| As mentioned in the last issue, the newly-formed TRIUMF Study Group had spent the Fall of 1965 compiling their initial Report on the TRIUMF Project, and early in January 1966 it was submitted to the Atomic Energy Control Board – AECB being at that time the agency responsible for funding nuclear physics research at Canadian universities. In April this effort was rewarded by a grant of $100,000 from Ottawa, making it possible to hire staff and purchase equipment for model studies to better define the design parameters and costs. |
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| Model magnet, power supply and field measuring equipment. Note the flat magnet sectors (echoing the 1966 design) and the punched paper tape for data storage. |
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The first TRIUMF employee (in July) was Joop Burgerjon, who brought a wealth of relevant experience from his time building cyclotrons in Amsterdam, Pretoria and Winnipeg. One of his first contributions, characteristic of his elegant engineering, was the design of the TRIUMF logo, neatly symbolizing the cyclotron’s unique capability of providing several extracted beams at different energies. In September he was joined by Ed Auld, newly returned to Vancouver with a Ph.D. from Southampton, to work on the cyclotron magnet design, with Mike Haines as an assistant. The loan of a 1/20-scale model magnet by Reg Richardson and his UCLA colleagues (ever-helpful consultants) and the purchase of a 150-kW, 3000-A power supply enabled a complete test setup to be assembled by the end of the year. Orbit studies of the sensitive central region were also begun with the help of a computer analyst, David Scott. Additional expertise on mechanical design and the building and site requirements was provided by Terry Creaney, Joe Kilpatrick et al. of Shawinigan Engineering, who also compiled the cost estimate - $22 million in 1966 dollars (at least $140 million today) for the initial facility. |
| The net result of everyone’s efforts was the TRIUMF Proposal and Cost Estimate, edited by Erich Vogt and Joop Burgerjon, submitted to AECB in November. The most substantial change from 1965 was to go for a full 100-μA meson “factory” rather than a 20-μA “workshop”. This required a larger machine, the 500-MeV orbit radius rising from 230˝ to 271˝, and more magnet weight, from 1470 to 2800 tons – but still modest compared with the eventual values! Also, there was to be only one extracted beam, with all experiments accommodated in one hall, but that changed as well. The site proposed was on the other (West) side of Wesbrook Mall, at the corner with South Campus Road.
A crucial advance in 1966 was the informal involvement of the University of Alberta. Several members, led by John Warren’s old students, Jack Sample and Croy Nielsen, joined the TRIUMF Study Group, and the Proposal included a statement from the UoA’s Board of Governors approving in principle the university’s participation in the consortium. It’s interesting to note that one of the conditions set was that “The name of the project would need to reflect the University of Alberta’s place as a founding partner”. I recall giving a talk in Toronto at that time entitled “The TRIUMF-AL Project” – but somehow the suggestion didn’t catch on!• |
