John Seeman, head of accelerator systems at SLAC, said half a dozen labs have requested components of the PEP-II collider, which created particles called B mesons for studying the disappearance of antimatter after the big bang. The Frascati National Laboratory in Italy is a major contender. Researchers there have proposed a more powerful version of the PEP-II experiment to the Italian government and could use almost all the PEP-II's equipment, Seeman says. Fermilab has also requested some of PEP-II's magnets for a new machine that would make high-energy proton beams for neutrino research. (When energized protons crash into beryllium targets, they create short-lived pions that decay into neutrinos.)
Fermilab intends to reuse most of the Tevatron's parts for making neutrinos, including a booster accelerator that prepared protons for entry into the main Tevatron ring, which measures 3.9 miles (6.3 kilometers) in circumference. Fermilab's deputy director, Young Kee Kim, says that the lab wants to keep the main ring in working order in hopes of reusing it for future experiments.
For the SSC, particle research was never in the stars. The state of Texas auctioned off the linear accelerator equipment in 1996 to a Denton, Tex.–based company for the bargain price of $5 million—the book value for the unused parts was over $20 million, Courtney says. Trace Life Sciences inherited the accelerator when it acquired that company in 2003.
Trace now uses the linac to accelerate a beam of protons to 32.8-mega-electron volts (3.28 million eV) and bombard up to five different targets simultaneously for different isotopes. Bombarding thallium with protons at 29 mega-electron volts (MeV) yields the isotope lead 201, which decays to form thallium 201—used in diagnosing myocardial infarctions, or heart attacks. Iodine 123 and copper 64 are used for medical imaging such as in PET scans. Graphite pieces placed in front of the 32.8 MeV beam slow the protons to the energies required for different isotopes.
The company hopes to bring online two additional accelerator stages—designed to boost protons to 50- and 70-MeV—that were not stored properly after the SSC shut down and fell into disrepair. Trace might then begin providing specialty medical isotopes such as strontium 82 and iron 52, both used in PET scans, which are currently available only from government labs.
There are advantages to working with scavenged parts from a futuristic particle accelerator that at its peak employed thousands of workers. For one thing, customer service is a breeze. When Courtney needs technical advice, all he has to do is call one of the national labs, he says, where researchers who worked on the parts are happy to offer their services.
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Add CommentYou write: 32.8-mega-electron volts (3.28 million eV)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisShouldn't that be: 32.8-mega-electron Volts (32.8 million eV)?
I am not a scientist, having studied physics in school does not make me knowledgeable to form an assessment of this CERN program at all.... however, one thing I do know, Mother Nature doesn't take kindly to people who fool around with Her basic laws. Everything has opposites (i.e. plus / minus; positive / negative; etc), my basic concern about all this activity is the vibrations set into the bowels of Mother Earth. The vibrations generated by opposing particles spinning around have to go somewhere. As I see it, the vibrations are going to go down, around, up and all over the place, now deep in the bowels of the Earth, vibrations have to go somewhere as they build up energy (like tossing a pebble in a pond) and what happens? Well, tidal waves soar, hurricanes blow, ice melts, volcano's erupt and so on.... Cause and Effect.... But what do I know...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo any parts end up on eBay? I'd love to have a superconducting magnet for my next party trick.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese kinds of collisions occur naturally when cosmic radiation hits earth. So mother nature is used to it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCall it Human Curiosity. An association of men and women from all over the world, the unrestricted access to knowlege and a world of human community. Particle Physicists, in company with nuclear and atomic physisicists, astrophysicists and cosmologists, are beginning to undrstand not simply what matter is, but where it came from, and when, and how. finding answrs to such questions is important because everything else we want to know more about--space and time, energy and entropy, life and death, the rocks of the earth and the fire of the stars--is bound up with them. As knowledge advances so must the power and precision of the scientific instruments upon which further advances will crucially depend. Therefor if we value the persuit of knowledge we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us.
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