The principal recommendation of each of the Long Range Plans that
have been developed for nuclear science involved the need for multiple,
high-intensity, multi-GeV electron beams that have the high duty factor
necessary for high-rate coincidence experiments. In response to these
recommendations, construction of CEBAF was begun in 1987; it is now
essentially complete. Commissioning activities began at CEBAF in 1994 and
the accelerator delivered its first beam to an experimental area last
summer. The accelerator has already delivered 2.1 GeV beams; it is
expected to reach its full 4 GeV design energy during this long range
planning exercise. Soon thereafter it should be providing beams with
energies between 0.5 and 4 GeV and currents up to 200 A, divisible
into three simultaneous beams serving three separate experimental halls.
Polarized electron and photon beams will also be available. To achieve the
high current cw beams, CEBAF pioneered the large-scale application of
superconducting rf cavities operating at liquid helium temperatures, a
major advance in accelerator technology.
After years of planning, design, and construction activity, we are finally in a position to begin the research program that motivated the tremendous investment that has been made in this facility. 1,479 days of physics experiments proposed by 513 scientists from 114 institutions and 21 countries are waiting for full operation of CEBAF