Under the National Reconstruction Plan (KPO), NCBJ has received funding for the implementation of three major projects included in the Polish Research Infrastructure Map - the Polish Free Electron Laser PolFEL - phase 1.1, NOMATEN CoRE and MNL Maria Neutron Laboratory. Thanks to the funds, worth a total of 225 million PLN, the Institute will acquire a modern research infrastructure and expand opportunities for cooperation internationally and with businesses.

Polish Free Electron Laser - phase 1.1

The construction of the PolFEL research infrastructure is one of the largest and most ambitious projects of its kind in Poland. It will include not only the Polish Free Electron Laser, but a whole set of photon and electron sources that will be used to conduct research in a wide spectrum of life sciences. All sources will be of pulsed nature, reaching single femtoseconds (10^-15 seconds), and in the future even fractions of a femtosecond. Acting like sophisticated flash lamps, these sources will create instantaneous images of the microworld, enabling scientists to follow the successive stages of many physical and chemical processes and thus understand their full dynamics.

Thanks to funding from the KPO, PolFEL's previously planned infrastructure will be expanded and given new capabilities. In particular, the most important component of the infrastructure, the linear electron accelerator, will be retrofitted with novel superconducting ejectors, so that the entire electron acceleration process will be carried out at temperatures close to absolute zero. In addition, PolFEL will also gain new stations and research techniques, such as a station for the study of gaseous samples using the Ultrafast Electron Diffraction (UED) technique, or systems dedicated to research using photon pulses. This expansion will make the Polish Free Electron Laser an attractive research tool for a much wider range of problems. What's more, the funding will also enable the expansion of the infrastructure of the Świerk Informatics Centre, which will provide conditions for the transmission, processing and analysis of very large data sets obtained from experiments conducted at PolFEL.

More details: https://www.ncbj.gov.pl/projekt/polfel-polski-laser-na-swobodnych-elektronach-faza-11

NOMATEN CoRE - new materials research

The NOMATEN CoRE project involves the acquisition and commissioning of unique research equipment for the NOMATEN Centre of Excellence, which has been established through the collaboration of NCBJ, CEA and VTT. The task of the NOMATEN CoE is to conduct research on new radiopharmaceuticals, as well as heat-, corrosion- and radiation-resistant materials that can be used in the energy and chemical industries.

The research infrastructure purchased with KPO funding will enable the launch, within a single research centre, of a unique and complete research facility that will specialise in the modelling, manufacturing and testing of materials exposed to extreme operating conditions. Thanks to the upgrade and purchase of new computing clusters, the NOMATEN CoE numerical group in the Data Analysis and Computer Simulation Laboratory will be able to carry out calculations that will propose new chemical compositions for materials and conduct advanced numerical simulations to understand the mechanism of radiation defect formation and accumulation. This will enable the creation of models that will better predict the so-called lifetime of a material, taking into account the conditions under which the material must operate. The Structural and Functional Laboratories will gain the ability to produce and test high-strength coatings with the ability to precisely control the chemical composition throughout the process. This will enable a new structural material to be manufactured and coated in a single facility. In addition, the NOMATEN group will gain access to the only autoclave in Poland where it will be possible to test materials in conditions corresponding to the environment of a PWR nuclear reactor. This is critical in the context of building competencies related to the nuclear power programme. The Preclinical Research Laboratory will build state-of-the-art equipment for the production of new radiopharmaceuticals, and together with the Radioisotope Centre POLATOM will build a scanner in which PET, SPECT and CT imaging techniques will be integrated. This will create a unique in the country possibility of imaging the distribution of two different radioisotopes simultaneously.

More details: https://www.ncbj.gov.pl/projekt/nomaten-core

MNL - neutrons from the MARIA reactor

The MARIA research nuclear reactor is the only one of its kind operating in Poland. It has seven horizontal channels that lead neutron beams outside the reactor to research stations. As part of the MNL Maria Neutron Laboratory project, a state-of-the-art neutron laboratory will be set up at the reactor, which will allow for the study of the structural and magnetic properties of condensed matter, as well as neutron radiography and tomography. With the measurement techniques available, it will be possible to expand knowledge and development in areas such as renewable energy sources, Li-Ion batteries, fuel cells and hydrogen energy, and magnetic materials.

Thermal neutron diffractometers from the BerII Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB) reactor will be the primary research equipment at MNL. As part of the KPO-funded project, these instruments will be adapted and installed at the MARIA reactor, and the associated infrastructure necessary for the operation of the laboratory and facilities for MNL scientists and experimental visitors will be created. The allocated funds will also enable the purchase of modern ionising radiation detectors to reinforce safety during measurements, as well as access to a data cluster to guarantee secure storage and free access to measurement data. A neutron radiography/tomography station, upgraded as part of the project, will also be part of the laboratory. The state-of-the-art laboratory will allow research to be conducted in extensive international collaboration, as well as cooperation with external entities, including businesses.

More details: https://www.ncbj.gov.pl/projekt/mnl-maria-neutron-laboratory