Neutron streams

The US Department of
Energy is
experted to endorse
plans of build-
ing a US $3 billion
particle accelerator. The primary
purpose of the
accelerator will be
to produce tri-
tium for nuclear
weapons (Nature,
Vol 376, July 20,
1995).

But the facility will
have another
spin-off. it will be
the world's premiser source of
neutrons. This will
be good news to many
researchers
who have been
bemoaning the cancellation of the
Advanced Neutron
Source, a US $2.8
billion research
reactor, last
February. The tritium
producing accelerator
could be used
as a source of
neutrons for studying material and biomolecules.