Future Science at JLab
Take a brief tour of the future science at Jefferson Lab with the 12 GeV Upgrade.
12 GeV Updates
December 16, 2009
Rain has slowed progress at the Hall D construction site. A little over half of the mud slab has been placed, and the contractor has started forming the floor slab over this portion of the mud slab. The remaining portion of the mud slab should be placed by the end of this week. During the holiday shutdown, there will be an electrical outage at the northeast end of the accelerator site to facilitate two electrical connections for Hall D. One connection is the new 15 kilovolt switch at the existing unit substation north of the Free-Electron Laser Trailers to provide permanent power to the Hall D Complex, and the other is a temporary connection at Building 49 for construction operations power.
December 9, 2009
Five superconducting spectrometer magnets and several large items of supporting infrastructure are needed for the new Super High Momentum Spectrometer (SHMS) in Hall C, with all of these items having multi-year fabrication times. The Q1 quadrupole magnet construction is in progress at the vendor. The remaining four magnets are in various stages of the procurement process. The vendor selection for the cryogenic control-reservoirs is nearly complete, and bids from several qualified vendors for the five large magnet power supplies are under evaluation. A detailed layout for shielding materials for the detectors' Shield House is being developed and also is being incorporated into engineering drawings. Procuring the detailed drawing package is the last major step in advance of manufacture of the Shield House and Support Structure for the SHMS.
December 2, 2009
The first articles of the two new beam transport quadrupole magnets have been received from the vendor, and testing has been started. A proposal to shift additional accelerator installation work from the 2012-13 twelve-month down to the 2011 six-month down has been studied by the Accelerator and Physics Divisions, and the follow-on detailed planning is underway. The contract was awarded for the vacuum vessels and helium vessels to be used for the 12 GeV Upgrade cryomodules. The best-and-final offers have been received from the bidders on the high-voltage power supplies needed for the radiofrequency amplifiers. The contract was awarded for the new dipole magnets to be used in the existing five-pass recirculation beam transport system.
November 25, 2009
Using the short accelerator shutdowns in January and July 2010 is critical for the success of the 12 GeV installation work planned for the six-month down, which includes up to five commissioned cryomodules in the South Linac and machining/refurbishment of the west arc dipole magnets. The 12 GeV installation activities for the January 2010 down include radiofrequency waveguide installations and cryomodule base plate swaps. The 12 GeV installation work for these two downs is reviewed, approved and coordinated with existing activities through teamwork with 6 GeV operations personnel and the use of existing work planning tools.
November 18, 2009
The July 2010 scheduled accelerator down is the last scheduled shutdown prior to the six-month down planned for 12 GeV installation starting in May 2011. In order to coordinate with the scheduled electrical outages during the July 2010 down, JLab Facilities Management personnel have added two acquisition packages for civil construction procurements to their FY10 plans. The N&S Linac Power Upgrade, moved ahead from FY11, provides two new 1.5 MVA unit substations – one each at the North and South Linac service buildings to provide power for the new radiofrequency zones for the 12 GeV cryomodules. The new switchgear section, previously part of the FY10 Central Helium Liquefier Utility Upgrade contract, will distribute power to the new 5 MVA unit substations for the CHL #2 compressors.
November 11, 2009
A system requirements review for the toroid magnet for CLAS12 was held at JLab, marking the start of construction of this key superconducting magnet. An initial review for the construction of the Q1 quadrupole magnet for the Super High Momentum Spectrometer (SHMS) was held at the vendor's offices, Scientific Magnetics in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in the U.K., also in October. The best and final offers for the cryogenic reservoirs for all five superconducting magnets for the SHMS were received and are being evaluated; this procurement also will include the cryogenic reservoir for the solenoid magnet for Hall D. First full-size prototype arrays were received for the silicon photomultiplier option for the optical readout of the Hall D Barrel Calorimeter detector. These were inspected and shown to be fully operational, with good gain and rise time, and are now undergoing detailed test evaluation.
November 4, 2009
Procurement activities continue as the focus of the 12 GeV accelerator team, with more than $22 million of awarded contracts and an additional $7 million in the procurement process. During the past month, meetings were held with the vendors of the 4.5 K coldbox for the new Central Helium Liquefier and the septa magnets for the beam transport system. Audits were carried out of the quality assurance/quality control programs of some potential vendors; reports are pending. Detailed planning is underway for installation work during the January and July accelerator downs in 2010. The final pre-construction design and safety review for the magnet power subsystem was held.
October 28, 2009
The 12 GeV Upgrade project encompasses accelerator subsystems, equipment for the experimental halls and civil construction, which share technical connections as well as manpower resources and geographical locations. An integrated installation schedule is being developed with input from all groups, including current 6 GeV operations. To support the project installation plan, which includes up to five commissioned cryomodules in the South Linac by November 2011, some equipment installation (such as radiofrequency waveguides) is being planned for the upcoming FY10 scheduled accelerator down periods.
October 21, 2009
The two FY10 procurements for 12 GeV civil construction are on schedule for award in the second fiscal quarter. The solicitation for the North and South Access Building Additions is being prepared by the JLab Procurement Group, and the site visit will be held in the beginning of November. This contract includes 1800-square-foot additions to each of the access buildings and new electrical unit substations for the accelerator power supplies to be installed in these buildings. The other FY10 civil construction procurement is the Central Helium Liquefier (CHL) Utility Upgrades, cooling towers and transformers, to support the CHL #2 compressors.
October 14, 2009
Construction continues on the first barrel calorimeter module for Hall D, with lead- and fiber-layered assembly now complete at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, and machining of the assembled module started. One quarter of the total fibers needed for this detector have now been received, with all samples passing quality assurance checks. The endplate for the central drift chamber detector for Hall D has been released for fabrication, and construction of the prototype layers for the forward drift chamber is proceeding at JLab.
A meeting was held at JLab to plan construction of a complete prototype chain, from sensors to data acquisition, of the silicon vertex tracker for Hall B. The bid process has begun for the five large power supplies needed for the Hall C Super High Momentum Spectrometer superconducting magnets.
October 7, 2009
The contract for the fabrication and installation of the 4.5K coldbox for the expanded Central Helium Liquefier was awarded. Teams from JLab held contract kick-off meetings with the vendor for the accelerating cavities, as well as the vendors for the following accelerator magnets: quadrupoles, 4-meter dipoles and septa. The construction vendor for the 4-meter arc dipole magnets for the beam transport system has ordered the low-carbon iron for the fabrication. The vendor for the accelerating cavities has ordered the high RRR niobium needed for the fabrication. The extraction, instrumentation & controls/safety systems (I&C/S) and accelerator commissioning planning teams achieved 100 percent completion of their Project Engineering & Design scope.
September 30, 2009
Civil construction for the 12 GeV Upgrade continues to progress. On the Central Helium Liquefier (CHL) Building Addition, the structural steel work is complete and roofing started this week. The fire sprinkler piping and the concrete masonry (CMU) wall adjacent to the existing building have been installed. The CMU wall provides an acoustical barrier from the CHL #2 compressors to the adjacent building. On the Hall D Complex, the Hall D excavation is complete and the mud slab has been placed. The mud slab is a thin layer of concrete under the waterproofing for the concrete floor slab. The contractor is also continuing to install the utility distribution systems: water, electric and communications.
September 23, 2009
At the request of the Office of Nuclear Physics, Daniel Lehman, Director of the Office of Project Assessment in the DOE Office of Science, has convened a team of 18 experts in an Independent Project Review of the 12 GeV Upgrade at JLab on September 22-24. The purpose of the review is to assess all aspects of the project – technical, cost, schedule, management and ES&H – as the project proceeds with construction.
September 9, 2009
Major progress is being made on the various physics spectrometer systems. The second 12 GeV Upgrade superconducting magnet contract has been awarded for the Hall B torus magnet. Components for the Hall B CLAS12 preshower calorimeter detector have arrived, and a test set-up is being fabricated. The Hall C project manager convened a peer review of the Super High Momentum Spectrometer detector systems. The user-provided detector designs received uniformly positive remarks, with no recommendations. Assembly of a first article construction module of a major Hall D/GlueX detector, the Forward Drift Chamber, has begun here at JLab.
September 2, 2009
The contract for fabrication of the septa magnets for the beam transport and extraction systems has been awarded. JLab representatives visited the vendors for the beamline quadrupole magnets and for the klystron microwave sources. Good progress was seen at both vendors. The visit to the klystron vendor included a review of its preliminary design for the klystrons; the design was approved.
August 26, 2009
Jefferson Lab Facilities & Logistics personnel have completed the re-packaging of the North & South Access Building Additions to include the electrical upgrades for an FY10 procurement. The electrical upgrades had previously been planned as an FY11 procurement. The contract package is under review by ESH&Q, Facilities and Accelerator personnel.
Construction on the FY09 procurements continues to progress. On the Central Helium Liquefier (CHL) Building Addition, the concrete work is complete and the structural steel work started this week with setting of the columns. On the Hall D Complex, the groundwater dewatering system is fully operational and the Hall D excavation is near the required depth of approximately 20 feet.
August 19, 2009
Construction of the Hall D Barrel Calorimeter detector is underway at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. Production shipments of the Kuraray scintillating fibers are arriving according to schedule, and the first shipment of lead has been received and passed acceptance tests. Procedures for fabrication of the first article construction module have been finalized, and the base lead layer has been successfully glued to the aluminum base plate.
August 12, 2009
The first components for the upgrade of the accelerator have been received; they will be used in the instrument air system of the upgraded cryogenics plant. The order has been placed for components to be used in the controllers for the stepper motors that will adjust the resonant frequencies of the accelerating cavities. Responses to the Request for Proposals (RFP's) for cryomodule cold tuners, vacuum vessels and space frames are under evaluation. Similarly, the RFP responses for the isolators to be used in the radiofrequency system (RF) are being evaluated. Responses to the Request for Information have been received for the warm compressors to be used in the cryogenics system upgrade.
August 5, 2009
The contractor for the Central Helium Liquefier building addition has completed pouring concrete for the trench and is installing the waterproofing, foundation drains and grating. Next up is the floor slab, with formwork and reinforcing steel now being installed. Installation of the groundwater dewatering system for Hall D also has started. Hall D requires an excavation depth of approximately 20 feet below existing grade, and the water table is approximately 5 feet below grade. The dewatering system will temporarily depress the water table to allow construction. Also, the contractor is continuing installation of utilities and a construction entrance from Canon Boulevard.
July 29, 2009
The first superconducting magnet contract (for the Hall C/SHMS Q1 magnet) was awarded July 10, thus completing an important milestone in the project plan. Hall D recently held reviews of two of their subsystems. A review committee validated the tagger magnet final design and advised the team to finalize the detailing in-house rather than incorporating it into the construction contract award. A second review committee evaluated two readout choices of the Barrel Calorimeter detector. Committee members felt the first readout option, with silicon photomultipliers, looked very promising and recommended a test plan be developed for final certification and quality assurance of prototypes during the remainder of this calendar year. The more conventional backup option with fine-mesh photomultiplier readout was again found to be viable with a sufficiently detailed implementation plan, if needed.
July 15, 2009
The 12 GeV Accelerator Systems teams continue to focus on placing construction contracts. A contract was awarded for fabrication of the quadrupole magnets for the beam transport system. Review continues for the vendor proposals for "C"-dipoles (used in the spreaders and recombiners) and septa dipoles for the beam transport system. Both of the dipole contracts will include magnets for the extraction system. The contract to build the niobium accelerating cavities for the cryomodule system also was awarded. A design review was held last week for the preliminary installation plan for the accelerator systems.
July 8, 2009
On the Central Helium Liquefier (CHL) Building Addition, the footings are 50 percent complete, and the contractor is working on the trench. The trench is T-shaped and runs the full length of the addition in both directions. The trench is for gas and cooling water pipes running to and from the compressors that will be housed in the addition. Structural steel for the building addition was delivered to the construction worksite last week.
The City of Newport News has approved the traffic signal plan for the Hall D construction entrance off Canon Boulevard. The construction contractor is working on installation of utilities (water and electrical) and the construction entrance.
July 1, 2009
Preparations for the Hall B CLAS12 drift chamber mechanical construction are ongoing. Drawings for the Region-II chamber, including strongbacks, stringing machine rails and the tension-testing magnet cart, are in the final review stage, and the start of those procurements is anticipated in about a month. Wire, feedthrough inserts, crimp pins, stringing platforms, bus wire, rubber connectors, plastic plugs and tension-testing magnet wire have already been ordered. A Request for Quotation (RFQ) for all feedthroughs will be issued soon. Existing stringing machines are being refurbished, and Old Dominion University has begun setting up a clean room for Region-II drift chamber construction in its new science building. A wire-quality test chamber is nearly complete and will be tested over the summer.
June 24, 2009
The 12 GeV Accelerator Systems teams continue to focus on placing construction contracts.The vendor proposals are under review for "C"-dipoles (used in the spreaders and recombiners), septa dipoles and quadrupole magnets for the beam transport system. Both dipole contracts will include magnets for the extraction system. The contract to build the niobium accelerating cavities for the cryomodule system is nearing award. The contract for the 4.5 Kelvin coldbox for the helium refrigerator expansion is nearing award, and the Request-for-Information (RFI) has been released for the associated warm helium compressors. The cathode power supply contract and the box supply contract are under development. The former provides the raw power for the klystrons that will energize the accelerating cavities in the cryomodules, and the latter will power the larger dipoles in the recirculation arcs and beam transport lines to the halls. A design review was held for an alternate option for the spreader/recombiner layouts, optics and magnets. Some engineering and designer resources have been shifted from the beam transport work to the extraction system, with the goal of completing all extraction design work by mid-August.
June 17, 2009
Jefferson Lab Facilities & Logistics personnel together with the 12 GeV Project team are revising the contract for the North and South Access Building Additions to incorporate the electrical utility upgrade work that was previously part of the North and South Access Utilities Upgrade (Low-Conductivity Water) contract. The electrical upgrades will support the accelerator magnet power supplies. The current plan is to award this contract in the first quarter of FY2010, significantly ahead of the baseline schedule.
June 10, 2009
Best-and-Final Offers for the fabrication of the "Q1" superconducting quadrupole magnet for the new Super High Momentum Spectrometer in Hall C have been received, and evaluation has been completed. The award package is being reviewed by DOE. Vendor responses to complete proposals for the Hall B torus magnet have come in and are under evaluation. Similar responses for the Hall B solenoid magnet are ongoing. Proposals for Hall C's Q2, Q3, and dipole magnets are due in a month.
Halls B and D have started many detector-related construction activities, and Hall C is in the process of evaluating its shield house design to slightly decrease weight and allow easier use of commercial bearings. Noticeably, Hall B has prepared Advanced Procurement Plans for its FY10 silicon sensor assemblies and forward time-of-flight photomultiplier tubes and high-voltage dividers.
June 3, 2009
The 12 GeV Upgrade Project has awarded a contract for the 4-meter dipole magnets to be used in the arc 10 beamline and the beamline to Hall D. In addition, the responses to the requests for the Best and Final Offers have been received for the beamline quadrupole magnet fabrication. Technical evaluation of the final submittals for the superconducting radiofrequency cavity fabrication contract has been completed. A design and safety review of the low-level RF controls was held on May 21; the review committee's comments were positive.
May 27, 2009
The Central Helium Liquefier (CHL) Building Addition contractor is installing the electrical ductbanks under the floor slab. These electrical ductbanks are concrete-encased conduits to provide 4160V and 480V power and control wiring to the CHL#2 compressors. The compressors and wiring will be installed by the JLab Cryogenics Group following the Building Addition construction. The CHL#1 cooling towers are slated for replacement as part of ongoing infrastructure work. The 12 GeV, Facilities and Cryogenics Groups are reviewing the feasibility of combining the CHL#1 and #2 cooling towers to provide lower life-cycle costs.
With the receipt of the land disturbance permit from the City of Newport News, the Hall D construction contractor mobilized and started clearing trees. The undeveloped road adjacent to the Residence Facility will be used for access until the construction entrance off the public access road, Canon Boulevard, is built. A revised Traffic Signal Plan for the construction entrance has been submitted to the City of Newport News for approval.
May 20, 2009
Detailed physics simulations for the CLAS12 detector in Hall B suggest that a change in the diameter of the inner warm bore of the torus magnet will improve operation of CLAS12 wire chambers at full-design luminosities. The impact of this bore change on mechanical dimensions, integrated field values and stress analysis was studied and found to be small. A Change Request describing this design change was submitted to the 12 GeV Change Control Board and was approved.
Hall D recently held a three-day collaboration meeting at JLab, mainly dedicated to updates on various subsystems, while Hall B held a meeting with foreign collaborators on vertex tracking systems in the CLAS12 central detector.
May 13, 2009
The contract for fabricating the 13kW klystrons has been awarded to L3 Communications in Williamsport, PA. This is the first major procurement awarded for the accelerator systems for the 12 GeV Upgrade. The contract for the waveguides for the cryomodules was approved by DOE and that contract also has been awarded. Evaluation of the Best-and-Final Offers (BAFO's) for the fabrication of the SRF cavities and also for the 4-meter dipole magnet fabrication have been completed and the packages are being prepared for DOE review. BAFO's have been received for the fabrication of the beamline quadrupole magnets. The Request for Proposals has been issued for the fabrication of the cryomodule space frames and for fabrication of the beam transport "C" dipole magnets. Responses to the RFP's have been received for fabrication of the beam transport septa magnets. The design package for the motor control center for the upgrade to the Central Helium Liquefier has been completed.
May 6, 2009
The request for Best-and-Final Offers for the fabrication of the "Q1" superconducting quadrupole magnet for the new Super High Momentum Spectrometer in Hall C has been issued. This constitutes the first of the planned seven new superconducting magnets that will be procured. To initiate construction of the new CLAS12 wire chamber packages in Hall B, procurement of many of the component parts, such as wire and wire feedthroughs, has begun.
April 29. 2009
Phase 1 work of the Central Helium Liquefier (CHL) Building Addition is substantially complete, and the helium tube trailer has been relocated from the west side of the CHL Building to the east side. Phase 1 work included relocation of a fire hydrant, pouring of new asphalt and installation of a guardrail along the cryo transfer lines. On the west side, the storm drainage utilities have been installed to facilitate the new addition's footprint. The contractor is installing auger cast piles adjacent to the existing CHL building to provide shoring for the existing building's foundation. CEBAF Boulevard is closed adjacent to the new building addition and traffic is being detoured to the ring road.
The Hall D construction contractor has completed its Environmental Protection and Safety Plans. It is anticipated that tree clearing will begin in the next two weeks. Personnel are reminded that the walking trail in the Hall D construction area is closed; posted signs indicate the closed area.
April 22, 2009
Responses to the request for Best-and-Final Offers (BAFOs) for the fabrication of the superconducting radiofrequency cavities have been received and evaluation has begun. Evaluation of the BAFOs for the 4-meter dipole magnet fabrication have been completed. The award package for the klystrons has been reviewed and approved by DOE. Final review of the design and number of new quadrupole magnets for the accelerator beam transport system has been completed. The Request for Proposals (RFP) has been issued for the cryomodule space frames. Finally, the award package for the purchase of cryomodule waveguides is under review by DOE.
April 15, 2009
Yesterday, April 14, the official groundbreaking ceremony for the 12 GeV CEBAF Upgrade project was accomplished with great success in spite of the rain. The ceremony was held on the Hall D Complex construction site adjacent to the tunnel connection to the existing accelerator enclosure. The ceremony was attended by national, state, and local politicians, DOE Office of Science and local representatives, local university representatives, former Jefferson Lab directors, and many Jefferson Lab staff and users. Video of the 12 GeV Upgrade Groundbreaking Ceremony is now available online.
The construction contractor for the CHL Building addition, Ritchie-Curbow, started worked last week. Workers installed silt fence for erosion control, relocated the fire hydrant and prepared the aggregate subbase for the expanded asphalt pavement on the east side of the CHL Building. The constructor is scheduled to complete the paving and guardrail installation this week. CEBAF Boulevard is scheduled to be closed on April 20.
April 8, 2009
A total of 3,200 km of SCSF-78M 1mm-diameter scintillating fibers were ordered for use in the Hall D barrel calorimeter detector. The fibers are made in rods 4.1 meters in length. One hundred first-article fibers were received in February for evaluation of conformance with specifications. The fibers were tested at JLab and the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, for light output and transparency. The fiber performance was measured to be uniform from fiber to fiber and in all cases exceeded specifications, as determined by measurements of the light output in response to a Strontium-90 radioactive source.
April 1, 2009
The plans for installation of 12 GeV equipment in the experimental halls have been reviewed. In preparation for this, hall technical and scientific staff mapped the 12 GeV schedule into detailed installation schedules typically used for hall work coordination. The review committee checked timelines, logic of task sequence and manpower requirements. Valuable recommendations were made to further streamline installation schedules, formalize involvement of support groups and assign laydown spaces, amongst others.
March 18, 2009
Significant progress continues on accelerator construction contracts. The request for Best-and-Final Offers for the fabrication of the superconducting radiofrequency cavities is ready to be issued. The BAFO for the 4m dipole fabrication has been issued. BAFO submittals for the klystron contract have been received. Responses to the Request-for-Information for the large magnet power supplies have been received and discussions have started with some potential vendors. A modified procedure for testing the higher-order-mode (HOM) damping of the srf cavities prior to installation in the cryomodules is being developed; first tests with the improved procedure are expected this week.
March 11, 2009
The construction contractor for the Central Helium Liquefier building addition is finalizing administrative submittals to obtain approval for onsite work. The first phase of the work is relocation of a fire hydrant and expansion of the asphalt pavement on the east side of the existing CHL building. Phase 1 work is scheduled to start in April and has a one-month duration. Upon completion of Phase 1, the Cryogenics Group will relocate the helium tube trailer to the east side of the CHL building.
March 4, 2009
A review of the reference design and coil trial winds of the horizontal bend (HB) magnet was completed. This superconducting HB magnet allows for small-angle operation of Hall C's Super High Momentum Spectrometer. This work was performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. The review committee validated maturity of the reference design and pointed to items that would assist in the successful construction and operation of this critical magnet.
A series of reviews of the detailed plans for installation of 12-GeV equipment (and de-installation of 6-GeV equipment) in the experimental halls is presently ongoing, with Halls A, C and D reviews completed and Hall B upcoming.
Eugene Chudakov has graciously assumed responsibility as the interim Hall D leader.
February 25, 2009
The request for Best-and-Final Offers (BAFO) for the klystron fabrication contract has been issued. Discussions are underway with the potential vendors for the new quadrupoles and four-meter dipoles to be used for electron beam transport. Discussions are also underway with the potential vendors for the 4 Kelvin coldbox for the 12 GeV cryogenics plant. The Request-for-Information was issued for the large magnet power supplies for upgrading the electron beam transport system; responses have been positive. An engineering test unit for the 70 Amp power supply was evaluated and found to meet the performance requirements; units like this one will be used to power septa in the electron beam extraction system.
February 11, 2009
The vendors for the FY09 civil construction contracts have been selected. The Central Helium Liquefier Building Addition contract for approximately $1.5 million was awarded to Ritchie-Curbow Construction Company of Newport News The pre-construction conference was held Jan. 13, and completion is scheduled for December 2009. The contractor is working on administrative submittals for approval prior to site mobilization. Notice of award for the Hall D Complex contract, approximately $14 million, was sent on Jan. 21 to S.B. Ballard Construction Company of Virginia Beach. Upon approval of the performance and payment bonds, a pre-construction conference will be held. The Hall D Complex is a phased contract with completion scheduled in fall 2011.
January 28, 2009
A review of the movable support carriage for the five superconducting magnets and the shield house for the detector package of Hall C's Super High Momentum Spectrometer was held in December. The committee expressed a high confidence level in the design team and validated the feasibility of the design. There were no recommendations, but a detailed list of observations was given as a punch list for completing the reference design for the procurement phase.
January 14, 2009
Discussions with the prospective klystron vendors continue with some clarifications transmitted to the vendors. Similar discussions are being held with the potential vendors for the four meter beam transport dipole magnets and the technical evaluations of the bids for the beam transport quadrupole fabrication continue. The prototype digital board, RF (radiofrequency) board and chassis for the low-level RF controls have been assembled together, and testing of the integrated package is underway.
