Refurbishing the 4.5 MV Charging System of the Tandem Accelerator of the Edwards Accelerator Laboratory

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This award supports research infrastructure at Ohio University through an upgrade to the capabilities of the van de Graaff tandem accelerator at the Edwards Accelerator Laboratory by replacing the out-dated, trouble-prone charging belt system with a Pelletron charging system, which uses a charging chain rather than a belt. Charging belts for the accelerator are no longer produced commercially, and to date non-optimal alternatives have been pursued such as used belts or belts produced for other purposes. The upgrade to the charging system for the tandem accelerator will make the ion beam energy more stable, allow running at the maximum rated voltage (4.5 MV), enable more predictable maintenance, and provide a reliable source of spare parts. Together, these aspects will enhance reliability, productivity, research and training, and technical capability for research efforts enabled by the accelerator. The majority of the applied research takes advantage of the neutron physics capabilities that exist in our laboratory and includes measurements relevant to nuclear reactors, stockpile stewardship,homeland security, and materials science. Users of the facility include Ohio University students, both undergraduate and graduate, postdocs, and faculty, as well as outside users from universities, national laboratories, and industry.