China starts building 1st spallation neutron device

China has started to build its largest scientific device, the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), according to a statement from its launching ceremony Thursday.

A perspective drawing of CSNS project inDalang County of the city of Dongguan in Guangdong Province. [File photo]

The CSNS is a tool to utilize neutrons to probe the structure of the microscopic world, which "functions like the x-ray when scanning the human body," said Chen Hesheng, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The device mainly consists of an H-linac and a proton rapid cycling synchrotron and is designed to accelerate proton beam pulses to strike a solid metal target to produce spallation neutrons, according to Chen.

The CSNS will help China's research into flammable ice and radiation therapy for tumors, said Chen.

"The building of CSNS will mutually benefit the already built synchrotron radiation source and advanced nuclear reactor in China and provide technical support for the country's cutting edge research," said Chen.

The CSNS is the first of its kind in developing countries and projected to be operational in 2018, with a budget of 1.67 billion yuan (about 262 million U.S. dollars), according to the statement.

Jointly built by the CAS and the southern Guangdong Province, the CSNS is located in Dalang County of the city of Dongguan in Guangdong, about 125 km from Hong Kong.

The world's other three operating spallation neutron sources are in the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan.


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