This aerial photo shows the outline of the racetrack-shaped CEBAF accelerator at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Va.
NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – The Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, will be the guest speaker at the U.S. Department of Energy's Jefferson Lab on Sept. 26 to commemorate the completion of accelerator and civil construction on the lab’s accelerator upgrade project.
After years of intense activity, members of the Jefferson Lab community and invited guests will gather on Friday to celebrate progress in the $338 million upgrade to the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility: the completion of the accelerator and civil portions of the 12 GeV CEBAF Upgrade project and the transition to initial operations of the facility.
It is the first major addition and upgrade to the CEBAF accelerator and its associated experimental areas (called halls) since construction began on the research facility in 1988.
The 7/8-mile racetrack-shaped accelerator and the three original experimental halls have provided a unique, world-class research facility for more than 1,250 visiting researchers who have used CEBAF to conduct basic nuclear physics experiments since 1995. The facility has also been used as a training ground for the next generation of researchers; over the years, more than 475 young people have earned their Ph.Ds. based on work conducted at the lab.
The upgraded accelerator and the addition of a new experimental hall are complete. Work on new equipment in two of the three original experimental halls and other supporting additions will continue through 2017. All upgrades are designed to expand the scientific capabilities and reach of the original machine. The upgraded machine will provide the U.S. and international nuclear and particle physics communities with a tool that will be used to carry out a scientific program of exploring some of the most perplexing questions humanity has about the building blocks of matter – particles which make up all the visible matter in our universe.
Governor McAuliffe, state legislators, City of Newport News officials, Department of Energy and Jefferson Science Associates management, and vendors who provided critical support to the construction effort plan to attend. The Governor, distinguished guests and members of the DOE and laboratory management will speak at the event.