Neutrons for industry

Abstract

Basic science with neutrons should be and certainly is curiosity driven. It is the uncommitted willingness of the scientist to explore the laws of nature beyond the already known which creates true innovation. Beyond this appraisal of western scientific culture there is ample of space and also a great need for the eventual transfer of innovation to products which may serve for the wealth of our society. This process asks for intense interaction between science and industry, i.e. researchers and engineers. Speaking with the language of engineers this process is classified in Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) to assess the maturity of evolving technologies during its development and are generally measured on a scale from 1 (basic technology research) to 9 (system test, launch & operation). Within the TRL-scale research with neutrons is dominantly located on the levels 1 to 3, i.e. basic research to first principle feasibility. However there are important examples where research with neutrons goes far beyond. Tailoring crank shifts for engines by measuring completely nondestructive internal stresses on an atomic scale certainly involves levels 7 to 8 (subsystem development). Checking routinely turbine plates for aircrafts and gas turbines by neutron tomography even goes beyond technology levels 9, i.e. manufactured products are routinely checked for quality. In some important cases neutrons are the means to produce materials modern society absolutely needs, i.e. most homogenously doped bulk silicon used in high voltage direct current electricity transport and hybrid cars. Radioisotopes such as 131I, 99mTc, 177Lu and 161Tb can only be produced on a large scale using high neutron fluencies.