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Heavy ion accelerator to be completed

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-06-07 15:07

One of China's most expensive science facilities, the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL) - Cooler Storage Ring (CSR), is expected to be completed soon, a leading scientist said on Tuesday.

Zhan Wenlong, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and director of the CAS Institute of Modern Physics, said in an interview with Xinhua, the HIRFL-CSR will lead its global peers in technology and performance.

"Our target is to form new heavy elements and expand the Periodic Table," Zhan said.
Meanwhile, he said, the National Lab of Heavy Ion Acceleration, which is based in the CAS Institute in the inland city of Lanzhou, will open to global scientists for research.

The HIRFL-CSR, with a state investment of about 300 million yuan (37.5 U.S. dollars), includes a main ring, experimental ring, a radioactive separator and experimental detectors.

"The building of large science facilities demonstrates not only our specific technological know-how, but also the prowess of our basic research," Zhan said.

Chinese science strategists decided to build the HIRFL in the mid 1980s. The facility, which was put into operation in December 1988, was awarded the top national prize for technological advancement in 1992.

The CSR is the latest upgrade of the HIRFL, which has helped Chinese scientists to form two new heavy-nuclear elements.

"We are able to thoroughly study the heavy ion collision inside the experimental ring," said Zhan.

The CAS institute invited seven prominent nuclear physicists from Germany, Russia, Japan and Sweden to advise the construction of the HIRFL-CSR.

The Chinese physicists were invited by Germany as key partners for research on the antiproton and ion accelerator in Germany.