Scientists thrilled by £140m machine

9:00am Tuesday 7th August 2007

A MAJOR milestone in the building of a huge machine designed for microscopic science was completed on Monday.

The £140m Isis Second Target Station project at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, saw the closing of the 150m tunnel, which houses the core of the project - the proton beam line - marking a significant step in the construction process.

The beam line pulses protons from one end of the tunnel to the other in 10 milliseconds. The protons hit a small target, which allows things to be studied on a microscopic scale.

Dr Martyn Bull, a spokesman for Isis, said: "Monday was the last day anyone was able to get into the tunnel and see the beam line because once the machine is working, it will become radioactive. It is the best in the world. The construction of this second target station is astonishing."

Work began on the second Isis facility more than four years ago and it is due to be completed next June. The machine will double the size of the original facility, which opened more than 20 years ago.

Dr Bull said: "We are really excited about it - this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see it being built. It has such completely new capabilities and it will carry on keeping Oxfordshire and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory at the forefront of scientific research."

The project means thousands more scientists will be able to use the world class facility to make scientific breakthroughs in areas such as bioscience, computers, and clean energy technology. Dr Bull said: "We have influenced the rest of the world. No other country has a machine like this one. It is a safe and efficient technology that produces no waste."