
Nuclear Science Division 1994 annual report
Author(s) -
Walter Dean Myers
Publication year - 1995
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/123264
Subject(s) - cyclotron , detector , physics , upgrade , neutrino , nuclear physics , observatory , astronomy , optics , computer science , operating system , plasma
This report describes the activities of the Nuclear Science Division for the period of January 1, 1994, to December 31, 1994. This was a time of significant accomplishment for all of the programs in the Division. Assembly of the solar neutrino detector at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory is well under way. All of the components fabricated by LBL were shipped to Sudbury early in the year and our efforts are now divided between assisting the assembly of the detector and preparing software for data analysis once the detector is operational in 1996. Much of the activity at the 88-Inch Cyclotron centered on Gammasphere. The {open_quotes}early implementation{close_quotes} phase of the detector ended in September. This phase was extremely successful, involving over 60 experiments with nearly 200 users from 37 institutions worldwide. The mechanical structure was installed and the final electronic system is expected to operate in March 1995. The Division concurrently hosted a conference on physics for large {gamma}-ray detector arrays at the Clark Kerr Campus at UC Berkeley in August. This was a very successful meeting, reflecting the enthusiasm for this field worldwide. Also at the Cyclotron, the progress toward weak interaction experiments using ultra-thin sources passed a major milestone with the trapping of radioactive {sup 21}Na atoms. We are now engaged in a major upgrade of the experimental area and the outlook is very promising for these novel experiments. Another highlight of research at the Cyclotron was the confirmation of element 106. This development allowed the original LLNL/LBL discovery team to move forward with their proposal to name this element seaborgium