 4677 4711, Cell phone +45 2240 3711

About ESS Scandinavia


Page updated  by   03.06.2009


Niels Hessel Andersen
Professor
Materials Research (AFM)
Dir tel+45 46774711