[News-releases] Ceremony Celebrates Canadian Cyclotron Prowess --- at TRIUMF

[Tim Meyer]

News Release | For Immediate Release | 16 December 2010

CEREMONY CELEBRATES CANADIAN CYCLOTRON PROWESS-AT TRIUMF

(Vancouver, BC) --- A special ceremony on Thursday, December 16, 2010, at
10:00 a.m. celebrates the recognition of first beams from TRIUMF's main
cyclotron in 1974 as an engineering milestone for Canada.  IEEE, the world's
largest professional association for the advancement of technology, is
dedicating a pair of plaques in French and English to commemorate the award
announced earlier in August. 

The ceremony will be held at TRIUMF atop the concrete vault surrounding the
main cyclotron.  In addition to representatives from IEEE and the federal
and provincial governments, three members of the pioneering team that helped
design, build, and commission the device will be giving historical
perspectives on the challenges and successes of this marvel of science,
technology, and engineering.  

The cyclotron at TRIUMF is the world's largest such device and while it is
not the world's highest energy accelerator (that distinction belongs to the
LHC at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland), it is one of the most intense.  The
TRIUMF cyclotron produces an intense beam of protons at energies of up to
500 million electron volts and with speeds up to 75% the speed of light. 

The success of the TRIUMF cyclotron helped drive the commercialization of
smaller cyclotrons for medical uses such for the production of medical
isotopes.  Advanced Cyclotron Systems, Inc., in Richmond, BC, is a current
world leader in this area and was formed directly on the success of the
TRIUMF activities. 

Since first beams were established, the TRIUMF cyclotron has been the
primary engine behind a wide variety of programs including proton-based
therapies for selected eye cancers, pre-flight irradiation tests and studies
of aerospace components, production of selected medical isotopes, and a
broad program of research in particle and nuclear physics and materials
science. 

The text of the plaque reads:

First 500 MeV Proton Beam from TRIUMF Cyclotron, 1974. 
At 3:30 p.m. on 15 December 1974, the first 500 MeV proton beam was
extracted from the TRIUMF cyclotron. Since then TRIUMF has used proton beams
from its cyclotron (and secondary beams of pions, muons, neutrons, and
radioactive ions produced in its experimental halls) to conduct pioneering
studies that have advanced nuclear physics, particle physics, molecular and
materials science, and nuclear medicine.

For more information, please see URL
http://www.triumf.ca/Home/Upcoming%20Events/IEEE%20Engineering%20Milestone%2
0Ceremony.   

###

**************************************************************
Timothy I. Meyer, Ph.D.
Head, Strategic Planning & Communications
TRIUMF -- Accelerating Science for Canada
4004 Wesbrook Mall
Vancouver, BC  V6T 2A3  CANADA
Tel: 604-222-7674
Fax: 604-222-3791
Cell: 650-464-8955
E-mail: tmeyer at triumf.ca
WWW: http://www.triumf.ca
**************************************************************

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