Designing the First NSLS-II Beamlines

Preliminary designs are completed for the first six NSLS-II project beamlines. The designs lay out basic beamline details, from the front ends, where the light is siphoned off the main ring, to the hutches, where research is performed.

Closing the Ring

The structural framework of NSLS-II becomes a complete, nearly half-mile ring as the final steel beam is bolted into place. The “topping out” ceremony collected the signatures of more than 300 construction workers, Brookhaven and Department of Energy officials, invited guests, and Lab employees on the last steel beam, which will be visible to future research teams on the experimental floor.

Boom Gives Birth to Photon Sciences Directorate

The Light Sources Directorate spends much of the year planning for a reorganization into the Photon Sciences Directorate. This new structure will better manage the rapid growth of the directorate, which grew from 180 employees to 450 in five years as its portfolio expanded from operating NSLS to also include designing and constructing NSLS-II, designing and constructing additional beamlines for NSLS-II and, in coming years, transitioning to NSLS-II operations.

Moving Into Production for Accelerator Hardware

The Accelerator Division checks off 11 of its 14 goals for the year, with “in progress” noted on the balance. Design work on the complex hardware for NSLS-II accelerator systems was completed in 2010. This includes superconducting cavities, RF power sources, vacuum systems, power supplies, magnet systems and insertion devices. In addition, the division started the fabrication and assembly of aluminum vacuum chambers, finishing roughly 25 percent of them by year’s end. Orders for all vacuum pumps were placed, and about 50 percent of the pumps were delivered.