Construction Starts on World's Brightest Light Source

New Brookhaven Lab facility will advance energy science and bring jobs to Long Island

June 8, 2009

EVENT: Celebration marking construction start of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory.

WHEN: Monday, June 15, 2009, 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: NSLS-II construction site, Brookhaven National Laboratory, William Floyd Parkway, one-and-a-half miles north of Exit 68 of the Long Island Expressway, Upton, New York.

DETAILS: This celebration marks the start of construction of the National Synchrotron Light Source II. This $912-million facility will provide extremely bright beams of x-ray, ultraviolet, and infrared light to probe the structures and properties of a variety of materials and biological samples, yielding advances in energy, environmental science, and medicine. When operational in 2015, NSLS-II will be the world's brightest synchrotron light source.

Distinguished guests will include U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Representative Tim Bishop, representatives from Torcon, Inc., the company that will construct the NSLS-II building, and students of all ages, from pre-school to post-doc. Students from SUNY Stony Brook will present a 10-minute modern dance and music program, inspired by light.

Immediately following the groundbreaking ceremony, scientists from Brookhaven Lab, academia, and industry will give brief talks describing research at the current NSLS aimed at meeting ongoing challenges in medicine and energy, and how this work will be advanced at NSLS-II [See details].

REPORTERS interested in attending must RSVP to Karen McNulty Walsh, kmcnulty@bnl.gov, (631) 344-8350 or Kay Cordtz, kcordtz@bnl.gov, or (631) 344-2719, or Mona S. Rowe, mrowe@bnl.gov, (631) 344-5056.

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