The international atomic energy agency's programme on utilization of accelerators

Abstract

Low-energy accelerators have in the past produced a major part of our current knowledge of nuclear physics. Today they are mainly used for applied research and industrial applications. In view of this, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has during recent years initiated several Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs) concerning Ion Beam Analysis of Materials, Accelerator Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Microprobe Techniques. The CRPs involve laboratories from developing as well as developed Member States, networking on a common topic coordinated by the IAEA. In order to facilitate networking, the IAEA has recently published the “World Survey of Accelerator Based Analytical Techniques” available on the Internet and as a CD-ROM. The IAEA maintains also a beamline at a 6 MV Van de Graaff accelerator in the Ru đ jer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia. Small and medium power accelerator driven spallation neutron sources will become more important as many small neutron producing research reactors are approaching the end of their useful working life. The IAEA has, within its Department for Nuclear Sciences and Applications, a programme on the Effective Utilization of Accelerators. This programme helps Member States, in particular developing Member States, in finding new areas of applications for their low and medium energy accelerators through increased participation in activities such as Coordinated Research Projects, Technical Meetings and Conferences. This paper describes the IAEA's current programme on accelerator utilization and proposed future activities.