Status of the ring: The second ion run in 2001 ended in the week leading up to Christmas. In the last two ion runs, we have been bothered somewhat with drifts of the ion-beam
transport through the injection beamline. The problem is believed to be due to a lacking connection to or an insulating layer on steering/focusing electrodes. We will soon start to
take the injection beamline apart between the separator and the EBIS to locate and cure the problem.
Right after New Year, ASTRID was changed to electron operation: the undulator straight and the electron cavity were installed and baked over the weekend. The pressure looks fine
and the cavity is being conditioned. First injections are planned for tomorrow Wednesday.
The 3-GHz oscillator and preamplifier for the microtron was repaired and tuned in Stockholm in December and there is now plenty of RF power. This also means that the microtron
is back in good operating condition.
A new version of the control system CONSYS has been prepared. Upgrade will not be optional in one week from now.
Two valves are being replaced on the SGM1/SCIENTA system.
A new micro-zone plate for the X-ray microscope has been despatched from Göttingen. It is a replacement for the last one we got, which degraded very fast due to improper
treatment in Göttingen.
EU contract for Access to the Major Research Infrastructure ASTRID. The deadline for proposals to use the ISA facilities was December 20. The number of proposals received
was 35, and 20 of these were from foreign users requesting support from the Access to Research Infrastructure programme. The total requested number of access days is around 800,
which corresponds roughly to the available amount.
The so-called User Selection Panel will meet on February 5 to recommend a short-list of user groups that should benefit under the contract. The Commission should subsequently
approve this list before we can start to provide access supported by the program. We expect that the first external users receiving support can be received in March. The User
selection Panel consists of: Reinhard Dörner, Freiburg; Alessandro Baraldi, Trieste; Eleanor E.B. Campbell, Göteborg; Robert Feidenhansl, Risoe National Laboratory; Philip
Hofmann, ISA; Jens Ulrik Andersen (chairman), IFA; and Søren Pape Møller, ISA.
08/01 2002 /