Wednesday, June 03, 2009

FFAGs Enter Application Phase

I mentioned earlier about the unfortunate name being given to the Fixed-Field Alternating Gradient accelerator (FFAG), and the amusing possibility on how the acronym is pronounced by people working in the field. Still, it doesn't diminish the importance of the technique and why it is an active area.

This article out of CERN Courier shows where FFAG has now enters into the application phase, where it is now being constructed not simply as a research facility or a prototype, but as a facility to be used for other purposes and applications.

The Development of an Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactor using an FFAG Proton Accelerator project, which is now reaching its goal, was initiated in 2002 under a contract with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) as part of the Technology Development Project for Innovative Nuclear Energy Systems. In the experiment the FFAG accelerator provides a high-energy proton beam to a heavy-metal target in the KUCA to produce spallation neutrons, which in turn drive fission chain reactions in the KUCA-A Core.


Zz.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Although this abbreviation might have unwanted connotation, the mother-tongue of the majority of physicists is not English. Therefore they probably will not think of "fag". Even if you name something, which perfectly makes sense in English, it may mean something rude in other languages and then those people would think something strange of you.