1.5 Billion Euro Research Facility in Sweden

Evidence of it is by building the world's largest reserach facility of its kind. Behind the European Spallation Source (ESS) initiative are 17 partner countries.

 

[Cecilia Svensson, Reporter]: 

”Here behind me in southern Sweden, in Lund. ESS are building a research facility budgeted at 1.5 billion euros."

 

The Director General at the ESS says mankind has always had  journeys to understand their place in the universe.

 

 [Colin Carlile, Director- General, ESS ]: 

”In order to do that you need to understand materials, materials in all their complexity and the European Spallation Source facility will allow scientist interested in the full range of materials from pharmaceuticals to welding in jet engines to allow that understanding to take place.”

 

In order to investigate the smallest particles that makes up materials, ESS will use neutrons as the source of illumination. They will be accelerated in a gigantic tunnel, hitting a targeted research material.

 

 [Colin Carlile, Director- General, ESS ]: 

"And exploring things at this size, molecules and atoms, much, much smaller and you need smaller forms of illumination: neutrons and x-rays"

 

As if the ESS was not enough, MAX-lab is building a new accelerator next to it with an estimated budget of 340 million Euros. The laboratory will also investigate the characteristics of materials, but will use X-rays.

 

The MAXlab IV, which will be the ESS’ neighbor, is currently under construction. 

 

[Sine Larsen, Director of the Max IV Labratory]: 

“What you can do with synchrotron is even more and the advantage of using synchrotron radiation which is x-rays is that the experiments are faster and you can use smaller specimens for your studies. So what you can do is that you can get all information on materials using different methods to get the structure, the energy and the properties of materials and this where this synchrotron radiation is quite unique.”

 

Engineers and scientists will be hand picked worldwide to work at both the MAXlab IV and ESS. 

 

MAXlab IV will stand ready in 2013 and the ESS plant will start up in 2019, becoming fully operational in 2025.

 

Cecilia Svensson NTD News, Lund, Sweden