News Media Invited to Jefferson Lab's May 1 Open House

What: The Jefferson Lab "Celebration of Science" Open House

When: Saturday, May 1, 2010. News Media may visit any time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Where: The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, located at 12000 Jefferson Avenue, Newport News, Va. 23606

Enter at Hogan Drive from Jefferson Ave. Turn right at Hofstadter Road, show the Guard your press credentials and park where directed. Call cell 757-272-5803 for Public Affairs escort. Media information kits will be at the Information/Lost & Found Desk located in the front lobby area of CEBAF Center, Bldg. 12 (large white building with tinted glass windows).

Details: A turnout of 5,000 to 8,000 is anticipated. Jefferson Lab's mission is to study the basic building blocks of matter that make up of our visible universe: protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom and the particles and forces that make up these nucleons. The Open House offers visitors the chance to see many of the laboratory's facilities and to talk with the scientists and technical staff who work on or run experiments. A short list of Open House highlights includes:

  • A portion of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility: the world's first large-scale accelerator to use superconducting radiofrequency technology to accelerate a particle beam;
  • A physics experiment facility: A large, domed underground hall where experiments take place;
  • The Free-Electron Laser: the world's most powerful, tunable free-electron laser;
  • The $310 million 12 GeV Upgrade project, underway, that will allow staff and visiting scientists to continue pursuing leading-edge nuclear physics research, and
  • The site of the recently approved $73.2 million Technology and Engineering Development Facility.

Other laboratory facilities and unique research capabilities will be featured at the event, as will activities and exhibits provided by several local universities and other organizations. Details about the event are online at: www.jlab.org/openhouse/.

Jefferson Lab's Open House is a National Lab Day event (online at: http://my.nationallabday.org/JLab ).

Social Media: Jefferson Lab is providing additional information regarding this event on its Facebook page and Twitter feed (JBlab). During the event, the twitter feed will update continuously, and these and related tweets may be found on twitter through a search of the event hashtag #jlab2010.

Contact: Debbie Magaldi, in advance at magaldi@jlab.org or (757) 269-5102 or the day of the event at cell 757-272-5803.


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Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, manages and operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, or Jefferson Lab, for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. JSA is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, Inc. (SURA).

DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science