Facility Updates

Facility Updates Archive: 2009 | 08 | 07

Chi-Chang's Corner
NSLS Ribosome Research Leads to Nobel Prize in Chemistry
We found out today that the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is partially a result of research conducted at the NSLS. Venki Ramakrishnan of Cambridge University and Thomas Steitz of Yale University, who share the prize with Ada E. Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science, used protein crystallography at the NSLS to gather data that are central to their award-winning work on the ribosome. In other news: nominations are being sought for the new Light Sources Directorate Science Advisory Committee; we had a large BNL presence at a DOE workshop on "Accelerator Physics of Future Light Sources"; I attended a DOE workshop for synchrotron and neutron user facility directors with a focus on increasing industrial users; more than 50 materials science experts gathered at Brookhaven for a workshop on the characterization of advanced materials under extreme environments for next-generation energy systems; we met a significant safety commitment to inspect and evaluate electrical equipment at the NSLS; and a team of international researchers revealed the chemical composition and structure of a self-assembling diffusion barrier - an element that is vital to producing smaller, cheaper, and faster devices.

Users' Office Update
End-of-Run Survey Comments
As outlined in our December 2008 issue of NSLS eNews, we would like to share some of the comments received through our End-Of-Run Surveys, which many users take the time to fill out after an experimental run. We appreciate this feedback and try to use it for continually improving NSLS operations, procedures, and support. The comments provided here cover the time period of February 2009 through May 2009.

Safety Update
Personnel Changes, BLOSA Training, and Eyewear
Many of you have probably noticed that John Aloi has left the NSLS Environment, Safety, Health & Quality (ESH&Q) group. We have rearranged the group and redistributed responsibilities to manage this change. Meanwhile, work continues on our update of Beamline Operations and Safety Awareness (BLOSA) training and the development of "safety envelopes" for the beamlines. This project is about three quarters completed, and meetings with staff at the remaining beamlines are scheduled for this month. I'm also asking for more cooperation from the user community in meeting the protective eyewear requirements for entry to the set-up laboratories.

Notes from the UEC
Looking Ahead to a Bright Year for NSLS, NSLS-II
It is a great pleasure to bring you this, my first column as chair of our NSLS Users' Executive Committee. This is an exciting time for the UEC. With new funding, science at the NSLS has been reinvigorated and so requires the involvement of its user community more than ever. There are many new initiatives at the NSLS that can benefit greatly by user participation, including new initiatives for industrial engagement, new efforts at user training and community development, and the creation of new measurement and detection capabilities. The UEC also continues to cooperate with the NSLS and NSLS-II in the work of the Beamline Transition Working Group to identify the crucial elements of the NSLS scientific program, to identify capital resources that can be leveraged for use at NSLS-II, and to organize the transition of those scientific and capital resources to future beamlines at NSLS-II.

NSLS-II Update
User Workshop Set for July 17-18
Brookhaven National Laboratory will host a workshop on July 17-18, 2007 to update the user community on the status and plans for NSLS-II and to provide an opportunity for user input and feedback. One of the goals of this workshop is to describe the conceptual design and current status of the facility. Workshop participants will learn the latest details on the designs of the accelerator, experimental, and conventional facilities. And Dr. Patricia Dehmer, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences, will provide the DOE perspective on NSLS-II.

Accelerator Update
Work on Beamline X27, RF Power Supply Focus of Spring Shutdown
Both the VUV and X-Ray rings came up after the spring shutdown without a hitch and are in full operation. Highlights include replacement of the X27 mask with one having an upstream water-cooled aperture that shields the downstream vacuum flange from synchrotron light and the replacement of the X-Ray RF system 3-plate power supply. Also on the shutdown schedule was the start of the installation of a front-end interlock master reset system, the replacement of the liquid nitrogen fill system, the restructuring of the vacuum monitoring system, preparation for the addition of an additional branch at X17A, and other activities.