Following through on last summer’s Memorandum of Collaboration, ESS and J-PARC held a joint workshop addressing technology and safety at ESS, while Japanese minister Yoshimasa Hayashi also visited the site last month.
LUND—On January 18-19, the European Spallation Source (ESS) hosted a two-day workshop with representatives from the Japan Proton Accelerator Complex (J-PARC) to share information on the current status of each facility and exchange knowledge across the technologies of the accelerator, target, and neutron instruments as well as the safe operation of the respective facilities.
The European Spallation Source and J-PARC have been working together since 2012, and the collaboration was formally renewed last year with the signing of a Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) to strengthen the cooperation between the two facilities. The MoC provides the framework for exchanges such as last month’s workshop.
“The workshop created an opportunity for the staffs of ESS and J-PARC to engage proactively to provide essential insight into the operation and maintenance of the two facilities,” said ESS Technical Coordinator Masatoshi Arai, who previously served as Director of the Materials and Life Science Division at J-PARC. “Such activities provide a basis for future collaboration. We hope to capitalise on the momentum with a similar workshop at J-PARC later this year.”
The large Japanese Delegation was headed by J-PARC Director Naohito Saito and included representatives from the different technical areas. The visitors were met by their counterparts at ESS, including Arai, Director General John Womersley, Technical Director Roland Garoby, Science Director Andreas Schreyer and Associate Director for Environment Safety & Health Ralf Trant. Breakout sessions by technical area were held on the second day for more in-depth exchanges.
J-PARC started operations in 2008 and has experience in operating, maintaining and developing a 1 MW accelerator and a spallation neutron source. ESS is in its fourth year of construction and is scheduled to begin its user program in 2023. The facility will employ a variety of cutting-edge technologies, including world-leading scientific instruments, a 5 MW pulsed accelerator design, a low-dimensional moderator, and a tungsten-based target station.
Also visiting ESS in January was a Japanese delegation including the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Yoshimasa Hayashi, and Jun Yamazaki, the Japanese Ambassador to Sweden, as part of a joint tour including the MAX IV synchrotron and Medicon Village. The delegation was met by the Swedish State Secretary to the Minister for Higher Education and Research, Karin Röding. Womersley and Arai welcomed the visitors on behalf of ESS. The delegation was interested in learning more about ESS and MAX IV and the ecosystem that surrounds them, including Medicon Village and the future Science Village.
While the Minister visit was of a political nature, both visits are grounded in a wish to strengthen the collaboration between the two countries and learn from a better exchange of experience and knowledge.
