Repairs have begun at the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon to replace the linear accelerator, with some of the existing infrastructure dating back to the 1960s.
The accelerator speeds up electrons to create the ultrabright light researchers use to study materials.
Officials said that the replacement started Monday and will continue over the next six months to move, refurbish and install several systems and devices.
“It will substantially improve reliability and will keep our facility operating at high availability along with the world’s best synchrotrons for the next decade and beyond,” said Mark Boland, CLS Machine director.
About 80-90 per cent of the equipment being replaced will be recycled, with the remaining ten per cent will be donated to universities or museums.
The overall budget for this replacement is $15 million.
Johnny Campbell, senior project manager for the upgrade project, said there are many delicate steps with this replacement process and that several technical experts were brought in from across the facility to all agree on how to complete this project.
“I am most excited for this project to be complete, and what I mean by that is we’ve been working on this project for about three years now,” Campbell said.
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