Top Scientific Breakthroughs in 1997. Each year Science Magazine lists the top ten significant developments in scientific research. The 1997 list included three topics strongly supported by ER programs - synchrotrons, fullerenes and genomes. Richard Smalley's Nobel Prize winning discovery of fullerenes continues to generate exciting science at the nano- (one billionth of a meter) scale. Dr. Smalley's work was supported by Basic Energy Sciences and the structure of buckyballs and many of its derivatives were determined at ER's National Synchrotron Light Source and neutron scattering facilities. Today, ER supported research such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's characterization of the properties of nanotubes are a continuation of this research agenda. Microbial genome research, that builds on our capabilities and contributes to our mission, has contributed to the accomplishment of "what once seemed a pie in-the-sky goal--analyzing whole genomes". Third generation synchrotron radiation sources, the Advanced Photon Source and the Advanced Light Source were called out for enabling breakthroughs in the structure of materials. The Advanced Photon Source (APS) completed its first year of operation in 1997. The floor of the APS was filled with experiments many of which could not have been conducted anywhere else. Results are beginning to flow out of those experiments in many fields including: materials science and condensed matter physics, biological sciences, plant and environmental sciences, and geosciences. For example, a new structural determination and biochemical analysis of the human fragile histidine triad (FHIT) protein was performed at the APS during its first year of operation. This protein derives from a fragile site of human chromosome 3 that is commonly disrupted in association with cancer development. The unique capabilities of the APS are advancing our understanding of this tumor suppressor protein and a great many other scientific mysteries. In the News. ER's advanced materials research is also contributing to human health. A new sensor has been invented, by researchers at DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, that makes it possible to instantly and inexpensively detect a wide range of biological toxins and common disease-causing organisms. The sensors detected cholera and botulism toxins, similar to those recently discovered in fruit and fast food hamburgers. These toxins are responsible for hundreds of American deaths each year. Existing tests require a 24 hour culture, but with development, the new sensors could, with development, be placed on packaging for instant and simple identification of contaminated foods and materials. Other sensors are being developed to detect viruses such as the influenza virus. The William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a unique scientific user facility for molecular-level research in environmental and life sciences, became fully operational on October 1, 1997, at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. In addition to its potential for breakthrough research in environmental sciences and remediation technologies, EMSL has advanced the concept of "virtual and remote" laboratory research. The Large Hadron Collider. DOE and NSF completed negotiations with the European Physics Lab CERN regarding contributions to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) accelerator and detectors as part of the U.S. participation in the LHC program. The enabling agreements were signed in December 1997. Participation will provide U.S scientists with continued access to the forefront high energy physics facilities in the next decade. Partnerships. For over 50 years, ER and its predecessor organizations, have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the pursuit of cutting-edge scientific research. More recently, ER has committed to forging more effective partnerships that leverage our research investments and connect us more closely with other federal science programs and the direct beneficiaries of our research. ER is fostering new kinds of partnerships among its national laboratory, university and industry based researchers to maximize the effectiveness and impact of research activities. In partnership with the Department's applied programs, ER is also working to bridge the gap between basic research and application to ensure the continued relevance of our research portfolio and maximize the return on the taxpayers' investment. These partnerships include: joint planning of long-term research; joint solicitations and funding of targeted research efforts; and annual integration workshops that bring together program managers and researchers from across DOE and its Laboratories. ER strives to be the premier basic research organization in the basic energy and natural sciences in order to contribute to a more secure energy future with a clean environment, a healthy citizenry, and a strong economy including the ability to meet future challenges and providing a range of energy and policy options necessary for future prosperity. FY 1999 PRIORITIES -EXPLORING THE FUTURE TODAY The highest program priorities in FY 1999 are to move the U.S. toward International Leadership in Neutron Science, provide the scientific basis for a DOE Climate Change Technology Initiative, maintain Scientific User Facilities Utilization, develop DOE applications and technologies for the Next Generation Internet, and renew our commitment to Science Education to tap the human resources of the National Laboratories to ensure an adequate supply of scientists and engineers for the future. The Spallation Neutron Source. Since the late 1940s, DOE and its predecessor agencies have been the major supporter of neutron science in the United States. DOE support extends from the earliest work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Graphite Reactor in the 1940s to the Nobel Prize in physics in 1994 for work on neutron scattering. The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is included as a line-item construction project in the FY 1999 President's budget at a level of $157 million. The purpose of the SNS project is to provide a next-generation short-pulse spallation neutron source for neutron scattering and related research in broad areas of the physical, chemical, materials, biological, and medical sciences. The SNS will be a national user facility open to scientists from universities, industries, and federal laboratories. It is anticipated that the facility will support the work of between 1,000 to 2,000 scientists and engineers each year and that it will meet the national need for neutron science capabilities well into the next century. The U.S. currently lags behind both Europe and Japan in neutron research capability and planned foreign neutron sources threaten to further increase their lead. The unique information that neutrons provide about the hundreds of materials that we use every day affects us all. For example, information from neutron scattering is used by chemical companies to make better fibers, plastics, and catalysts, and by drug companies to design drugs with higher potency and fewer side effects. Magnetism research with neutrons has led to more efficient electric generators and motors and to improved materials for magnetic recording tapes and computer hard drives. The importance of neutron science for fundamental discoveries and technological development has been enumerated in all of the major materials science studies since the 1970s. These include the 1984 National Research Council study “Major Facilities for Materials Research and Related Disciplines" (the Seitz-Eastman Report); the 1993 DOE Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) report “Neutron Sources for America's Future" (the Kohn Panel Report); and the 1996 BESAC Report (Russell Panel Report). The Conceptual Design Report was prepared by a team involving several DOE laboratories. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is responsible for the ion source; Los Alamos National Laboratory for the linear accelerators; Brookhaven National Laboratory for the compressor ring; and Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the target and instrumentation. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has overall responsibility for the project. In preparing the Conceptual Design Report, the SNS project used internal technical reviews, international collaborations, and workshops involving technical experts and the user community. Technical reviews were held for the accelerator systems, the target station, and the conventional facilities. Four workshops were held on various aspects of the design and technology challenges. Based on the recommendations of the scientific community, particularly the 1996 Russell Panel Report, the SNS Conceptual Design was completed in June of 1997. At an initial operating power of 1 megawatt (MW), the SNS design will create the most powerful spallation source in the world. The SNS Total Project Cost (over 7 year schedule) is $1,333 million. In August of 1997, ER's Division of Construction Management reviewed the Design with a team of 60 experts and concluded that the design was credible and the costs reasonable. The DOE Independent Cost Estimate done by Burns and Roe, validated the cost to within less than 1%. On December 23, 1997, Secretary Peña reviewed and approved the SNS Baseline. The FY 1999 request will allow the start of Title I design activities, initiation of subcontracts and long-lead procurements, and continuation of critical research and development work necessary to reduce technical and schedule risks in this project. The technical design, and therefore cost, of the project is linked to siting and is of paramount importance. We developed the conceptual design focusing on the technical specifics of the project and the needs of the scientific community, decoupled from the site preference. One of the major technology decisions -- a full-energy linac with an accumulator ring versus a rapid cycling synchrotron -- was considered in great detail and was the subject of numerous discussions and review. This was perhaps the most vigorously discussed aspect of the entire project. The DOE Review of the CDR summarized the findings of the community on this issue as follows: "To address the needs expressed by the neutron community, the NSNS team As a result of this technical decision, cost differences associated with the different laboratory sites have been minimized. To demonstrate the State of Tennessee's backing for the SNS project, Governor Don Sundquist has pledged $8 million for a user support facility, which will include office space, general computing capabilities, and dormitory space for students. However, the final decision on the location of the Spallation Neutron Source has not been made and will come in the first quarter of the calendar year 2000, after alternative sites are evaluated in an the Environmental Impact Statement. Oak Ridge National Laboratory was chosen as the preferred site because of its long standing role in developing neutron science and its role in applying advances in basic materials science to DOE's missions. The Oak Ridge Graphite Reactor was the world's first production reactor and first continuous neutron source. The Graphite Reactor produced an array of radioisotopes for defense, medicine, industry and research. Two Oak Ridge researchers, Clifford Shull and E.O. Wollan realized that the reactor's neutrons could be just as useful for probing matter as for transmuting it. In a series of pioneering experiments, Shull and Wollan used neutron diffraction, or scattering, to reveal structural details and magnetic properties never before seen. The science of neutron scattering was thus born at Oak Ridge in the late 1940s - an event recognized in 1994 by the award of a Nobel Prize in Physics to Clifford Shull. As neutron scattering flourished, Oak Ridge physicists developed and harnessed these and other powerful research tools, such as accelerators, in the study and manipulation of materials. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory High Flux Isotope Reactor is one of the world's most productive research reactors, capable of creating radioisotopes, exposing alloys to brutal radiation intensities and revealing the molecular architecture of plastics and magnetic materials. Oak Ridge's highstrength, high-temperature alloys lead to tougher power plants and trucks while reinforced ceramics form the world's fastest, most durable machining tools; and Oak Ridge radioisotopes enabled millions of home smoke detectors and an estimated 100 million medical diagnostic procedures each year. Surface-treated plastics, recently developed at Oak Ridge, may soon find their way into both fighter jets and credit cards while fundamental contributions to semiconductor science are already etched into every computer chip made today. We are organizing our management at the labs, the field offices, and headquarters to be ready for prompt initiation of the project in FY 1999. Key lab management positions such as the Associate Laboratory Director for the SNS, the Deputy Project Director, the Engineering Manager, and the Science Director have been filled. Senior Team Leaders have been appointed at all of the participating laboratories. The Cost and Schedule Control System is being developed and will be in place before construction begins. In addition to project management, a Steering Committee has been formed, consisting of distinguished members of the neutron science community to provide input on instrumentation and user needs to the laboratory. The Megascience Forum of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has formed a Working Group on Neutron Sources that includes in its scope of activities cooperation in research and development for new neutron sources. Agreements are already in place with England's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the European Spallation Source project to allow joint research and development. Climate Change Technology Initiative. Energy drives our economy but also challenges environmental stewardship locally, regionally and globally. About 85% of human generated greenhouse gas emissions are associated with energy production and use. To control or reduce these emissions we must rethink our use of carbon-based fuels. New technologies for efficient fossil fuel use, carbon sequestration, or use of renewable fuels will be key. The foundation for both technology and policy innovation is new knowledge. Building on existing programs and capabilities, DOE is proposing to contribute to the President's Climate Change Technology Initiative by expanding its energy science and technology programs. The FY 1999 budget request provides $27 Million for Energy Research programs. Within the Climate Change Technology Initiative, Energy Research will provide the science base for new technologies that will lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions. For example: fundamental materials science will enable low-friction, lightweight, and nano-scale materials that improve energy efficiency; biomimetic (biological-mimicking) chemistry such as artificial photosynthetic system, biochemistry, and molecular genetic analysis will promote low- and nocarbon emitting energy sources such as hydrogen; catalysis research will result in advanced, energy efficient chemical processes, for example, improving the catalytic converters in automobiles; and the natural carbon sequestration processes of ecological systems, such as forests and oceans, will be explored for possible enhancements. These topics and their integration into our existing programs arise from the recommendations of a report from a set of 1997 Energy 49-799 98-2 |