A particle accelerator is due to replace the reactor at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center. Soreq director Dr. Shaul Horev told members of the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee visiting the site yesterday that a laser particle accelerator facility was now under construction.
This will be the first electrically driven laser particle accelerator in the world. The Israeli Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) believe that when the particle accelerator is completed in eight years, it will be able to replace functions currently undertaken by Soreq's nuclear reactor, and could enable it to be closed down.
The Soreq nuclear reactor is mainly used for medical research and space research. It also tests satellites' resistance to radiation. The particle accelerator will be able to conduct the same research at much higher safety levels and with far less energy. Currently, during emergencies, the nuclear reactor must be shut down and until the risk of a radiation passes, the reactor cannot be examined. There is no risk of radiation from the particle accelerator.
The particle accelerator was developed in Germany on the basis of a Russian invention. Only four countries worldwide have the ability to manufacture particle accelerators, of which Germany is one. Israel will be the first country in the world to replace a nuclear reactor with a particle accelerator.
Although construction of the particle accelerator will be completed in five years, Soreq wants to test it before bringing it online and replacing the reactor. This process is expected to take three to four years.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 3, 2008
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