●J-PARC Open House on July 29       The first J-PARC open house after the earthquake in 2011 was held on July 29, and attracted 2,100 visitors.       Visitors had a look around the three experimental facilities and the tunnel of the 50-GeV synchrotron accelerator, where we can visit during only summer shutdown of J-PARC. The visitor intently listened to researcher's explanations on an instrument or a scientific study at each facility, and at demonstration areas, many kids, who would be future scientists of J-PARC, were enjoying simple experiments using liquid nitrogen and electromagnets, etc.       At the open house, several special public lectures were also given. They are on "The History of J-PARC" by Dr. Shoji NAGAMIYA, the former Director of J-PARC, on "The General Guide of J-PARC" by Mr. Kunihiro SUZUKI, the former leader of J-PARC Public Relations Section and Deputy Director of JAEA Public Relations Department, and on "The T2K Neutrino Experiment" by Dr. Sho TADA, J-PARC research staff for the T2K experiment and Assistant Professor of KEK. * Click here to enlarge. ▲to Page Top

●"The Road to J-PARC Completion - The Days Gone By and The Coming Days -", Special Lecture by the Former Director       Dr Shoji NAGAMIYA, the former Director of J-PARC Center, gave a special lecture at the JAEA auditorium on August 23, more than 250 audience enjoyed his special lecture.       He directed the J-PARC Center as the director by June for more than 6 years, from the critical construction phase to the present. He talked enthusiastically about the J-PARC project into which he devoted all his energy, and also about his expectation of the next phase of the J-PARC project with his encouragement to all the J-PARC members. * Click here to enlarge.       He closed his talk with the following words: We have created the facility that will make scientific achievement possible at the highest level for all users. All J-PARC staff reaffirmed the J-PARC mission. ▲to Page Top

●New User Programs at Materials & Life Science Experimental Facility       Two new user programs that are provided by CROSS will start from the 2012B term (from November 2012 to March 2013). One is the Strategic Use for researchers who involve in the program of "The Elements Initiative Strategy", which was proposed by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan), and the other is the Trial Use for researchers who are the first users of neutron beams. Both programs are expected to enhance the science and technology in Japan. * Click here to enlarge. ▲to Page Top

●New Material Studies for Batteries by using Neutron Beams at MLF       The results presentation of "Industrial Applications of Neutron Beams" was held on July 26. A Special Associate Professor of KEK, Masao Yonemura, who works at the Neutron Science Section of J-PARC, reported the present situation and future of product development using neutron beams, titled as "The challenge for all-solid lithium batteries".       The number of research proposals, which apply neutron beams for developing new materials, increases recently, and it indicates the effectiveness of neutron beams in this field. ▲to Page Top

●Improvement in the user beam availability at J-PARC       During the April to June 2012 period, the user beam availability of all the J-PARC experimental facilities, Materials & Life Science, Hadron and Neutrino Experimental Facilities, was improved and was equally between 90% and 94%. This is because the performance of the Radio Frequency Quadrupole Linac (RFQ) got better as a result of the efforts to maintain good vacuum, whereas a primarily reason of beam interruptions was poor performance of RFQ in the past. ▲to Page Top