FLNR results of the ending seven-year period and plans for the next one
On November 10-11, 2023 a Session of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries of the Governments of the JINR Member States was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. By the results of the work the JINR CP approved the presented Seven-year plan for the development of JINR 2024 – 2030 previously approved by the JINR Scientific Council and JINR Financial Committee.
CP work program started with the report by JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov on the results of JINR work in 2017-2023.
- Results of the ending seven-year plan
At Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions work is under way to create DRIBs-III heavy ion accelerator complex. Putting the SHE Factory into operation became one of the FLNR’s outstanding results of the current seven-year period.
U400M has been under modernization for three years, now is being prepared for startup at the end of 2023 – beginning of 2024. In parallel with the accelerator modernization new experimental setups were actively put into operation at FLNR.
Among them there are DGFRS-2 gas-filled separator for the study of superheavy element properties, GRAND separator for the experiments in the field of nuclear mass-spectroscopy of superheavy elements and studying the chemical properties of SHE, as well as RIBs channel at U400M accelerator for studying exotic nuclei structure in the vicinity of neutron stability line.
Over the past six years more than 240 new events in the formation of superheavy elements have been obtained at the SHE Factory, the properties of 40 isotopes have been studied, seven new isotopes have been discovered – Lawrencium-264, Moscovium-286, Darmstadtium-275 and 276, Hassium-272, Seaborgium-268, and Livermorium-288. New decay modes for Dubnium-268 and Roentgenium-279 were obtained.
In 2023 experiments have been started to obtain high intensities of titian and chromium isotopes for experiments on the synthesis of element 119 and 120.
- Plans for the next seven years
The approval of the JINR Seven-year development plan for 2024-2030 became the key event of CP Session. New seven-year project developed in accordance with the JINR Long-Term Development Strategy up to 2030 and beyond was presented to the Session participants by JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov.
The main purpose of the new seven-year plan is to form a long-term scientific research program and increase intellectual human capital optimally provided with infrastructural and financial resources.
Synthesis of new elements of Mendeleev Periodic Table, study of their properties using nuclear spectroscopy methods, as well as their chemical properties, study of the mechanisms of various nuclear reactions resulting in formation of new, still unknown nuclei remain JINR foreground scientific direction.
Research will be continued as well as the development of necessary infrastructure to study the light nuclei structure far from the stability line. Along with the reconstruction of U400M accelerator complex the creation and development of DC-140 accelerator complex will be continued. The complex tasks are related to the research in the field of solid state physics, surface modification of various materials, with the track membrane production as well as testing the radiation resistance of electronic components.
It is planned to create a 1st class chemical laboratory which will be equipped with a powerful electron accelerator and will be possible to work with highly active materials including preparation and regeneration of targets for the SHE Factory as well as radioisotope production for scientific, radioecological and medical applications.
These new scientific infrastructure facilities along with the being created for the nuclear medicine MSC-230 superconductive cyclotron will become the basis for an interlaboratory international innovation center for the nuclear physics research. Development of technologies and methods in the field of nuclear and radiation medicine, radiation material science as well as personal training for the Member States will be its main tasks.