Present: J. Billowes, B. Blank, Y. Blumenfeld, P. Butler, R. Catherall, J. Cederkall, U. Datta Pramanik, L. Fraile, M.J. Garcia-Borge, P. Greenlees, M. Henry, Y. Kadi, M. Kowalska, N. Marginean, K. Riisager, D. Santonocito, L. Schweikhard (replacing K. Blaum),  P. Van Duppen, S. Siem, R. Losito, P. Van Duppen

Excused: K. Blaum

Absent: S. Harissopulos, R. Losito

Invited: A.P. Bernardes, M. Grieser, M. Veskovic

The meeting starts at 11:00 h

0. Introductory remarks by the chairperson

The chairperson opens the meeting and welcomes the committee. The committee thanks

Y. Blumenfeld for the four years he has spent as ISOLDE group leader and wishes him all the best for the future.  

1. Approval of the minutes of the 63rd meeting.

The minutes of the 63rd ISCC meeting are accepted without any alterations.

2. Technical developments and BE and EN Department news (R. Catherall).

R. Catherall begins by summarizing operations at ISOLDE during the first half of 2012. The committee is told that it has been a very successful period for target development especially the results achieved with the molten salt target. He also notes that an article about the high intensity 6He beam has been chosen as the editor “highlight” in the next issue of EPL.

The four year project to complete Pb/Bi online tests in 2015 for EURISOL is very briefly presented as well as on-going work under the ENSAR Actilab task.

The committee is told that a new air conditioning system has been installed at RILIS producing more stable conditions which reduce the drift of the laser beams. A commercial system is now being used to allow stabilization of the laser beams and essential RILIS parameters are being published to a Labview DSM so that they are accessible from the CERN technical network https://riliselements.web.cern.ch/riliselements/LASERS/ .

R. Catherall informs the committee that REX has had two successful runs so far this year with another 10 runs scheduled until September. He then mentions some of the many on-going development projects at REX for HIE-ISOLDE.

Some completed and on-going infrastructure projects at ISOLDE are discussed including the ISCOOL RF amplifier which will be operationally tested and validated during the second half of 2012’s running period and the new Injector Controls Architecture (InCA) that is being installed.

The committee is told that there have been a total of 14 ALARA interventions at ISOLDE so far this year and that a safety course for the ISOLDE primary area is now on line https://sir.cern.ch .

R. Catherall then turns to the Target Area Upgrade and summarises the progress made regarding the HIE-DS design study, the robot upgrade and the Hot cell. The new personal and material access device (PAD-MAD) which is standard for CERN primary areas will be installed at the end of 2013. However there will be no PAD-MAD system at the ISOLDE experimental hall as this is physically impossible so an alternative solution is being sought.

The possible MEDICIS project is presented to the committee. The idea is to irradiate samples just ahead of the beam dump and supply them for medical purposes. The process should be transparent to HRS users and could be up and running by 2015. R. Catherall then describes the new target life cycle and handling proposal and then concludes by giving an overview of how all these projects will be integrated.

3. Scheduling, PH Department and ENSAR news (M. Kowalska/Y. Blumenfeld).

M. Kowalska begins by summarising the CERN injector schedule for 2012 which should provide ISOLDE with 35 weeks of physics. So far the amount of available protons has been close to what was requested and the technical stops have taken place as planned so have not affected the ISOLDE schedule.

The ISOLDE experimental schedule for 2012 is then presented. Of the 1009 shifts that remain open for a total of 91 IS experiments, 833 shifts were requested by 71 experiments. LOIs have a total of 53 shifts open of which 40 were requested by 14 LOIs. The total number of RIB shifts actually scheduled during the 2012 running period is 579, of which 537 are for IS experiments and LOIs. There remain 38 open IS which were not scheduled in 2012, 18 of which requested beam. Of the 377.5 REX shifts requested a total of 220 are scheduled for 17 IS experiments and 1 LOI.

M. Kowalska explains to the committee that it was very difficult to set a schedule during April and May as many groups were either not ready or not willing to run over or around the Easter period.

The committee is told that LS1 is still from December 4 to spring 2014 but it is possible that the injectors will start up later which would extend the shutdown for ISOLDE. It is decided that Y. Blumenfeld /M.J.G. Borge will stress to S. Bertolucci that this would be detrimental to fixed target experiments like ISOLDE.

M. Kowalska gives a brief overview of the physics highlights so far during 2012 including the successful operation of a molten salt target for beta beams and the first online diffusion profile using the new online diffusion chamber. The ISOLDE target team is thanked for their strong support. The committee is told that a more numerous target team has allowed detailed yield checks before each physics run and the committee stresses that it would be very useful for this information to be easily available to users.

The committee is informed that an ISOLDE template for presentations and posters is now available in Powerpoint format on the ISOLDE website (http://isolde.web.cern.ch/ISOLDE/default2.php?index=index/facilityindex.htm&main=facility/picturegallery.php ). Users are encouraged to use the templates when mainly results from ISOLDE are involved.

M. Kowalska informs the committee of the following news for Users:

• More common equipment is now available in the ISOLDE hall such as a fast scope, a new NIM crate and VME timing modules (VOULOMS). J. Kurcewicz can be contacted for more information.
• The CERN hostel has 10 rooms reserved for ISOLDE users working shifts. These rooms can be booked via M. Kowalska during a limited period after the ISOLDE schedule is published. There may be a possibility to increase this to 20 rooms in 2014 but there will probably be no rooms booked during 2013.
• The Greybook has been updated so that deputy teamleaders are also visible making it a more useful tool for users wanting to register at CERN.

The following safety issues are then summarized:

• The online radiation protection course that was promised by the Dosimetry Service for April 2012 is still not ready.
• The access door to ISOLDE has been moved but the access procedure is unchanged.
• In 2013 ISOLDE will be classed as a worksite so physicists will have to wear helmets and safety shoes. Visits should still be possible provided the necessary safety equipment (helmets) is available.
• The move of the Solid State Physics lab from building 275 to building 115 has not advanced. M. Henry states that the solid state community is worried about the lack of progress.

Y. Blumenfeld begins by presenting M.J.G. Borge as the new ISOLDE Physics Group Leader as of August 1^st 2012. The physics group personnel situation is then summarized:

• Fellows: Thomas Cocolios (CRIS + ISOLTRAP + Windmill) has a contract until September 2012 and will then begin a Rutherford Fellowship but will remain at ISOLDE at least until the end of the running period. Jan Kurcewicz (Data Acquisition) has a contract until November 2013 (ENSAR funded). Elisa Rapisarda (Miniball) will be a fellow from September 2012 to September 2014. Susanne Kreim (ISOLTRAP) has a contract until December 2014. Andreas Knecht (1/2 AD, 1/2 WITCH) will start his fellowship August 2012.
• Associates: Marek Pfutzner will have a PDAS contract from September 2012 to February 2013 while Olof Tengblad will have a CASS contract from January to April 2013 and J.Guilherme Martins Correia for a period of 4 months.
• Students: Hans Tornqvist (Miniball + beta-NMR) will be at ISOLDE until August 2012 and Kara Lynch (CRIS) until August 2013. Hossein Aghai Khozani (1/2 CRIS, 1/2 AD) is funded by a German grant until September 2014 and Richard Vinge (EBIS) will be a technical student partly funded by a Swedish grant for one year from August 2012.
• Technician: Julien Thiboud is funded 50% by the collaboration and 50% by ENSAR but this ENSAR funding will end in August 2013. The ISCC agrees that the collaboration will fully fund the position of J. Thiboud for the one extra year that his CERN contract allows. It is stressed that specific targets should be set for the 5^th and final year of the contract.
• User Support: Jenny Weterings now has a renewable Norwegian contract (renewable in April 2015) funded 50% by CERN and 50% by the collaboration.

Y. Blumenfeld then summarises the status of the ENSAR TNA funding at ISOLDE. Due to exchange rate fluctuations there has been a slight increase in funds available in 2012 allowing a total of 100kEuros to be paid to ISOLDE Users this year. This will leave 40kEuros available for the running period from April to August in 2014. There is a possibility that the ENSAR project could be extended but this is not an ISOLDE decision so information is being sought about the possibility of transferring the 40kEuros assigned to 2014 if the facility does not start up as planned in April 2014 after LS1.

The committee is informed that the EURISOL week will take place in Lisbon from 15^th to 19^th October http://cfif.ist.utl.pt/~eurisol/  and that ISOLDE hosted the ENSAR PCC and GA meetings on April 23^rd and 24^th 2012.

The 2012 ISOLDE Workshop will take place at CERN from 17^th to 19^th December. ISCC members are asked to consider whether or not the ISOLDE Workshop should be held in 2013 and, if so, should it take place outside CERN.  

4. INTC matters (P. Butler).

P. Butler informs the committee that, as chairperson of the INTC, he is now asked to give a short overview of INTC status at every SPC meeting. He suggests that in the future this be prepared in advance possibly with input from the ISCC. P. Butler will try to use this forum to push for more visibility of ISOLDE on the CERN website.

The committee is told that, at the last Research Board meeting, the TSR project at ISOLDE was given outline approval but no funds have yet been allocated.

The next INTC meeting will take place over the two days of 31^st October and 1^st November and the deadline for proposals is 3^rd October. Only HIE-ISOLDE proposals for the first stage at 5.5 MeV/A will be accepted for the meeting this autumn as it is intended to use them to help shape the facility.

It is stated that ISOLDE experiments with remaining shifts and that are still active will be considered for scheduling in 2014.

P. Butler announces that his mandate as INTC chairperson will finish at the end of 2012 and that his successor should be named soon.

5. Discussion on one-year prolongation of mandate of coordinator

The committee is informed that the ISOLDE Scientific Coordinator M. Kowalska would agree that her three year CERN contract be extended for a period of one year until September 2014. The committee unanimously approves this extension.

6. HIE-ISOLDE safety and access (A.P. Bernandes)

A.P. Bernandes presents the ongoing work regarding radioprotection issues at HIE-ISOLDE and the strategy development for the experimental hall. The committee is told there will be no access control for building 170 but it will change from a ”Supervised Area”  to a ”Controlled Area” due to the presence of contamination. This will mean that users will no longer be able to have a temporary dosimeter, i.e. a medical certificate will be mandatory and visitors will no longer be allowed into the experimental hall unless they can be classed as a ”technical visitor”. A.P Bernandes suggests that the counting rooms be moved outside the controlled area and a discussion follows. It is decided that this issue should be discussed in the HIE-ISOLDE Physics Coordination Group and at the next ISCC meeting.

The presentation concludes with a summary of general safety issues at HIE-ISOLDE including hazards such as pressure, oxygen deficiency and seismic activity which have to be taken in account.

7. Status of HIE-ISOLDE (Y. Kadi)

Y. Kadi presents the HIE-ISOLDE schedule showing the activities planned during the CERN long shutdown (LS1). The committee is told that the civil engineering works may over run by a month and there will be a 5 month delay for the cryogenics due to changes in the specifications. Commissioning of HIE-ISOLDE is now expected at the beginning of 2015.

The committee is then given a summary of present R&D activities including cavity fabrication and testing and beam transfer line development. After presenting the status of procurement of the main components of HIE-ISOLDE, Y. Kadi goes on to review the status of the HIE-ISOLDE budget. The estimated cost of the 5.5AMeV facility including both R&D and personnel is now 8.1 million CHF of which 2115kCHF still has to be found.

A discussion follows about how to cover these missing funds. ISCC representatives are encouraged to look into all funding possibilities in their own countries, in particular to cover the cost of phase two of the HIE-ISOLDE project for which procurement is due to start in 2014 and the cost is estimated at 9 million CHF.

8. HIE-ISOLDE Layout (Y. Kadi (for E. Siesling))

Y. Kadi presents the HIE-ISOLDE infrastructure and installation project by briefly summarizing the project schedule.

ISOLDE users are informed that the experimental hall should be cleared by the end of 2012 and their input is requested about how many racks etc. that will have to be integrated into the new hall layout.

A discussion follows about the positioning of the MINIBALL and HELIOS experiments in the proposed new layout of the experimental hall and it is decided that the layout should be checked one final time by the HIE-ISOLDE Physics Coordination Group to ensure that it is the optimum solution. No further changes should then be made.

9. Status of TSR (M. Grieser)

M. Grieser presents the Heavy Ion Storage Ring TSR that is currently installed at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg and the TSR@ISOLDE project to move the Storage ring to the HIE-ISOLDE facility. The ISCC expresses its enthusiasm for the project.

10. Initiative for fixed decay station (P. Van Duppen)

P. Van Duppen summarizes the strong physics case for decay studies at ISOLDE using an efficient germanium array surrounding an implantation/decay station. The proposal to install a fixed set-up with an efficient germanium array and ancillary detectors at ISOLDE is presented along with the list of institutes that have expressed an interest in being involved in the project. The ISOLDE Decay Station Workshop is planned for the 3^rd October 2012 at CERN.

11. Status and future of Nicole (M. Veskovic).

The history of the Nicole experiment is presented followed by a summary of the new collaboration interested in the future of this on-line nuclear orientation system. The committee is told that a workshop is planned for October 2012 to put the future of the NICOLE collaboration and program on a more formal basis.

The current state of the NICOLE set-up is summarized and it is explained that the problem of the dilution fridge leak will probably require help from experts from CERN and outside companies in order to be solved.

The ISCC concludes that the dilution fridge should be repaired first before any physics program is proposed, so someone must dedicate time, funded by the NICOLE collaborators, to fix the set-up. As space at ISOLDE is oversubscribed, the ISCC must be informed, before its next meeting at the end of October, whether or not the dilution fridge has been or can be mended.

12. Indian plans at ISOLDE and HIE-ISOLDE (U. Datta Pramanik).

Future plans for Indian involvement at ISOLDE and HIE-ISOLDE are briefly summarised. The ISCC is very happy to host the LaBr6 detectors for high efficiency gamma spectroscopy from the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics.

13. A.O.B

• The committee thanks M.J.G. Borge for her mandate as the ISOLDE Collaboration Chairperson. Yorick Blumenfeld will be the next chairperson.
• The next ISCC meeting will be held on Tuesday October 30th at 13:30.

The meeting ends at 18:10.