Romanian Reports in Physics, Vol. 65, No. 3, P. 693–699, 2013

Dedicated to Professor Valentin I. Vlad’s 70th Anniversary

NOVEL RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN IFIN-HH, AT A GLANCE

I. URSU, N.V. ZAMFIR

“Horia Hulubei” National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering, P.O.Box MG-6, RO-077125 Bucharest-Magurele, Romania,

E-mail: ursui@nipne.ro; E-mail: zamfir@tandem.nipne.ro

Received July 15, 2013

Abstract. The latest state of the art research infrastructures, currently under commissioning at IFIN-HH are briefly presented, highlighting their remarkable potential.

Key words: accelerator systems, radiophamaceuticals, nuclear spectroscopy, detector development, environmental physics, medical applications, cultural heritage conservation.

1. INTRODUCTION

Being strongly committed to accomplish its Development Strategy [1] and its affirmed goals of developing a consistent in-house research capability that should maintain IFIN-HH in the forefront of the current nuclear science and technology realm and would impose a wider impact of nuclear technologies on industry, on the society at large, IFIN-HH has pursued one of the most important research infrastructure projects of the last decades in Măgurele: the implementation during 2009–2013 of the investment project “Infrastructure development for frontier research in nuclear physics and related fields” [2].

The general objective of this project was the development and further consolidation of IFIN-HH research infrastructure, in fundamental as well as in applied physics, in order to ensure a high standard of the institute’s activities, at par with top world research institutes, and to consequently promote competitive research at international level. The assumed strategic goals were based on two pillars:

I. an efficient, sound support for the participation at major European Research Infrastructures where Romania is an active partner (CERN Geneve, FAIR Darmstadt, SPIRAL2 and GANIL France, ITER a.o.); including the creation of specialized laboratories for the development and testing of experimental setups – essential ingredient for a fruitful engagement in international collaborations at continental scale.

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II. the development of high impact applications of nuclear technologies, by the creation of specialized research laboratories, endowed with state of the art equipments, tailored to pursue interdisciplinary studies in domains of major societal relevance, like: life and environmental physics, medical applications of nuclear tehno- logies, material research, cultural and historic heritage investigation and preservation.

Fig. 1 – The location of the C1-C7 research infrastructures, on the IFIN-HH premises (Group I),

while the underground laboratory C8 is placed in the Slănic Prahova Salt Mine.

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2. RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES

Integrating the aforementioned strategic goals, the project was structured along eight distinct infrastructures (C1-C8):

C1. Laboratory for Development and Testing of Methods related to the International Project FAIR/NUSTAR (RO@NUSTAR; D. Bucurescu) - a high tech laboratory at European level, designed to foster the development and testing of the experimental setups implied by the participation at the international project FAIR - Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (especially the NUSTAR collaboration and the participation at the Astrophysics and Reactions experiments HISPEC / DESPEC) [3];

C2. Radiocarbon Center for Environment and Biosciences (TANDIMED; A. Olariu) – A 1 MV Tandetron accelerator devoted to AMS (Atomic Mass Spectroscopy) measurements, exhibiting a wide range of potential applications (some of unique regional relevance: C-14 Carbon dating, for example), spanning from material sciences, astrophysics, geology to biosciences and environmental protection [4], including a chemistry lab for AMS samples preparation;

C3. Tritium Laboratory with Multiple Users (TRITIULAB; C. Postolache) – a research unit designed for multiple users (research entities, academia, industrial partners a.o.), dedicated to fundamental and applicative research, human resources formation and technological transfer stimulation in the field of the global management of tritium [5];

C4. Center of Nuclear Spectrometry for Energy, Environment, Materials and Health (EMMAS; S. Olariu) – A 3MV Tandetron Accelerator developing IBA (Ion Beam Analysis) techniques for elemental analysis and material characterization, including an ion implementation system for material characterization a.o. [6];

C5. The Radiopharmaceutical Research Centre (CCR; L. Crăciun and D. Nicolae) – a complex system comprising a versatile cyclotron, radiochemical annexes and a microPET, represents a state of the art experimental facility, dedicated to research in the fields of radiochemistry, radiopharmacy and nuclear physics applications, opening the way to a modern and efficient application of nuclear technology in life sciences; The CCR Research Programme addresses such topics as interdisciplinary basic research in physics, biology, chemistry a.s.o., applied research towards clinical applications of novel radiopharmaceuticals for medical imaging and targeted radiotherapy as well as the development of new pharmaceuticals [7, 8].

C6. Excellence Research Center for Distributed Calculation, Methodology, Physics and Participation in Significant International Collaborations (CEXMECDIF; M. Petrovici), – lead to the setting-up of specialized laboratories for the in-house development of advanced detectors – gas detectors with high granularity for high counting rates, special experimental configurations based on these, enabling the effective and relevant participation within large international collaborations in which Romania is partener, i.e. ALICE-CERN-Geneva, CBM-FAIR-Darmstadt a.o. [9];

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C7. Local Centre for Radiological Surveillance of the Environment (CLSRMA; N. Mocanu) – envisaging the monitoring of the impact of nuclear activities, routinely developed in IFIN-HH, on the environment, the creation of a radiological surveillance centre that will act also as a radiological emergency centre in the region, offering adequate informations about the zone environment radioactivity. Furthermore, in case of hazards, the expert systems operated in this centre will offer reliable and effective support to decision makers [10, 11];

C8. Development of Measurements in Ultra-Low Radiation Background and Atmospheric Muon Detection in an Underground Laboratory (LNSP; R. Mărgineanu) – meant to increase the capability of IFIN-HH’s MicroBq underground laboratory, located in the Slanic-Prahova Salt Mine for the gamma emitter radionuclides concentration measurements as well as to the detection of high energy atmospheric muons [12].

It is worth mentioning that the individual components C1-C8 originated from the dedicated work of expert groups lead by passionate researchers, mentioned above, who aquired, during 2006–2007, by competition the necessary funding and accomplished the feasibility study for each of the components. Furthermore, this project has encompassed a substantial joint effort of these researchers, in order to unite, to harmonize and eventually to successfully implement such a complex endeavour.

3. RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

Although, at first sight, one may view them as a diverse collection of research labs, they represent in fact vectors pointing to the main research directions and strategic objectives, envisaged by IFIN-HH, namely:

A. In order to achieve a substantial and efficient participation in large European and international scientific projects, one needs to:

– steady develop performant detection techniques of nuclear radiations, gamma spectroscopy with state of the art detectors, development of technics and equipment for life time measurements of excited nuclear levels (C1);

– vigourously pursue the development of novel high-performance detectors and of their associated electronics; the design, realization and testing of the front-end electronics and further extending the GRID infrastructure, in order to accomplish the formidable task of processing and analysis the experimental data implied (CBM/FAIR, ALICE/CERN and LHC/CERN), (C6).

B. Promoting the development of specialized if not unique applications of nuclear technologies, of particular relevance for scientific frontier research and societal imperatives:

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– Studying the radiocarbon as tracer of the bio-geochemical cycle of carbon, key cycle of the climate system, the study of the carcinogenic potential in food (C2);

– Specialized spectroscopic techniques and methods for the diagnosis and monitoring of fusion plasmas for JET and ITER Euratom programmes, high performance nuclear methods applications in material sciences, the use of accelerated beams in life and environmental sciences a.m.o (C4);

– Interdisciplinary research in radiochemistry towards the synthesis of short-lived radioisotopes and their coupling to imagistic (of interest for PET investigations) or therapeutic agents [6], as well as towards the optimization of data codes and of the quality parameters (sensitivity, time of respons, spatial resolution a.o.) specific to PET/CT imaging techniques [7]; basic research in physics, biology, chemistry of the interaction of accelerated beams with matter (C5);

– Further development of the in-house expert systems designed for the current monitoring of the impact of nuclear activities on the environment (C7);

– Specialized measurements of environmental radioactivity in ultralow radiation background (C8).

Fig. 2 – The 1MV Tandetron of C2 (above, left), the 3MV Tandetron of C4 (above, right), the TR19

cyclotron and the radiochemical modules, both of C5 (down, left and right).

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4. CONCLUSIONS

Stimulated by and benefitting from the IMPACT Programme (2006–2007), dedicated to select and finance the accomplishing of the feasibility studies of valuable proposals for new research infrastructures in the Romanian Research Area, several research groups from IFIN-HH applied for and won the funding at this national competition. Consequently, IFIN-HH has thus consolidated its development strategy with a substantial portfolio of sound investments, along its main strategic guidelines.

The extraordinary opportunity to implement such a major research infrastructure project lead to the viable integration of these development vectors. The success of this endeavour will eventually foster the working standards to a level normal in similar large institutes worldwide – a necessary input to ensure a competitive scientific research that may lead to the expected high level results.

The conclusions are twofold: the development strategy has to be based on a portfolio of sound, articulated projects while their promotion and realization is the natural outcome of the professional quality of its personnel and the performances on both individual and collective levels.

The successful story of these high level infrastructures is expected to start soon and will be reported by the next generation of scientists, as it always happened with the previous “waves” of major research investments in Magurele.

Acknowledgments. We would like to highlight that this project has a definite collective

character. It was initiated in 2006, by first accomplishing the feasibility studies for component parts. Eventually, in the framework of 7 PM / 29.X.2008 contract entitled “Infrastructure development for frontier research in nuclear physics and related fields” [2], the project comprising this unique synthesis of research proposals was funded via the Capacities Programme (2010-2013) and implemented. The contribution of each project leader of the eight components was highly relevant, essential for the project’s completion and is again acknowledged here.

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