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Remarks by Dr.
Arden Bement Good afternoon and welcome to the NIST Center for Neutron Research. This is a celebration of sorts, a recognition. We decided when planning this event that we would limit the number of guests in part because this is a time to say "Thank you" to our partners who have done so much to make the NCNR such a success. I want to especially
welcome -Congresswoman Connie Morella of Maryland's Eighth Congressional
District,Dr. John Marburger, Director of the White House Office of Science
and Technology,Dr. Rita Colwell, Director of the National Science Foundation,
as well as other representatives from the Department of Energy and the
National Institutes of Health, and from two of our private sector partners,
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Corporation, and the University of
California at Irvine. I think to set the
stage for our speakers I should give our visitors a little bit of background
on how this facility came to be. Planning for the original
neutron source here began back in the late 50s. It was clear even then
that neutron beams were going to be one of the most valuable materials
research tools of the modern age. Neutron analysis would be important
to physics, materials science, radiation standards, standard reference
materials - some of the core responsibilities of the agency. Even then this was
seen as a user facility - but the vision was more that this would be a
regional facility first and a national resource second. At the time, neutron
sources were expected to be all over the place. By the late '50s many
government agencies, universities and industrial organizations were actively
planning or designing research reactors: Bell Labs, Union Carbide, GE,
Westinghouse, and a few dozen universities across the country. I mention this simply
because the current status of the NCNR as the best and most used neutron
facility in the nation - when so many other facilities have come and gone
- owes a lot to the three men who designed the original source. Carl Meuhlhause, Bob
Carter and Harry Landon designed a research reactor for the long haul.
Their innovative design - particular the provisions they made for what
ultimately became the facility's first cold neutron source - are widely
recognized to have gone beyond visionary and into prescient. By the 1980s, new
tools were emerging. Cold neutrons, which could image much larger features,
were emerging as the hot new thing - so to speak - at the Institut Laue-Langevin
in France. The U.S. was far behind
Europe in cold neutron research, but here the far-sighted design of the
NIST facility paid off. NIST and the Department of Commerce proposed a
large volume cold neutron source - and just as importantly this guide
hall - to capitalize on the unique features of this reactor design. Their
argument was greatly strengthened by the fact that the NIST facility was
the only place in the country which could reasonably host such as facility. The opening of the
Cold Neutron Guide Hall in 1990 led to an explosion of partnerships and
interactions with industry, universities, and other agencies. You'll be
hearing more about some of those partnerships today - and more importantly,
you will hear about the dividends that those partnerships have paid in
scientific advances. Each year in this facility, over a thousand researchers
from all over the world participate in cutting-edge research. The NCNR
can boast the highest levels of participation by industry researchers
of any facility of this type in the world We've also greatly
expanded our role in education at the NCNR. Over 200 graduate students
are working on PhD research here in any given year. We also have special
programs for college and high school students, thanks in part to the National
Science Foundation. Overall, more than 120 U.S. universities a year participate
in research and training at the NCNR. And over the years
the original judgment that a facility like this would be critical to the
NIST mission has been proven true. Twenty NIST divisions do work at the
NCNR. In addition to materials research, the Physics Lab and the Chemical
Science & Technology Lab maintain their own research stations. The NCNR is an important
resource for carrying out the NIST strategic plan, particularly in nanotechnology.
The high-resolution SANS and other instruments here can measurement nanostructures
over an extraordinary range of four orders of magnitude, from one-tenth
to over a thousand nanometers. And it's critical
in our healthcare-related strategic focus area. About 15 percent of the
cold-neutron research here is in biotech or healthcare-related work. Phil is the Under
Secretary of Commerce for Technology, so he heads up the Technology Administration,
NIST's parent agency. But he also wears another important hat as Chief of Staff to Commerce Secretary Don Evans - something that I happen to think is a darn good idea. Page created: 8/27/02
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