Recent News

News Archive: 2009 | 08 | 07 | 06 | 05 | 04 | 03 | 02

Inscribed Concrete Boulder Found on NSLS-II Excavation Site Sparks Curiosity
Torcon heavy equipment operator Brian Peters peered through the windshield of his forklift and noticed an unusual sight under the dirt he was excavating to build a trench - a large concrete "boulder" with writing and a drawing inscribed on it. He called Torcon's Site Quality Assurance Manager Michael Beatrice to take a look. What did they find? What lay in the newly dug trench was a large rock with a hand-drawn emblem of a bugle, the number 14, the notation "Company G," and the logo "Baptized by Fire." The date July 24, 1940-something appeared in the bottom right of the boulder. Unfortunately, the last digit of the year was no longer legible, but it is possible that the date is 1940, meaning the boulder actually predates World War II. The forklift operator noticed a second boulder with hand-painted names, possibly the names of members of Company G during that time period.

A Note From Steve Dierker: Introducing Light Source eNews
Welcome to the first edition of Light Source eNews. In the months to come, you will see a gradual transition in content and design to a publication that I hope will allow us to communicate more effectively with our multiple audiences. In recent news: we had a serious incident at the NSLS-II construction site when a contractor was struck by a load of rebar steel; senior management within the Light Sources Directorate has been developing a strategic plan for the directorate; we have put together a list of potential members of the new Light Sources Scientific Advisory Committee and are in the process of inviting people to serve; and the date for the 2010 joint NSLS/CFN Users' Meeting has been set.

Construction Injury at NSLS-II
On September 30, a contractor laborer working at the NSLS-II ring building construction site was struck by a load of rebar steel, resulting in a compound fracture of his lower right leg. Treatment has gone well, and he is expected to make a full recovery. The investigation is still ongoing, but a number of corrective actions already have been taken.

FY09 Reliability, 30-Bunch Operation, and Shutdown Activities at the NSLS
With the close of fiscal year 2009, we've learned that the accelerator team has, again, helped produce superb facility reliability: 97.1 percent for X-Ray Ring operations and 98.7 percent for VUV Ring operations. In addition to making regular improvements and repairs, many which will be completed in the winter shutdown, we've also helped improve beam lifetime by switching to a 30-electron-bunch operation.

Contracts Awarded for Production of NSLS-II Storage Ring Magnets
All seven contracts for the production of the NSLS-II storage ring magnets have now been awarded - a significant milestone for the project. The magnets - 750 in total - will be made by vendors in the United States, Russia, China, Europe, and New Zealand.

NSLS-II Lab-Office Building Design Near Completion
Thanks to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, the design and construction of the lab-office buildings (LOBs) for NSLS-II has been accelerated so that the buildings will be available for occupancy in FY12 - at least a year earlier than originally planned. The detailed design package of the LOBs is now near completion and will be finalized in mid November.

NSLS-II Project Beamline Conceptual Designs
The NSLS-II Experimental Facilities Division achieved an important milestone in September when the conceptual design reports for the initial six project beamlines were completed and submitted to NSLS-II management.

Light Sources Staff Makes Strong Showing at Instrumentation Conference
More than 20 Light Sources (LS) Directorate employees attended the 10th international conference on Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation (SRI) from September 27-October 2, to learn about and present the latest developments in the field. The conference, hosted by the Australian Synchrotron and held in Melbourne, attracted about 680 participants from 28 countries.

Light Source Employees Honor Year's Achievements, Co-Workers at Annual Picnic
Discounting dark skies and sprinkles, almost 200 Light Source Directorate employees gathered on September 16 for food, drinks, and the chance to reflect upon the past year's accomplishments. The annual picnic, hosted by NSLS Chair Chi-Chang Kao and Steve Dierker, Associate Laboratory Director for Light Sources and NSLS-II Project Director, included mounds of Italian cuisine as well as service awards for some of the best work performed in fiscal year 2009.

DOE EPSCoR Review Encourages Scientific Collaboration Between Labs, Universities
The annual review of the U.S. Department of Energy's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), hosted by Brookhaven National Laboratory, was held on July 20-23, 2009 in Hauppauge, New York. More than 100 participants representing 22 of the 25 EPSCoR states and eight DOE laboratories participated in the review.