1.5 Trillion Invested in Heavy Ion Accelerator... Started Amid 'Half-Measure' Concerns

IBS Center for Medium Energy Ion Accelerator, Successful Low-Energy Beam Extraction on the 7th
Medium Ion Acceleration Not Yet Performed, "Equipment Normal Operation Confirmed" Achievement

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) announced on the 12th that the Korea Heavy Ion Accelerator Research Facility (RAON) successfully conducted the first beam extraction test in the low-energy acceleration section on the afternoon of the 7th.

A heavy ion accelerator is a facility that accelerates and collides particles of matter to study various properties of materials, such as the internal structure of atomic nuclei. It is a representative large-scale national research and development (R&D) project, similar to space launch vehicles, nuclear fusion, and artificial satellites. Accelerators are classified into heavy ion, proton, and electron accelerators depending on the particles being accelerated. Among these, the heavy ion accelerator rapidly accelerates heavy ions and collides them with target materials to generate and study various rare isotopes that do not exist naturally or have not been discovered. It is a culmination of extreme technology that accelerates heavy isotopes like uranium to 50% of the speed of light (approximately 300,000 km/s).

RAON began conceptual design in 2010 and completed facility construction in May 2021. The superconducting accelerator device in the low-energy section overcame numerous technical challenges and was installed by December 2021. With a total investment of 1.5183 trillion KRW, including 357.1 billion KRW for land acquisition, 638.4 billion KRW for facilities, and 522.8 billion KRW for device construction, it was designed and manufactured using domestic technology.

IBS plans to gradually expand the acceleration test section and conduct beam extraction tests aiming for the commissioning of the low-energy accelerator device (a total of 54 acceleration modules) by March next year. This time, the first beam extraction test was successfully conducted on the first five acceleration modules at the front end out of the total 54 modules.

IBS stated, "This marks the first milestone confirming that RAON operates according to its targeted performance, and it also signifies that the performance of essential auxiliary devices required for accelerator operation, such as cryogenic facilities and central control systems, has been verified." They added, "To use a car analogy, it is like completing the manufacturing, starting the engine, and confirming the comprehensive interworking and normal operation of major components such as the power generation and steering systems, successfully conducting a low-speed driving test in first gear."

RAON's acceleration performance is at the highest level, comparable to the FRIB heavy ion accelerator at Michigan State University (MSU) in the United States. It is designed to combine two rare isotope production methods (ISOL + IF) for the first time in the world, enabling the generation of a wider variety of rare isotopes.

Based on this successful beam extraction, beam commissioning will be gradually expanded, and in 2023, commissioning of the entire low-energy section and beam commissioning of the rare isotope production device (ISOL) linked with the accelerator and the low-energy section experimental devices will be conducted simultaneously. From 2024, stable beam supply will be provided to enable full-scale beam utilization research.

Hong Seung-woo, director of the IBS Heavy Ion Accelerator Research Center, expressed gratitude for the hard work of the research center staff on the success of the first step toward the world's top-level rare isotope accelerator and said, "As the director, I find this very meaningful. We will strive to ensure that the beam commissioning of the entire low-energy section, scheduled to proceed step-by-step until March next year, progresses as planned."

Meanwhile, the government initially planned to complete the high-energy section by 2022 and succeed in the world's first simultaneous construction and re-acceleration of low-energy and high-energy accelerator sections. However, due to conducting R&D and construction simultaneously without prior research, manpower shortages, and tight schedules, the development of the high-energy section accelerator device failed. Consequently, the plan was revised early last year to conduct preliminary R&D separately from this year to 2025 with a budget of 12.6 billion KRW, and depending on the results, construction of the high-energy section will commence. This has led to criticism from some quarters labeling the project as "half-baked."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.