NEWPORT NEWS, VA. - The U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility will officially end 6 GeV operations of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility during a short ceremony planned for Friday, May 18, at 8:15 a.m.
Senior members of lab leadership, Department of Energy managers, and representatives of the lab's 1,300-plus visiting scientists (user community) will gather at the CEBAF control room for the event.
After comments from lab leadership to mark the end of 6 GeV (billion electron volt) operations, the on-duty accelerator operations crew will pass the controls to the team that was working on May 25, 1995, when the 4 GeV electron beam hit the target in Hall C (the first experiment hall to receive 4 GeV continuous-wave electron beam and the first hall used to carry out an experiment). The crew that day included, then Crew Chief Bob Legg, Operators Mike Spata and Noel Okay, and Program Deputy Reza Kazimi.
Since beginning operations, more than 175 experiments have been conducted using CEBAF. And more than 400 doctoral degrees have been awarded, based on research conducted at the lab.
Jefferson Lab Director Hugh Montgomery will terminate 6 GeV beam for the last time followed by Andrew Hutton, Accelerator Division associate director, and Arne Freyberger, Accelerator Division director of operations, turning off the superconducting radiofrequency zones in the two linear accelerators in CEBAF.
While the event marks the official end of 6 GeV CEBAF operations, it sets the stage for a new era - the 12 GeV era that is already underway. While the running of physics experiments won't resume until 2015, the site will be humming with activity as it undergoes a major upgrade.
The project, dubbed the 12 GeV Upgrade, will deliver electron beams of up to 12 billion electron volts to the new experiment area, Hall D, and beams up to 11 GeV to the three existing halls. Upgraded and new equipment will be installed in those halls to expand the research capabilities available to scientists.
This shutdown ceremony won't be open to the public; however, the public will be able to visit this and other facilities during the Jefferson Lab Open House scheduled for the very next day: Saturday, May 19, 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. at 12000 Jefferson Ave., Newport News.
Jefferson Lab is used by visiting researchers, called users, who conduct basic nuclear physics experiments with CEBAF. The lab's user community numbers more than 1,300 from 40 nations, representing more than 200 institutions.