News
21-09-2006 09:21
Progress Accelerator
Today an Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Complex (ISRC) starts its operation in Astana. The complex is based on DTs-60 cyclic heavy-ion accelerator. Creation of the unique facility that has no analogs in the post-Soviet area enables to provide a considerable improvement in science and education integration as well as in promotion of advanced technologies in the real economy.
Development of the scientific basis for new science-intensive and high-technology productions is urgent for the inclusion of our republic to 50 the most competitive states. Order for establishment of the interdisciplinary laboratory complex to solve the problems of physics, chemistry and advanced technologies was issued by president of the republic in 2001. Unique cyclic accelerator (cyclotron) with controlled ion energy is the basic element of the complex. The cyclotron enables to accelerate atomic nuclei from carbon to xenon to perform fundamental works on nuclear physics, space materials science, development of applied technologies and science-intensive production.
In 2003 cooperative team of physicists and engineers of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Researches (JINR) and Institute for Nuclear Physics (INP) of the National Nuclear Center (NNC) developed design documentation, and the next year construction of the building was started near L. Gumilev Eurasian National University (ENU). At the same time a construction of unique accelerator was started in Dubna (Russia). The cyclotron is unique in all things. First of all, it embodied all the advanced decisions of accelerating engineering. Component parts the number of which is up to few thousands were manufactured by hundred of high-technology companies in the leading countries. The best personnel in the world was composed which succeeded in overcoming a number of organizational and production obstacles under difficult market conditions. Clear organization of works and careful planning brought desired results: the first in all the post-Soviet area high-power accelerator was manufactured and delivered to Kazakhstan in time for fixed price defined during the accelerator design.
Nevertheless, general price increase had its effect: construction cost of the ISRC building increased. In that situation much efforts were made by Gadilbek Shalakhmetov, Deputy of Majilis, who made a stand in the Parliament for the development of up-to-date scientific basis in Kazakhstan. In 2005 at the hearings for the project budget it was managed to get additional 550 millions of tenge to complete the complex construction. Equipment assembling is a separate chapter of a fascinating story about the project progress. Famous specialists and specialists just out of universities worked here side by side. The young specialists gained experience from hand to hand.
— I feel a great satisfaction because the project which is a very important one is implemented, — says G.Shalakhmetov. — I entered on the promotion of the idea to construct the cyclotron for many reasons. First of all, with the cyclotron ENU becomes a university provided with unique technology equipment for education. Previously students of technology faculties could only draw formulas on blackboard when arguing about world structure, now they can see particles of elementary world, study the elements of matter or alphabet of the Universe. Moreover, they observe the particles interaction in the fields, can control them. That means that our students can “put” questions to the nature and get answers to them.
With the cyclotron, methodological base of the ENU comes to the level of leading universities of the world. This will enable us to improve higher education. The second aspect is also of no little significance. Cyclotron is the technological tool: using the cyclotron it is possible to produce nuclear track filters which are the high-technology products and their production is available only in three or four leading countries. Thus, during the day the cyclotron will be used for students training, and during the night it will operate to produce new high-technology materials.
— Leaders and specialists from NNC always had a tendency to be closer to university science as first of all, it is necessary to provide an inflow of new scientific personnel. — On the other hand, the university was always keen to cooperate with scientific institutions, — said Askar Aryngazin, ENU Principal for information technologies, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics. — According to the latest system for science financing approved in Kazakhstan, national laboratories are to be established at universities for the main priorities of the country. The laboratories will make possible deeper science integration with education. One of the demonstrative examples is the complex and expensive facility which enables to train good specialists in nuclear physics, solid state physics and advanced technologies. Schools of experimenters as a rule are established based on such large facilities, this is the center of attraction for other investigations. Therefore, the facility has a wide application and scientific interest.
— The accelerator complex provides up-to-date resource base for the world fundamental and applied researches in nuclear physics and radiation material study, — stated Kairat Kadyrzhanov, NNC Director General, INP Director, Academician of International Academy of Engineering. — Possibility to perform large-scale experimental researches at DTs-60 will make possible to reach a new qualitative level in solid state physics. First, the researches are aimed at scientific and technical support for radiation nanotechnologies – rapidly developing technology of the XXI century. Cyclotron complex enables to promote new science-intensive technologies using nuclear track membranes which are currently widely used in physics, chemistry, biology, medical and food industry. Unique potential of the accelerator provides a possibility to look to the most complicated issues of matter structure. For instance, it is possible to perform an experiment to search for neutron matter which is one of the fundamental issues of the modern natural science. Race for leadership in the detection of the matter is in progress in all the leading laboratories of the world as the winner will get the Nobel Prize. Now, our specialists have a real chance …
With the start of ISRC our capital will have a possibility to manufacture high technologies and science-intensive products even for export. Experience in design, assembling and manufacturing of the unique accelerator obtained from creation of the ISRC will be the practical basis for the next step in high technologies - creation of heavy-ion accelerator to generate new super-heavy elements. We should point out once more that it is for the first time in Kazakhstan that the large and expensive equipment is to be located near the university. This justifies a special consideration of the state to training of highly-qualified personnel. Physicists were looking forward to the start of the ISRC as such an event in Kazakhstan is held first in the past forty years.
Assel Mukanova
http://www.kazpravda.kz/