2007 News Release
SURA deeds land for major Jefferson Lab upgrade
Key Jefferson Lab, SURA and Department of Energy Site Office leaders visited the land where Hall D will be constructed - to mark the land transfer for the new experimental hall - from SURA to the DOE. Event participants included (l. to r.) Elton Smith, Hall D Staff Scientist; Roy Holt, chair of JLab's Program Advisory Committee; Allison Lung, 12 GeV Deputy Project Manager; Jim Turi, Manager of JLab's DOE Site Office; Jerry P. Draayer, SURA President & CEO; Christoph Leemann, JLab Director; Anthony Thomas, JLab Chief Scientist; and Joe May, DOE Accelerator Operations & Projects Program Manager at JLab. (Photo by Greg Adams)
WASHINGTON, DC - A proposed $310 million upgrade of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, located in eastern Virginia, has moved a step closer to becoming a reality now that land needed for the project has been deeded to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Jefferson Lab one of 13 national labs funded by DOE, plans to double the energy of its electron beam accelerator (from 6 GeV to 12 GeV) and construct a new experimental hall (Hall D). But before going forward with the upgrade, the DOE first needed to acquire 7 acres adjacent to its existing 162-acre parcel.
DOE took ownership of the additional land this week from the Southeastern Universities Research Association. SURA is the majority owner of Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, the management and operating contractor of Jefferson Lab for DOE.
"When the City of Newport News deeded to SURA a 44-acre plot at the beginning of construction of the research laboratory in the 1980s, few would have imagined the growth of this world-class facility and the world-class science it has accomplished," said Jerry P. Draayer, SURA President & CEO. "SURA is honored to return a portion of that land now for the construction of Hall D, from which we'll see an even greater return on our investment in science and education."
The city's contribution also included the primary support for SURA to construct the Residence Facility, which has been used over the past decade to house thousands of researchers who have conducted research at Jefferson Lab.
SURA was originally awarded the contract to design the laboratory in 1983 and operated the lab following its completion until Jefferson Science Associates was awarded the management and operations contract in April 2006.
The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) is a consortium of over 60 leading research institutions in the southern United States and the District of Columbia established in 1980 as a non-stock, nonprofit corporation. SURA serves as an entity through which colleges, universities, and other organizations may cooperate with one another, and with government and industry in acquiring, developing, and using laboratories and other research facilities and in furthering knowledge and the application of that knowledge in the physical, biological, and other natural sciences and engineering. For more information, visit www.sura.org.
Jefferson Lab is managed and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science by Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, a joint venture between Southeastern Universities Research Association, Inc. and CSC Applied Technologies Division, LLC.