131 LA UR 03 5862 - National Nuclear Security Administration ...

2.11.2 Operations at the Los Alamos Neutron Science CenterThe SWEIS identified seven capabilities for the LANSCE Key Facility. No new capabilities have beenadded, and none has been deleted. During CY 2002, LANSCE operated both accelerators and three of the fiveexperimental areas. (Area A has been idle for more than two years; Area B has been idle for several years buta new Ultracold Neutron Facility is under construction.)The primary indicator of activity for this facility is production of the 800-million-electron-volt LANSCEproton beam as shown in Table 2.11.2-1. These production figures are all less than the 6,400 hours at1,250 microamps projected by the SWEIS ROD. In addition, there were no experiments conducted fortransmutation of wastes. There was also no production of medical isotopes from 1999 through 2002, althoughconstruction of a new isotope production facility has been completed. Table 2.11.2-1 provides details.The most significant accomplishment in CY 2002 for LANSCE is the successful completion of a full runcycle for the three primary experimental facilities: the WNR, the Proton Radiography area, and the ManuelLujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center (Lujan Center). LANSCE hosted over 780 user visits this run cycle (June3–January 26). The facility operated at an average 86 percent availability for the Lujan Center and 88 percentfor WNR, allowing the completion of just under 225 experiments for internal and external neutron scatteringand neutron nuclear physics users. Construction of two new instruments at the Lujan Center began in 2002.One, IN500, will be used for inelastic neutron scattering studies. The other is NPD-gamma, which will lookfor violations of the weak nuclear interaction.A hot cell in the new Isotope Production Facility at LANSCESWEIS Yearbook—2002 2-117