Who We Are
SNS is the world’s most intense pulsed accelerator-based neutron source. Completed in 2006, SNS is a unique facility that is providing the neutron scattering community with unprecedented research opportunities. The SNS main experiment hall will eventually contain 25 one-of-a-kind instruments to provide opportunities for studies in practically every scientific and technical field.
We’re the Neutron Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The directorate operates two of the world’s most advanced neutron scattering research facilities: the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). About 600 dedicated staff operate and maintain both facilities. Funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences.
ORNL has a long history in neutron scattering research. In 1946 the science was pioneered at ORNL by Clifford G. Shull. The scientist went on to be a corecipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work.
The Neutron Sciences Directorate was formed in 2006 – when SNS was just coming on line and a major upgrade of HFIR was being completed. The new organization was charged with realizing ORNL’s goal of becoming the world’s foremost center for neutron science, providing researchers with unmatched capabilities for understanding the structure and properties of materials, macromolecular and biological systems, and the fundamental physics of the neutron.
HFIR is the highest flux reactor-based neutron source for condensed matter research in the United States. Completed in 1965, HFIR’s main goal at that time was the production of isotopes, primarily for medical use. Although isotope production is still an important part of HFIR operations, today its main mission is neutron scattering research. Materials irradiation and activation analysis services are also available for users.
Today, with HFIR and SNS at one location, ORNL provides neutron scattering capabilities unavailable anywhere else in the world. With additional facilities such as the Joint Institute for Neutron Sciences, the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, and one of the most powerful scientific supercomputing facilities in the world, ORNL is working hard to become the world’s foremost center for neutron scattering science.
