Groundbreaking research from the Centre of Expertise in Accelerator Science and Technology was on display in London this week
The Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) showcased groundbreaking research from its Centre of Expertise in Accelerator Science and Technology (Astec) at the DTI Conference Centre in London on 6 November 2002.
David Sainsbury, science and innovation minister, addressed the meeting: "This Astec event is a welcome opportunity to show that UK experts are at the leading edge of accelerator technology.
The potential applications arising from the research will be of great benefit to society, and demonstrate the importance of investing in scientific excellence.
As the main investor in scientific research, the government is keen for the UK to retain its position as one of the world leaders, and has therefore substantially increased its science spending over the last few years.
Centres of excellence such as Astec are essential if we are to stay at the leading edge of world class research." Astec has created a 'critical mass' of accelerator experts in the UK, from across a range of academic departments at the Daresbury Synchrotron Light Source (SLS) and Rutherford Appleton (ISIS) sites.
Their research is helping to position the UK among the leaders in the groundbreaking global accelerator projects of the next 20 years.
The design and construction of the Diamond synchrotron is already part of the Astec program and will provide a wide range of capabilities upon its completion in 2006.
A particular area of interest will be the analysis of protein structures from the human genome project, allowing scientists to correlate the function of known genes with their location on the human genome.
This valuable information will have implications in the treatment of genetic disorders, health risk factors and targeted drug development.
Large-scale high power proton accelerators may be able to solve the problem of the transmutation of nuclear waste in the future, as they can speed up the decay of medium half-life substances.
There is also potential for use in sub-critical nuclear reactors, where 'critical' generated power can be subjected to significantly higher levels of control via the accelerator.
At the other end of the scale, small accelerators are used everyday in cancer therapy, irradiation and sterilisation of hospital equipment, semi-conductor chips, treatment of effluent gases from power stations, and the production of radioisotopes for PET scanning.
