Novosibirsk-based SKIF synchrotron to be built on schedule - Nuclear Physics Institute director

NOVOSIBIRSK. Aug 23 (Interfax) - The Nuclear Physics Institute in Novosibirsk has launched mass production of elements of the main ring accelerator of the Siberian Ring Source of Photons (SKIF) center for collective use, Institute Director Pavel Logachev told Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko at the Tekhnoprom 2022 forum in Novosibirsk on Tuesday.

"As a result, in December 2024, we will launch both the synchrotron and the first stations that were supposed to open by the end of 2024. [...] The project is not rescheduled, and we aim at achieving everything and launching the complex in the research mode at the beginning of 2025," Logachev said.

"As of now, we have practically finalized the construction of the booster synchrotron and the linear accelerator and have begun mass production of the main ring [of the accelerator]," he said.

As for the cost of work done by the Nuclear Research Institute for SKIF, 20% falls on imported materials and component parts, while 10% of the equipment has been purchased from Japan and Europe in order to expedite production, Logachev said.

"The Nuclear Research Institute has all competences and developments necessary to replace this equipment, and we have done so over the year," he said.

The construction of the SKIF synchrotron began on August 25, 2021, near the Koltsovo science town in the Novosibirsk region, not far from the Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology.

SKIF will consist of 30 experimental stations, including 14 to use the emission from plug-in devices (placed in straight sections of the main ring with a length of four to six meters), and 16 will be placed on beams of bending magnets.

It is planned to launch the synchrotron and one station by December 30, 2023, and six more stations of the first segment will begin operation at the basic functionality one year later. The stations will aim at deciphering biopolymers' structure, mechanisms of functioning of living organisms, the transmission of hereditary information, and the mechanism of action of drugs, as well as at creating new materials, studying rapid processes, etc.

SKIF will be the world's first generation 4+ source of synchronized emission operating in the 3 GeV energy range.

The cost of the SKIF project was initially estimated at 37.1 billion rubles. It has grown to 47.3 billion rubles due to higher prices on building and other materials.