Czech Republic and Netherlands join European Spallation Source

The decision was taken at the fourth ESS international Steering Committee meeting, held in the Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden. The Czech Republic and the Netherlands will be the 15th and 16th Partner Countries, and will be represented in the Steering Committee at its next meeting. At today’s meeting, Colin Carlile was appointed CEO and Director-General for ESS AB until 2013. Lars Börjesson, Secretary-General for Research Infrastructure in the Swedish Research Council, was elected Chairman of the Steering Committee.

- I am very pleased by the progress and the positive spirit of this fourth meeting of the ESS international Steering Committee. The meeting shows that the ESS project is definitely moving ahead fast, says Colin Carlile, ESS Director-General.

- The growing number of Partner Countries also shows the scientific attractiveness of the ESS. It is particularly appropriate that the Czech Republic now joins the ESS, since the Czech Government, during its EU Presidency last spring, was a strong driving force to achieve a decision on the ESS siting.

Both the Netherlands and the Czech Republic have an extensive expert base in neutron-based science, through the Reactor Institute at Delft Technical University and at the Rez Neutron Physics Laboratory, near Prague.

In a particular point on the agenda, the Steering Committee reviewed the rapid progress with the Design Update of the ESS accelerator. Information was also given on the continuous expansion of the central scientific team in the Accelerator Division and the building up of the international technical collaborations.

- The ESS accelerator design will benefit from the vast expertise in European universities and institutes, and I am particularly satisfied to be able to present the outline of this large collaborative effort today, says Mats Lindroos, Head of the ESS Accelerator Division.