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J-PARC Project Newsletter
No.65, January 2017
Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex under operation jointly by
the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) and the Japan
Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)
http://j-parc.jp/index-e.html
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HEADLINES AND CONTENTS
1. [Overview]
HI-POWER BEAMS FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF OUR LIFE.
2. [Accelerator Division]
OPERATIONAL STATUS OF THE ACCELERATORS.
3. [Particle and Nuclear Physics Division]
UPGRADES OF HADRON EXPERIMENTAL FACILITY.
KEEN DESIRE FOR MORE STABLE AND HIGHER POWER OPERATION, AND THE
FIRST RESULT OF THE WIRE SECONDARY EMISSION MONITOR (WSEM) .
STATUS OF THE COMET (COHERENT MUON TO ELECTRON TRANSITION) (E21) .
STATUS OF THE MUON G-2/EDM (E34).
HINT2016.
4. [Materials and Life Science Division]
STEADY NEUTRON PRODUCTION OPERATION WITH 150 KW PROTON BEAM WAS
CONDUCTED.
NEUTRON BEAM WAS RESUMED FROM NOVEMBER 2.
228 GENERAL USER PROPOSALS WERE SUBMITTED FOR 2017A.
THE NEUTRON AND MUON SCHOOL WAS HELD.
MUON BEAM COMMISSIONING MAKES STEADY PROGRESS.
5. [Nuclear Transmutation Division]
TEF TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING WAS HELD.
6. [Safety Division]
THE EMERGENCY DRILL ASSUMING A FIRE IN RADIATION CONTROLLED AREA.
THE SAFETY INSPECTION WAS SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCTED.
FISCAL 2016 J-PARC SAFETY AUDIT.
7. [Editorial Note]
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1. [Overview] by Naohito SAITO
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HI-POWER BEAMS FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF OUR LIFE
This is the first letter in a new year and I would like to take
this opportunity to deliver a few words.
The last year, 2016 was, namely the year of growth for J-PARC.
The new safety management system, which was established after the
incident at Hadron Experimental Facility (HEF), has been in place for
three years by now, and it is finally getting on track. We will
continue our efforts to enhance safety at J-PARC aiming at the best
of the best for a safe facility for high-quality research, which can
be achieved only by the total commitment of each individual for both
safety and research.
As one aspect of our safety enhancement campaign, we have
created a slogan "Mindful Of Others". It corresponds to "Stop Work"
in oversea labs, which needed to be modified to fit to Japanese
culture and work environment. We encourage all involved in J-PARC
activities to follow this slogan. If you see unsafe acts, please
call out without hesitation. It actually encourages both you and the
person you call out to think about safety more seriously. In this
way, we will continue to pursue safety across J-PARC including users
and contractors.
Now looking at the research results, we had a total of 13 press
releases last year. Neutrino oscillation experiment T2K started to
take steps to elucidate CP violation. There are many results from the
MLF such as an observation of new order state of ice under high-
pressure, internal behavior of lithium battery in charging and
discharging process, abnormal behavior of protein molecule leading to
Parkinson's disease, and many more.
In order to share such results with the local community, we
invited Prof. Kajita, who is a collaborator of T2K experiment and was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016, to Tokai-mura and held a
public lecture. We were happy to have a full house including
elementary and junior high school students. We also opened the
facility to the public for the first time in four years to create an
opportunity for them to see the gradual growth of J-PARC.
This year, we will continue to produce more achievements with
users and to share not only with the local community but also the
world, especially because we believe those results will contribute
for a better future: "Hi-power beams for the next stage of our life".
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2. [Accelerator Division] by Kazuo HASEGAWA
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OPERATIONAL STATUS OF THE ACCELERATORS
A new operation run was started at the beginning of October
after the summer shutdown. Accelerator study work at the beam current
of 5 mA, 50 mA and 40 mA was carried out at the linac. The study work
followed at the 3 GeV Rapid Cycling Synchrotron (RCS) and Main Ring
synchrotron (MR) at the linac beam current of 40 mA which was for
user operation. The main purposes of the study were to reproduce the
accelerator parameters, confirmation of performance of some new
components installed during the summer shutdown, and new parameter
survey for lower beam loss, etc.
On October 27, the beam delivery to the neutrino experimental
facility (NU) was resumed at the beam power about 80 kW. The beam
power was increased to 320 kW as the vacuum pressure improved at
the MR. After the fine tuning of the MR and the RCS, we delivered
beam at 430 kW, which was a slightly higher level than before the
summer shutdown. However, we had several longer beam trips at the MR
for one or more days. As some examples, there were failures at the
injection septum magnet power supply, at the new power supply for the
quadrupole magnets, and at the radio frequency power supply. The
availability of the NU from October to December was about 75 percent.
On November 1, the beam delivery to the Materials and Life
Science Experimental Facility (MLF) was resumed. After passing an
inspection by the radiation authority, user operation was started on
November 7. The beam power was 150 kW to reduce the risk of the
neutron production target failure. The operation was rather smooth
until the morning of December 21, as scheduled. The availability of
the MLF was high: about 94 percent from November to December, since
we had no serious troubles at the linac, the RCS and the MLF.
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3. [Particle and Nuclear Physics Division] by K. OZAWA, T. TSUKAMOTO,
S. MIHARA, T. MIBE AND T. SEKIGUCHI
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UPGRADES OF HADRON EXPERIMENTAL FACILITY (K. OZAWA)
A new beamline is under construction to provide a primary beam to
the Hadron Experimental Facility. Other beam lines of the current
facility provide secondary generated particles, such as pi and K
mesons, but when the construction will be completed, primary 30 GeV
protons will be delivered to an experimental area using the new beam
line. During a maintenance period last summer, radiation shields
between the hadron facility and the accelerator tunnel of J-PARC Main
Ring were rearranged, and beamline magnets were placed for the new
beam line.
Design work of a new production target is underway. Current
production target can be used up to 50 kW of the beam power safely.
Definitely, we need a new production target to cope with higher beam
power. Two designs are under discussion. One of them is a modified
design of the current target.
Basic design is not changed, however we put two targets at the same
time in a back-to-back position to double a heat conduction of the
target. The other design is so-called "Euro-Coin" type target. The
target consists of a disk and a beam production material such as
platinum is placed on the edge of the disk. The disk is
rotated and cooled by a water pool in a bottom region of the target
system. The former design is relatively easy to develop and will be
realized in a few years, and the latter design will come later for
much higher beam power.
KEEN DESIRE FOR MORE STABLE AND HIGHER POWER OPERATION, AND THE
FIRST RESULT OF THE WIRE SECONDARY EMISSION MONITOR (WSEM)
(by T. TSUKAMOTO)
The neutrino beam line operation was begun (neutrino mode) for
the experiment from October 26. Even though quick achievement of 420
kW operation was expected as before the summer shutdown, it took time
to tune beam. Therefore 430 kW operation was achieved on December 5.
Due to lower beam power at the beginning and lowered efficiency
caused by several accelerator troubles, accumulated POT (Proton On
Target) is much less than the aimed value. T2K shows a keen desire
for more stable and higher@power operation.
There are several R & D items in the neutrino beam line as
reported in the previous newsletter. We would like to report about
WSEM. The Segmented Secondary Emission Monitor@(SSEM) is currently
used in the neutrino beam line for beam profile monitor in which
titanium strips are used.
WSEM uses titanium wires instead of strips for less beam loss. One
WSEM was installed in this summer shutdown. We successfully observed
a signal and will perform a detail study.
STATUS OF THE COMET (COHERENT MUON TO ELECTRON TRANSITION) (E21)
(by S. MIHARA)
The COMET experiment aims to search for the lepton-flavor
violating muon reaction, mu-e conversion, with sensitivity better
than 10^{-14} in Phase I. After the summer shutdown of J-PARC, the
collaboration activated the program of primary proton beam study
again. A set of innovative diamond detectors was installed in the MR
tunnel to perform a test measurement of a single particle under high
radiation environment. A signal was successfully observed above
ground through a cable of about 300 meters in length. Preparations of
the physics detectors are also in progress along with their readout
and trigger electronics.
Status and a plan of detector construction and installation was
discussed in the COMET collaboration meeting and integration workshop
held at J-PARC in Nov. 29 - Dec. 3.
STATUS OF THE MUON G-2/EDM (E34) (by T. MIBE)
The E34 collaboration prepares for precision measurements of
muon anomalous magnetic moment and electric dipole moment.
The collaboration revised the technical design report (TDR)
incorporating recent improvements in the experimental design. The TDR
was reviewed by a focused review committee formed by the Institute of
Particle and Nuclear Studies (IPNS) in November.
The collaboration received the review report at the end of November.
An international workshop titled "Towards high precision muon g-2/EDM
measurement at J-PARC" was organized by the Joint Institute for
Computational Fundamental Science (JICFuS) and IPNS at J-PARC in
Nov. 28 - 29. Theoretical prospects for improving precision of muon
g-2 calculation and needs for the new experimental measurement were
discussed by 54 participants including 23 from foreign countries.
HINT2016 (by T. SEKIGUCHI)
The international workshop on future potential of high intensity
accelerators for particle and nuclear physics, HINT2016, was held on
December 5 - 8, 2016 at the Ibaraki Quantum Beam Research Center
(IQBRC) in Tokai village.
The workshop focused on future prospects for high-intensity
accelerator facilities and new frontiers in particle and nuclear
physics explored by such facilities. This year it was a joint
workshop with the KEK Flavor Factory workshop that had mainly focused
on the SuperKEKB accelerator and the Belle II experiment at the KEK
Tsukuba campus.
Lively discussions were held by 138 scientists from 14 countries
who participated the workshop.
For more information, see http://j-parc.jp/pn/HINT2016/
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4. [Materials and Life Science Division] by Toshiji KANAYA
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STEADY NEUTRON PRODUCTION OPERATION WITH 150 KW PROTON BEAM WAS
CONDUCTED
1) Neutron Source
On November 2, proton beam delivery to the neutron production
mercury target began for the MLF user programs and ended on December
21. Owing to stable operation of the accelerators, the neutron source
supplied neutron beams generated by a 150 kW proton beam, achieving
the steady operation with high availability of 95 percent for the
scheduled beam time of 43 days. Through the operating period, we
confirmed that performance of the helium refrigerator of the
cryogenic hydrogen circulation system was completely recovered.
Actually, there was no sign of performance degradation such as the
increase of differential pressure at the adsorber and the heat
exchanger of the helium refrigerator. Next neutron production
operation will begin on January 13, 2017 after a short maintenance.
NEUTRON BEAM WAS RESUMED FROM NOVEMBER 2
228 GENERAL USER PROPOSALS WERE SUBMITTED FOR 2017A
THE NEUTRON AND MUON SCHOOL WAS HELD
2) Neutron Instruments and Science
From November 2, we resumed the MLF operation with 18 neutron
instruments and commissioning activities for 2 beam lines and
continuously started the user program for 2016A.
The general proposals for the 2017A period were called and 228
neutron proposals were submitted. They will be reviewed by the
Neutron Science Proposal Review Committee of the Materials and Life
Science Experimental Facility (MLF) and Proposal Evaluation Committee
of Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society
(CROSS) -Tokai.
General Use Experimental Proposal (Long Term) valid for up to 3
years (or 6 proposal rounds) has been called. In this proposal, use
of multiple instruments is allowed. The proposal should have a clear
long-term strategy for research and development, and also hold the
expectation of yielding outstanding results.
From November 22 - 26, the Neutron and Muon School was held. The
school was newly organized by 10 host organizations and societies:
The Japanese Society for Neutron Science (JSNS), Society of Muon and
Meson Science of Japan, J-PARC, Materials Sciences Research Center
and Nuclear Human Resource Development Center, Japan Atomic Energy
Agency (JAEA), Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy
Accelerator Research Organization (IMSS KEK), The Institute for Solid
State Physics, The University of Tokyo (ISSP), Industrial User Society
for Neutron Application, CROSS, and Ibaraki Prefecture. It was
supported by The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)
and KEK. From Japan, Korea, Australia, Indonesia, India, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, and United Kingdom, 29 young researchers and graduate
students participated the school. They enjoyed nine neutron and four
muon lectures, a site tour to J-PARC and JRR-3, hands-on experiments
with eight neutron beamlines and one muon instrument at MLF, and a
science seminar.
MUON BEAM COMMISSIONING MAKES STEADY PROGRESS
3) Muon Science Facility (MUSE)
Since the resumption of proton beam in the last November, muon
staff teamed up with some volunteer users and they have been busy
optimizing muon beam quality delivered to D2, U, and S1 areas.
At the D2 area, the beam line was operated to extract negatively
charged muons with lower energy and narrower momentum spread, so that
the beam may be applied to non-destructive element analysis for
thinner materials.
On the U-line, the focusing solenoid system (set right behind
the superconducting curved solenoid), which was once removed from
beam optics for modification has been placed again, and it is in
progress of conditioning to improve the surface muon flux on the
tungsten target for the ultra-slow muon generation.
Meanwhile, after some commissioning work on sample environment
for the conventional muSR experiment with surface muons, S-line has
been operated to examine the possibility of negative muon spin
rotation for extraction of negatively charged muons (so called "cloud
muons"). Although the beam intensity is not impressive at this stage,
the information will be useful to assess the feasibility of the
technique for the forthcoming era of 1 MW.
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5. [Nuclear Transmutation Division] by Toshinobu SASA
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TEF TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING WAS HELD
The third TEF Technical Advisory Committee meeting (T-TAC) was
held in J-PARC site during 12th to 14th December 2016. Three
Japanese members and three foreign members from Belgium, Germany and
Switzerland gathered to review the current progress of the TEF
facility design and related research and development work.
In the first day, TAC members observed the experimental devices
for Laser Charge Exchange (LCE) experiment, devices for minor-
actinide fuel handling and safety applications for TEF-P, and large
experimental loops for liquid Lead-Bismuth Eutectic alloy (LBE)
application studies. Then, JAEA introduced the individual activities
to establish elemental technologies for TEF components, such as TEF-P
outline, LBE target design for TEF-T, elemental technologies for LBE
application, proton beam transport including LCE applications, and
multipurpose applications of TEF-T, together with building design and
safety policies. Over 20 presentations were reviewed by TAC members.
A Technical Design Report (TDR) for TEF-T, that was recommended to be
issued by TAC members in previous TAC meeting, was also introduced
and briefly reviewed during the meeting.
After the closing of discussion by TAC members, various comments
and recommendations to move forward the TEF design were shown at the
end of the meeting. TAC realizes that the direction of R&Ds for TEF
construction is appropriate. TAC also recommends enhancing the
efforts for public relation campaign to create awareness of the needs
of nuclear transmutation, which is helpful for further application of
nuclear power generation in Japan.
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6. [Safety Division] by Yukihiro MIYAMOTO and Kotaro BESSHO
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THE EMERGENCY DRILL ASSUMING A FIRE IN RADIATION CONTROLLED AREA
The emergency drill simulated a fire in a radiation controlled
area of the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF)
was carried out on Oct. 28. It was an unannounced drill about the
location of the fire and the occurrence of a person who suffered
cardiopulmonary arrest, so abilities to respond in an emergency were
tested. In gathering and communicating information, a number of
improvement points were confirmed.
THE SAFETY INSPECTION WAS SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCTED
The safety inspection of the MLF was successfully conducted,
and the certificate was issued on Nov. 7 by Radiation Management
Institute, Inc. The inspection items were about the shielding
construction prepared for a new muon beam line and the radiation dose
measurements around it in MLF.
FISCAL 2016 J-PARC SAFETY AUDIT
The fiscal 2016 J-PARC safety audit was conducted by two outside
auditors on Nov. 22. Interviews with center director, deputy
director, managers of each facility and other staff members were
conducted.
Validity of autonomous efforts for safety at each facility was
appreciated. Furthermore they gave us valuable suggestions for future
safety efforts such as effective collection of concerns about safety
work/ situations from contractors and users.
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7. [Editorial Note]
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Editorial Board:
Toshifumi TSUKAMOTO (Chair): toshifumi.tsukamoto@kek.jp
Kaoru SHIBATA: shibata.kaoru@ jaea.go.jp
Takashi ITO: itou.takashi@jaea.go.jp
Dick MISCHKE (English Editor): mischke@triumf.ca
Junko BEANBLOSSOM (Secretary): beanblossom.junko@jaea.go.jp
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