A team of engineers from Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) has started installing protective lead boxes for the experimental station "Basic Methods of Synchrotron Diagnostics" at the Shared Resource Center "Siberian Ring-Shaped Photon Source" (SKIF). These structures, called hutches, play a key role in ensuring the radiation safety of researchers working with synchrotron radiation.
Hutches perform a dual function: they not only protect personnel from radiation, but also serve as the basis for placing engineering networks, including cooling, ventilation, power supply, and safety systems. The total weight of the structures for the first station is about 15 tons, of which 6 tons is 5 mm thick lead cladding.
Seeing blueprints turn into real structures before your eyes is a very exciting and inspiring moment. The installation of protective structures was preceded by years of developing the necessary design documentation and coordinating with scientists on all aspects to ensure a certain level of load-bearing capacity – a great deal of engineering and design work was done. We plan to complete the installation of the boxes for the first station by May 25. In the future, scientific equipment will be placed inside them. In total, the Tomsk Polytechnic team will install radiation protection for six SKIF stations, and we are fully installing two stations – both the containment structures and the experimental equipment.
The station is scheduled to launch in 2025 and will be the first as part of SKIF. According to Yan Zubavichus, Chief Researcher at the SKIF SRC, this is an important step in the implementation of the project, which will open up new opportunities for research in the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, and materials science.
The start of the installation of the hutches is a very important stage in the implementation of the entire SKIF project. Currently, the structures for station 1-4B, as we call it, are being installed. The station equipment was purchased as part of the project to modernize the unique scientific facility "EXAFS Spectroscopy Station" of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which is currently operating at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. We are preparing to transfer this equipment to SKIF, into the assembled hutches, the installation of which is being completed by Tomsk Polytechnic. We expect to launch this experimental station in 2025. It will be the first SKIF experimental station to be put into operation. It operates on a поворотный магните, so we have the opportunity to launch it first. The countdown has already begun.
SKIF is one of Russia's key scientific projects aimed at developing synchrotron research. The unique characteristics of the source will allow scientists to conduct advanced experiments, which will accelerate the development of high-tech industries.
The project is being implemented within the framework of the Federal Scientific and Technical Program until 2030 and will become the best in its class source of synchrotron radiation.
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