Europe could lose significant neutron beam resources over next decade

Science : The Neutron Landscape Group (NLG) was commissioned to determine the effect of the upcoming closures of a variety of neutron beam sources in Europe. According to the NLG, two-thirds of Europe’s current neutron sources were built in the 1960s and 1970s and are scheduled to be shut down. The group’s report, released last week, says that if all the aging facilities that are scheduled to close over the next 15 years do so, then the supply of neutrons for research will be reduced by 40–50%. That reduction accounts for the addition of the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, Sweden, which will be the world’s largest neutron source when it begins operating around 2019. However, due to limited funding, the ESS will have only 16 instruments running in the first 10 years of operation. That would not be close to offsetting the 40 instruments present at the Institut Laue–Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France, which is expected to close in 2023. The NLG suggests that maintaining the ILL, which would cost around €200 million ($222 million), would help reduce the loss of neutron production to just 20%.