Tennessee Lab Breaks a Physics Record

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- The Americans have bested the Brits again _ this time in physics.

In an accomplishment that promises to lead to new drugs, energy advances and other benefits, Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has become the world's most powerful source of pulsed neutrons.

The $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source's linear accelerator produces a proton beam that strikes a mercury target and creates a stream of subatomic neutrons that are used to study the structure and dynamics of materials.

The beam reached 310 kilowatts, in late January, nearly doubling the 163-kilowatt record held by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford, England. Oak Ridge now holds the Guinness World Record.

"This is basically confirming what we did in January," lab spokesman Bill Cabage said Monday. "We confirmed the record."

The neutron stream will allow scientists to look deep into the structure and dynamics of materials to improve them and find new uses.

The technique, called neutron scattering, was developed at Oak Ridge in the 1940s and has led to advances in everything from jetliners to credit cards. New drugs, new ways to map oil deposits and advances in fuel cells are applications expected in the future.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, about 25 miles west of Knoxville, is a Department of Energy facility managed by Battelle Memorial Institute and the University of Tennessee.

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Oak Ridge National Lab: http://www.ornl.gov/