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By Dave Jacqué
Liquid lithium may turn out to be the lifeblood of the Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA), a proposed nuclear physics facility that may be built at Argonne-East.
In one mode of operation, RIA will create secondary beams of short-lived radioisotopes as by-products of high-intensity primary beams of heavy elements such as uranium.
Some of the most important scientific studies at RIA will require isotopes that are extremely difficult to produce in large amounts. It sometimes takes more than one billion driver-beam ions interacting with a target material to produce one nucleus of these exotic isotopes. So the driver beams must be intense; for example, RIA will be slamming up to 20 trillion uranium ions per second, each with energies up to 95 billion electron-volts (GeV), into a spot on the target one millimeter in diameter. This high power density would quickly destroy ordinary solid target material, like graphite.
“RIA requires a new approach,” said physicist Jerry Nolen (PHY).
Nolen and other scientists and engineers are developing innovative liquid targets. The target is cooled with, or actually made of, a fast-flowing stream of liquid lithium, a silvery metal that melts at about 360 degrees F. The liquid target does double duty: It provides atoms with which the driver beam can interact and carries heat away from the interaction point — the “hot spot.”
Free-flowing
The heaviest and most powerful production beams from the RIA driver linac will require an all-liquid, or “windowless,” target. Lithium flows from a rectangular nozzle, crossing an open gap about an inch tall. The ion beam will pass horizontally through this lithium waterfall as it streams between the nozzle and a recycle system, which captures the lithium and returns it to the pump as part of a closed loop. Different nozzle configurations are being evaluated in a prototype. Experimenters have achieved their goal of creating a stable, uniform flow.
Lithium is chemically active and corrosive, so safety has been a primary concern during testing of the prototype. Procedures have been developed based on extensive previous experience with alkalai metal systems at Argonne. The commissioning and operation of the prototype lithium target is being led by Claude Reed and Vince Novick (both TD) and Jim Specht (PHY).
For lighter beams that produce lower power densities, a hybrid target is being developed, in which lithium will flow through a cone-shaped beryllium target. This work is a collaboration between Argonne and the National Superconducting Synchrotron Laboratory at Michigan State University, where the hybrid target will be tested and used for research.
In both targets, lithium is kept flowing by a Lorentz-force pump that requires no moving parts. Electric current and powerful samarium-cobalt permanent magnets keep the liquid metal moving.
Research will later turn to adding a heat exchanger, designed to remove 40,000 watts of beam heat from the lithium, and to testing the prototype windowless target with a high-power electron beam.
Expertise
The U.S. Nuclear Sciences Advisory Committee has designated RIA as the project with the highest priority for a major new initiative in nuclear physics. Michigan State University and other institutions are working with Argonne on design and prototype construction.
The billion-dollar project could begin construction in 2005, and the user facility will draw an estimated 2,000 scientists from research institutions around the world. Many are already involved in RIA planning.
Argonne is well-positioned to be the host site for RIA, based on the laboratory’s pathbreaking and enduring expertise in advanced accelerator technology. Argonne has a long history in pioneering accelerator design: Its ATLAS accelerator was the world’s first superconducting accelerator for projectiles heavier than the electron for physics research.
In addition to accelerator design expertise, the RIA team is able to turn to a wealth of experts in several different divisions at Argonne-East. Engineers and scientists in the Technology Development and Energy Technology divisions have years of experience with liquid lithium systems. The pump is based on a liquid-gallium device developed by Robert K. Smither (XFD) in the early 1990s for the laboratory’s Advanced Photon Source. The nozzles for the windowless target prototype were cut to exacting specifications at Argonne’s Central Shops, using sophisticated wire electrical discharge (EDM) technology. The High-Energy Interaction with General Heterogeneous Target Systems computer program developed by Ahmed Hassanein (ET) was used to model interaction of high-power particle beams on a variety of targets.
by Amy M. Kile
With income tax season approaching, Argonne’s Human Resources Department has launched a retirement awareness campaign for Argonne employees.
“Due to the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, employees can increase the amount they contribute to the retirement plan. With tax time coming up, we want to make sure that employees are aware of Argonne’s plan and where they can invest their extra money,” said Marge Vaught (HR), senior employee benefits specialist.
Part of the reason for the campaign is due to the market for the last three years and how it affected employee’s retirement accounts. Argonne’s retirement plan is so broad that some employees are not sure how to invest their money.
“Many employees invest their money in plans with guaranteed interest funds, but if they don’t diversify or have supplemental plans, they might not have enough money when they retire. A good asset allocation plan may be better,” Vaught said.
People often think that they will have enough money when they retire, although they’ve never calculated it out, according to Vaught. Most financial institutions, such as Fidelity, Prudential and TIAA-CREF, which are used by Argonne, have calculators on their Web sites that allow investors to plug in numbers for categories such as scheduled age of retirement, retirement income goal, Social Security retirement benefits and amount of annual salary contributed to the retirement plan. Based on these numbers, the calculator will estimate how much they will have at retirement, and how much more they will need to invest to meet their retirement goal.
There will be workshops associated with this campaign at Argonne-East. “Assessing Your Goals,” will be presented Tuesday, March 11 at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in the Building 203 Auditorium by a vice president and financial planner of an outside wealth management company.
“Fidelity Portfolio Planner,” a demonstration of how to use the portfolio planner program, will take place Tuesday, April 1, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Building 402 Auditorium.
Human Resources will provide more information on the workshops as the events draw near.
Robert Benedict, deputy associate laboratory director for Argonne-West, has been selected for the Outstanding Engineer Award by the College of Engineering at Idaho State University. The award recognizes outstanding service in the engineering profession, with a substantial part of that service being done in or for the State of Idaho.
The award was presented at the National Engineers Week 2003 banquet Feb. 21, at the Shilo Inn in Idaho Falls.
The selection committee noted Benedict’s contributions to the advancement of nuclear engineering, including the successful development of the electrometallurgical treatment process.
Benedict serves as executive manager for activities at Argonne-West, including nuclear facility and site operations; program and project management; engineering; safeguards and security; and environment, health and safety.
Since joining Argonne in 1988, Benedict has held several major management positions, including director of the Engineering Technology Division, director of the Nuclear Technology Division and project director of the EBR-II Spent Fuel Treatment program. In the latter position, he was responsible for directing both process development of a new pyroprocessing technology and demonstration of this technology with spent nuclear fuel in hot cell operations. In 1998, he received the University of Chicago Distinguished Performance Award for his leadership.
Argonne’s Reactor Analysis and Engineering and Technology Development divisions have merged to form the new Nuclear Engineering Division (NE).
The consolidation is motivated by the rapidly evolving character of the U.S. Department of Energy’s advanced reactor and fuel cycle programs, and the development of significant opportunities for expanded use of Argonne’s expertise in other areas, said John Sackett, associate laboratory director for engineering research.
David Weber will lead the new division. His management team will include associate division directors Ed Fujita and Hussein Khalil.
The Chemical Technology Division has been renamed the Chemical Engineering Division (It will still carry the acronym CMT). Combined with the new Nuclear Engineering Division, the name change is intended to emphasize that the divisions’ primary outputs are products, processes and designs that find ready application with customers, Sackett said.
The Basic Energy Sciences Synchrotron Radiation Center Collaborative Access Team (BESSRC-CAT) has joined the Advanced Photon Source Experimental Facilities Division.
BESSRC is an early and highly productive member of the CAT community at the APS. Its members are with Argonne’s Materials Science, Environmental Research, Physics and Chemistry divisions, and the Northern Illinois University Physics Department. The team conducts research in materials science, chemical science, atomic physics and geosciences.
“BESSRC is an excellent partnership between scientists mostly within Argonne, but outside of APS, who have brought many unique capabilities and carried out superb science.” said Murray Gibson, associate laboratory director for the APS.
The incorporation of BESSRC operations into the APS organization is part of the Department of Energy’s strategy to have the APS take greater responsibility for the operation of those CATs in the DOE-Basic Energy Sciences. The transition of BESSRC is accompanied by an increase in the APS operating budget.
An interactive program for family caregivers will be held at Argonne-East Wednesday, March 26, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The program will give employees an opportunity to talk about their own family caregiving issues and to receive personal attention and guidance from eldercare expert Joy Loverde. The program will include discussion about balancing life and work responsibilities and handling the emotions of family caregiving. Loverde is author of the best-seller “The Complete Eldercare Planner.”
To ensure quality of this program, space is limited. For information, contact Fran Perri (HR) at ext. 2-2989 or fperri@anl.gov.
Arts at Argonne will present “Knocks and Shocks,” a series of silent films accompanied by live music, Friday, Feb. 28 in the Advanced Photon Source Conference Center, Building 402.
Beginning at 7:30 p.m., five films will be presented, each focusing on dramatic reversals of ortune, with the main characters going from rags to riches — or vice-versa. “Flesh and blood,” the feature film of the night, features Lon Chaney as an escaped convict who disguises himself in an effort to seek revenge on the man who had him unjustly imprisoned.
David Drazin, the official silent-film accompanist for the School of the Art Institute’s Film Center in Chicago, will provide live music during the films.
Admission is $5 per person. Order tickets by calling (630) 252-3751, or purchase them in the Building 213 Cafeteria lobby beginning Feb. 24. Tickets will also be sold at the door.
More information is available on Arts at Argonne’s Web Page.
by Amy M. Kile
Argonne scientists should aggressively participate in shaping public policy about nuclear weapons proliferation, said Allen Sessoms at a Feb. 6 director’s special colloquium at Argonne-East.
Sessoms, a fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, discussed why he chose public policy as a career and punctuated his lecture with political cartoons to illustrate why scientists should join public policy discussions on nuclear weapons and other science and technology topics.
“Scientists have participated in public policy debates for a long time, and very often they end up on different sides of a debate,” Sessoms said. “Sometimes high-tech clarity doesn’t go with knowledge, and one of the things we have to accept is that this is the way it is generally. It shouldn’t keep scientists from participating aggressively in the policy process.”
Sessoms said that public policy is a “least common denominator” phenomenon. Policy tends to follow the ideas of those who participate most in the debate, even if their ideas do not lead to reasonable solutions.
Sessoms becase interested in public policy while working as an assistant professor of physics at Harvard in the 1970s when two events raised his concern about nuclear weapons proliferation.
To conceive better solutions, Sessoms said, scientists need to educate government officials on the subject of nuclear weapons.
Uncertainty is typical in nuclear weapons policy, as seen by the escalating tension in Iraq and North Korea. While science itself cannot solve the problem, Sessoms said, public policy would benefit from scientific education.
“I think we don’t know what’s going on because there are not enough people engaged in the policy process,” Sessoms said.
Although scientists cannot completely solve the problem of nuclear weapons proliferation, they can make clear what the issues are not only to the elected policy makers but to the people who elect them.
“I think it is a requirement of those who really care about these issues, who have science and technical expertise, to participate in the policy process, not just when things hit the fan, but when they can go and sit in congressional offices and educate congressman. Look at what’s going on in Washington. Stop complaining and try to fix it,” Sessoms said. “Science and technological expertise can advance all of us along to more reasonable solutions.”
Human Resources-Employee Benefits will soon mail Personal Benefits Statements to all eligible employees. Employees should review the information and contact Employee Benefits at ext. 2-2991 if they have any questions.
Argonne’s retirement vendors will send representatives to Argonne-East to meet individually with employees to answer their questions about retirement plans and assets.
Appointments last a half-hour. To schedule an appointment, call the number listed.
For Appointments, call:
Fidelity: Tuesday, March 4 and
Tuesday, March 25. Call (800) 642-713.
TIAA-CREF: Monday, March 10 and
Tuesday, March 11. Call (800) 842-2005.
Prudential: Wednesday, March 5 and
Wednesday, March 19. Call Cheryl at (847) 619-3519.
Through presentations, discussions, problem solving and role playing, participants in the workshop “Survival Skills for Successful Women Scientists and Engineers” received specific training and advice on a range of career development subjects from successful scientists, engineers and professional trainers.
The workshop was a response to a report on the climate for Argonne women physicists (PDF).
“The reasons for under-representation of women in science and engineering in the United States in general and at Argonne are multi-faceted and often complex,” said Dongqi Li (MSD), one of the workshop organizers, “but many agree that the lack of role-models and somewhat being an ‘outsider’ in the male-dominated enterprise partially contribute. The workshop was designed to address those concerns.”
Argonne Deputy Director Beverly Hartline launched the series with “Advancing Professionally to Achieve Your Ambitions,” which also included guest speaker Jill Trewhella, head of the Bioscience Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Other workshops included:
“Establishing Your Professional
Identity,” by Marion Thurnauer, director of the Chemistry Division.
“Identifying your Personal
Leadership Style and Applying It in the Workplace,” by Geralyn Becker, manager of Human
Resources-Performance Development.
“Communication, Coping Skills,
and Conflict Management,” by professional trainer Mary Kay Slowikowski.
“Where the Money Is and How to
Get It” by Chris Reilly, director of Environmental Research Division, Carol Giometti, senior
biochemist and group leader in the Biosciences Division, and Connie Marciewicz, assistant chief
financial officer for budget management in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
“Strategies for Overcoming Hidden
Barriers” by Gwendolyn J. Morrison, director of Plant Facilities and Services.
“Participants expressed high levels of satisfaction with the workshop topics and format,” Linda Phaire-Washington (DEP), another organizer said. “They especially liked the fact that much of the advice was practical and that they could readily apply it in their daily work environment."
The Argonne Women in Science and Technology (WIST) program partnered with the Division of Educational Programs and Human Resources to host the six-part monthly workshop series.
“Argonne benefits when everyone here has the skills needed to survive — even excel — in his or her chosen career,” said Hartline. “I really commend the workshop organizers. They and all the participants gained a lot.”
The impact, comments, structure and outcome of the “Survival Skills” workshop series will be discussed in detail at the First Friday Forum meeting March 7, from noon-1:30 p.m. in Argonne-East’s Building 201, Room 190.
Details appear on the First Friday Forum Web site.
George Cutwright, a representative of the Social Security Administration’s Joliet office, will visit Argonne-East Wednesday, March 19, from 8 a.m. to noon. Cutwright will be available to:
Enroll employees in Social Security.
Take applications for new Social
Security cards, including original cards for newborns, corrected cards due to marriage, or
replacement cards.
Help with earnings posting problems.
Answer general questions about the
Social Security program.
To schedule a meeting, call Fran Perri (HR) at ext. 2-2989.
A representative from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) will visit Argonne-East Tuesday, March 11, and Tuesday, March 25, to meet with individual employees for insurance comparisons and quotes for the “METPAY” group automobile and homeowners insurance program.
To schedule an appointment, call (630) 810-0346, ext. 143. Employees can receive a quote over the phone by calling (800) 438-6388.
The Argonne Table Tennis Club is seeking new members. All employees and skill levels are welcome. The club meets on Tuesday nights from 5:30 - 9 p.m. in Argonne-East’s Building 951.
For more information, contact George Beranek (ECT) at ext. 2-7219, Carol Giles (EQO) at ext. 2-3427, Michael McNatt (CMT) at ext. 2-7149 or Peter Zapol (MSD) at ext. 2-6085. Information is also available on the Argonne Club Web site.