The Spallation Neutron Source is ramping up again after what was termed a “very productive” winter outage, and SNS chief Ian Anderson said neutron production is expected to resume at 4 p.m. Monday (Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day).
The SNS has been shut down since Dec. 23. In a message to staff, Anderson said, “A substantial amount of maintenance and improvement work was accomplished throughout the facility. Major activities included replacement of the proton beam window, installation of a new core vessel insert and shutter on Beam Line 16 and installation of the new Ring Injection Dump beam line with a larger aperture for the waste beams from ring injection.”

He added: “The facility is now authorized for beam delivery to the target and start-up is well underway.”
Neutron production should begin on Monday, with the SNS power level at about 650-700kW, Anderson said. “I look forward to a productive and reliable operating period for the SNS that builds on our initial success of delivering 1,600 hours at 92% reliability from October through December 2010,” he said in the memo.