Sirius
SIRIUS was designed to be a new generation accelerator facility for the U.K. that would produce beams of radioactive nuclei.
Introduction
Its aim was to be of benefit to fundamental studies of nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics, and to applications in materials, bio-medical and environmental science. The NPG was in the forefront of the SIRIUS project since its conception.
Over recent years, a new generation of nuclear structure facilities has begun to emerge around the world, based on the acceleration of beams of unstable nuclei (RIB's). Such a facility gives physicists the opportunity to induce nuclear reactions between unstable species and a stable target, thereby unleashing a plethora of new phenomena for experimental study. In its simplest form this type of radioactive beam facility is made up of two accelerators. One provides a primary stable ion beam which is used to produce radioactive isotopes. After extraction these isotopes are ionised and accelerated to the required beam energy in the secondary accelerator. Currently, the first generation of facilities is coming on-line and new and exciting results are already being obtained. The UK nuclear physics community has been focusing its efforts over the past few years on the development of the techniques necessary to realise a "second generation" facility with much wider capabilities and most importantly, greatly enhanced final intensities.
The SIRIUS project was to be one of the major parts of CASIM. CASIM (Centre for Accelerator Science, Imaging and Medicine) that was planned to be based at Daresbury Laboratory.
History
- The SIRIUS project has been undertaken in phases, with the first phase of the project culminating in the successful completion of the RIST project. The RIST project demonstrated the technical feasibility of the intended method of radioactive beam production.
- The second phase of the SIRIUS project involved the production of a detailed proposal for an intensive radioactive beam facility built around the ISIS proton beam at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory. Phase 2 of this project was a collaborative effort by the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC - now STFC) and several UK Universities (Birmingham, Brighton, Liverpool, Manchester and Surrey.) The study was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
- The third phase of the SIRIUS project was to be its incorporation into CASIM. This involved an alternative primary beam production mechanism and the use of a charge breeding device to raise the charge of the radioactive ions prior to post-acceleration.
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