Jul 19 2007
The Department of Energy (DOE) has granted "Critical Decision 1" (CD-1) status to the National Synchrotron Light Source-II (NSLS-II). This decision, which assures the facility's location at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory, is a major step forward in the long process to make this state-of-the-art research complex a reality. The world leading capabilities of NSLS-II will enable exploration of the scientific challenges faced in developing new materials with advanced properties. The resulting scientific advances will support technological and economic development in multiple sectors of the economy, from next-generation energy technologies to new drugs for fighting disease.
"Brookhaven National Laboratory has a distinguished history of constructing and operating advanced scientific user facilities that annually serve thousands of users and produce transformational science results. NSLS-II continues that visionary tradition," said Patricia Dehmer, Director of DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences.
"This is wonderful news for New York State, for the U.S., and for researchers from around the world," said Brookhaven Lab Director Sam Aronson. "NSLS-II will be a stunning user facility, incorporating the most advanced technology to produce x-ray light 10,000 times brighter than the existing NSLS. It will also be a natural complement to our Center for Functional Nanomaterials, and will play a key role in advancing our nanoscience, energy, biology, and materials research."
NSLS-II will be a state-of-the-art medium energy storage ring designed to deliver world-leading brightness and flux. It will provide advanced tools for discovery-class science in condensed matter and materials physics, chemistry, and biology - science that ultimately will enhance national and energy security and help drive abundant, safe, and clean energy technologies. For example, major advances in energy technologies - such as the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier; the widespread, economical uses of solar energy; or the development of the next generation of nuclear power systems - will require scientific breakthroughs in developing new materials with advanced properties.
The combination of capabilities at NSLS-II will have broad impact on a wide range of disciplines and scientific initiatives in the coming decades, including new studies of small crystals in structural biology, development of nanometer-resolution probes for nanoscience, coherent imaging of the structure and dynamics of disordered materials, greatly increased applicability of inelastic x-ray scattering, and properties of materials under extreme conditions. Such a high-brightness light source will foster research in areas such as structural genomics and drug design. In the area of biological and medical imaging, NSLS-II will enable the extension of studies of early disease detection. NSLS-II will be the newest member of a suite of advanced light sources and neutron facilities operated by DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences that are used by more than 9,000 researchers annually from all disciplines.
NSLS-II's leading-edge ability to analyze materials will help guide the development of new materials at the Brookhaven Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) that are expected to lead to transformational breakthroughs in the effective use of renewable energy through improved energy conversion, transmission, and storage. The CFN is one of five nanoscale science research centers (NSRCs) that the Office of Basic Energy Sciences is building and operating at national laboratories around the country. These centers provide scientific expertise and advanced instrumentation for creating new nanostructured materials. By locating the NSRCs next to DOE's light source and neutron facilities, the power of the world's finest experts and facilities for fabricating and characterizing advanced materials are brought together to accelerate the pace of discovery.
The Department of Energy Order governing the construction process can be accessed at http://www.directives.doe.gov/pdfs/doe/doetext/neword/413/o4133a.pdf.