"8th High Brilliance Neutron Source” Workshop and “ELENA Focal Area Meetings"
by Thomas Gutberlet, JCNS
10 October 2022
After two years of virtual meetings, the eighth international workshop on High Brilliance Neutron Sources based on a compact accelerator system was held again as a face-to-face conference from 28-30 September 2022, organized by the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at its traditional venue in the small village of Unkel on the banks of the Rhine. The three-day workshop had an intensive program with parallel sessions of the "Focal Areas" of the European Low Energy accelerator-based Neutron facilities Association (ELENA) and comprehensive presentations on the various ongoing projects and initiatives. All sessions of the workshop were also open for virtual participation, so that especially participants from Asia and America could be present.
With more than 50 registrations from colleagues in Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Morocco, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, the workshop was truly international. A considerable number of presentations in the field of accelerators, moderator systems, neutron targets and neutron instrumentation were presented in the ELENA Focal Area Meetings. They led to intense discussions, which also took place during the coffee breaks and made the meeting a very lively event.
On the second and third days, comprehensive reports were given on the recent work and status of HiCANS (High Current Accelerator-driven Neutron Source) projects in Europe, Canada and Japan. Networking activities to establish joint PhD projects in this field and to develop the European landscape of neutron facilities were considered. Finally, closer collaboration between the League of advanced European Neutron Sources (LENS) and the ELENA Association was discussed, e.g., in the area of moderator development.
All participants, who attended in person or participated virtually, enjoyed the very informative presentations and the inspiring atmosphere of the workshop. The next HBS workshop will take place again in September 2023 at the Rheinhotel Schulz in Unkel, Germany.