iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
IThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences
director Faïçal Azaiez (as of January 26, 2020)
Seat Cape Town , South Africa

The iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences, iThemba LABS for short ( ithemba = isiZulu for "hope"); formerly the National Accelerator Center , is an interdisciplinary research facility administered and funded by the South African National Research Foundation (NRF). They are located in Faure ( Somerset West ) in the Western Cape Province and in Braamfontein ( Johannesburg ) in the Gauteng Province .

Aim and purpose

iThemba LABS operate an ion accelerator which , in addition to basic physical research, also produces radionuclides for nuclear medicine purposes and has been carrying out proton therapy since 1993 . IThemba LABS is a world leader in the production of radioisotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors .

Particle accelerator facility

The ion accelerator system consists of three cyclotrons , two of which pre-accelerate ions. The two cyclotrons differ in the preceding ion source , so that mainly protons are accelerated in one and heavier elements up to argon in the other . In a downstream separated sector cyclotron, the ions can be accelerated and receive an impulse of up to 220 MeV / c.

In 2019, the South African Isotope Facility (SAIF), a separate facility for radionuclide production, was built in order to be able to carry out more basic physical research at the main accelerator.

history

Since the mid-1950s, interest in nuclear research has grown in South Africa . Essential initiatives for the establishment of a South African nuclear research institute developed at the universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town , the first milestone of which was the Cape Nucleonic Society .

On March 29, 1961, the Southern Universities Nuclear Institute (SUNI) was founded. Its goals, according to its founding memorandum, lay in the establishment and takeover of facilities for research, development and education in all areas of nuclear research, nuclear engineering and related scientific areas, including applied nuclear technologies, radiobiology and radiochemistry , as well as the training of technical staff, research staff and students .

The first research facility was built in Faure (now Somerset West), a small town between Cape Town and Stellenbosch . A Van de Graaff accelerator (6 MeV ) acquired from the High Voltage Engineering Corporation in Boston (USA) was part of the early equipment and went into operation in May 1964. The SUNI was officially opened in November 1965. Many of the country's nuclear physicists and chemists received their training at this facility. Further technical developments in this area led to the establishment of the National Accelerator Center (NAC) at this location in 1977 . SUNI was incorporated into the National Accelerator Center in 1988 and became better known as the Van de Graaff Group . A comprehensive restructuring of this research facility has taken place since 1999, resulting in a further focus on materials research. With an official government declaration ( Government Gazette No. 22880, Notice No. 1241 of November 30, 2001) it was renamed iThemba LABS .

A contractually signed collaboration was agreed with the French Institute national des sciences et techniques nucléaires (INSTN) in 2017, the aim of which is to found the South African Institute for Nuclear Technology and Sciences (SAINTS).

In the iThemba Labs in Braamfontein (Gauteng), a mass spectrometer ( Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy ) for research tasks in biomedicine, diagnostics, agriculture and raw materials management, materials research and solid-state chemistry was put into operation.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ IThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences: Home . on www.tlabs.ac.za (English)
  2. ^ IThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences: Visit Us - Map to iThemba LABS . on www.tlabs.ac.za (English)
  3. ^ Tamar Kahn: Extra allocation from Treasury a boost for iThemba LABS. Posted October 29, 2018 in BusinessDay , online at www.businesslive.co.za (English)
  4. ^ The launch of the South African Isotope Facility (SAIF) and Acquisition of 70MeV Cyclotron in South Africa. In: iThemba Laboratory. October 24, 2019, accessed February 15, 2020 .
  5. ^ IThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences: Materials Research - Historical Background . on www.tlabs.ac.za (English)
  6. ^ AH Botha: The status of the South African National Accelerator Center . In: G. Gendreau (ed.): 9th International conference on cyclotrons and their applications; Caen (France); Sep 7-10, 1981. Les Editions de la Physique; Les Ulis (France), Caen 1982, pp. 33–42 ( bibliographic evidence )
  7. ↑ NRF: iThemba LABS and INSTN Establish SA Institute for Nuclear Technology and Sciences . Posted December 5, 2017 on www.nrf.ac.za (English)
  8. ↑ PURCO npc: iThemba Labs launches accelerator mass spectrometry facility . Posted July 8, 2014 on www.purcosa.co.za (English)
  9. ^ Government of South Africa: Minister Naledi Pandor to deliver keynote address at iThemba Labs Gauteng Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy Facility Launch and workshop . Announcement from July 6, 2014 on www.gov.za (English)