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New Developments
Looking to the future, the laboratory is expanding its current program of neutron cross section measurements of the elements and has significantly
upgraded the sophisticated equipment necessary to remain at "state-of-the-art". In 1980, the first architectural change in the building was made since its construction in 1967. A new "time-of-flight
tunnel" was placed deeply underground in the vacant land just east of the building. This addition--together with some sophisticated new research equipment--has extended the capability of the laboratory by a
significant amount. Just as a higher power microscope gives the botanist a clearer look at the cellular structure of plant tissue, this new facility provides the higher magnification which we need for a clearer look
at the vastly smaller structure of atomic nuclei.
The laboratory is also well equipped for study of (n,z) reactions, that is, processes in which a neutron strikes a nucleus and releases a charged
particle. These (n,z) reactions are of importance in radiation therapy for cancer as well as fusion reactor design. The combination of a high current accelerator, a long neutron flight path in the new tunnel,
and a pair of "state-of-the-art" (n,z) spectrometers makes it possible to study at Ohio University problems which include questions as fundamental as how nuclei are held together and as applied as
measuring numbers needed for implementing cancer therapy.
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