Name: Système de Production d’Ions Radioactifs Accélérés en Ligne – participation of the Czech Republic
Institution: Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Coordinator: Mgr. Jaromír Mrázek, Ph.D.; mrazek@ujf.cas.cz
Website
SPIRAL2-CZ secures the participation of the Czech Republic in the SPIRAL2 (Système de Production d’Ions Radioactifs Accélérés en Ligne) research infrastructure, which is being built as part of an important upgrade to the existing GANIL (Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds) facility in Caen, France. SPIRAL2 is being constructed for basic and interdisciplinary research and research linked to applications. Intense ion and neutron beams and related equipment will enable researchers to study nuclear physics topics including nucleosynthesis astrophysical scenarios ranging from Red Giants to explosive processes in novae, study the activation of construction and target materials by charged particles and explore changes in materials exposed to neutron fields (for nuclear and fusion facilities). Intense ion beams will be used for the investigation of radioisotopes with medical potential, of the energy dependence of nuclear reactions and techniques for the production of new therapeutics and theranostics. In the first stage of the SPIRAL2 project, technologies for irradiation by intense ion beams and measurements taken of short-lived products will be available (vacuum/pneumatic system for activation, transport and measurement developed in the Czech Republic). The data are necessary for the modelling, design, and decommissioning of construction and target materials of future nuclear energy facilities. The emergence of changes and the degradation of the properties of these materials during their life cycle is a well-known problem. The technology and
equipment at SPIRAL2 will allow for a higher level of these experimental tests. Thanks to the combination of stable, radioactive and neutron beams, GANIL/SPIRAL2 will continue to be among the most important laboratories in nuclear physics of low and middle energies in Europe.
