Present: Y. Blumenfeld, T. Stora (P.T.) (replacing R. Catherall), J. Cederkall, K. Flanagan (replacing J. Billowes), L. Fraile, M.J. Garcia-Borge, P. Greenlees, Y. Kadi, M. Kowalska,
N. Marginean, M. Pfutzner, K. Riisager, D. Santonocito, L. Schweikhard, P. Van Duppen

Excused: J. Billowes, B. Blank, K. Blaum, R. Catherall, U. Datta Pramanik, M. Henry, R. Losito, S. Siem

Absent: S. Harissopulos

Invited: E. Siesling, F. Sonnemann (P.T.)

The meeting starts at 11:00 h

1. Introductory remarks by the chairperson

The chairperson opens the meeting and welcomes the committee.  Certain members of the committee are excused. The chairperson introduces L. Schweikhard as the new German representative to the ISCC and M. Pfutzner who will be taking over some of M. Kowalska’s duties while she is on maternity leave. K. Blaum will remain on the committee as ex-officio member (INTC chair). Peter Butler leaves the committee and is thanked for his many years of service. The committee is informed that J. Billowes will step down as the United Kingdom representative and that his successor will be introduced at the next meeting.

2. Approval of the minutes of the 65th meeting.

The minutes of the 65th ISCC meeting are accepted without any alterations.

3. News from HIE-ISOLDE

3a. Status of the Project (Y. Kadi)

Y. Kadi begins by presenting the updated schedule for phase 1 of the HIE-ISOLDE project; initially planned to start in May 2015, the physics program at 5.5MeV/u is now expected to begin in October 2015. It is stated that the present schedule could, however, be affected by unforeseen emergency activities at the LHC during LS1. The committee is told that the HIE-ISOLDE cost and schedule review had made it clear that a redefinition of the goals and objectives of phase 2 and 3 of the HIE-ISOLDE project is unavoidable.

Y. Kadi informs the committee that, due to the very high bids submitted by manufacturers for a new cryoplant, it has been decided to refurbish the Aleph cryoplant at CERN which should be ready for commissioning at the end of 2014. L. Fraile enquires about the risk of reusing a cryoplant and is told that it has been done successfully at CERN in the past but that the refrigerator will have a limited capacity which will be sufficient for phase 1 and phase 2 but not for phase 3.

The status of the external funding for phase 1 is then presented and the committee is told that there is still a shortfall of 0.7 MCHF.

The extra costs for phase 1 that will be incurred by CERN are then presented; this 2.25MCHF is mostly to cover missing manpower. Y. Kadi then summarises the resources required for completion of phase 1 regarding the cryomodule, the cryogenic plant and beam instrumentation and shows how it is proposed to solve this using redeployment of manpower or limited duration CERN contracts. Y. Blumenfeld informs the committee that a meeting took place on 28^th January 2013 with the CERN departments heads involved in the HIE-ISOLDE project and that it was agreed to cover the missing manpower as outlined by Y. Kadi. It was also suggested at this meeting that, if the ISOLDE collaboration could not find the missing 0.7MCHF in external funding to complete phase 1 of the project, CERN could provide a loan which would be paid back with flexible conditions. After discussion the ISCC agrees to ask for a loan of 0.7MCHF from CERN to be able to complete phase 1 of HIE-ISOLDE; any additional loan depends on discussions held by M.J.G. Borge with other sources.

The committee is told that the recently accepted Belgian Big Science Project application made through K.U. Leuven is earmarked for phase 2. It is proposed to devote time at the next ISCC meeting to the budget and planning of phase 2.

The status of the HIE-ISOLDE cryomodule is presented and then the cavity development work carried out during 2012 is summarized. A total of thirteen cavity tests were completed and the most recent test showed a much improved performance with an accelerating field of 5MV/m at 10 Watts. The testing facility in SM18 at CERN is now unavailable until March so a test bench at Orsay will be used; the collaboration expresses its appreciation to IPN Orsay.

Y. Kadi concludes by telling the committee that most of the recommendations of the previous cavity review have been implemented and then summarising on-going activities within the HIE-ISOLDE project.

3b. Cost and Schedule (F. Sonnemann)

F. Sonnemann presents a summary of the report from the review panel on the HIE-ISOLDE cost and schedule review that was held at CERN 22^nd to 23^rd November 2012. The panel concluded that physics in phase 1 is feasible in 2015, provided the currently earmarked resources and promised manpower will remain available. The panel acknowledged that, despite attempts to make savings whenever possible (e.g. reuse of the Aleph cryoplant) and initiatives to secure funds, there is some external funding shortfall for phase 1 and more notably for phases 2 and 3. It was pointed out that HIE-ISOLDE construction and commissioning is continuously competing for adequate and available manpower with other activities at CERN. Hence, some extra costs are due to having to compensate personnel resources shortfall by paying manpower (fellows, associates and industrial services) out of the materials budget. The panel concluded that the shortage of human resources is the biggest threat to the schedule to allow starting phase 1 physics in 2015. The following recommendations are made:

• Continue on going R&D in cavity productions to ensure performance at design parameters
• Secure the remaining external funding (0.7 MCHF) for phase 1.
• Evaluate and include new extra costs in Earn Value Management system
• Close follow-up with groups is needed to ensure the availability of adequate manpower to tender the remaining components and to keep the current schedule. One shall avoid re-scheduling the planned phase 1 with physics starting in 2015 considering the window of opportunity for performing world leading and unique science in the 2015-2017 period.

F. Sonneman ends by stressing that the operational costs of running HIE-ISOLDE should not be forgotten and that an estimate of these costs should be made.

3c. Experiments and Beam Lines (M. Pfutzner)

M. Pfutzner begins by listing the experimental set-ups that are either planned or have been discussed for use at HIE-ISOLDE. He concludes that two experimental stations will be required unless the solenoidal spectrometer is present in which case three stations would be necessary. Possible arrangements of experimental set-ups are presented for both two beam lines, with a possibility of a third, and three beamlines with the presence of the solenoidal spectrometer. It is noted that the shielding required by the existing HELIOS type magnet would compromise space available for other experiments and that it would have to be optimised.

A discussion follows about the advantages and disadvantages of each arrangement and the basic two beamline proposal is approved. It is agreed that if solenoidal spectrometer experiments are approved by the CERN research board then a third beamline will be required for which funding would have to be found.

4. Technical News from 2012 (T. Stora).

T. Stora begins by summarising separator operations at ISOLDE:

• The cause of the failure of the GPS extraction electrode in 2012 has been found to be external which simplifies the necessary repair.
• Work is ongoing to make improvements to the RFQ cooler during LS1 with regard to the discrepancies in the transmission and operation as a function of mass, operator, Faraday cups etc.
• The old tape station has come to the end of its lifetime and the new Fast Tape Station is in need of improvements so two identical tape stations with a simpler, more reliable design will be built during LS1 but it is not certain that they will be ready for the start-up in 2014.
• An alignment survey of the ISOLDE beamlines is underway.

The committee is told that twenty-seven new targets, of which thirteen were UCx, were produced for the online runs during 2012. Seven of the targets were standard units, six were prototypes and fourteen incorporated developments made during the last five years. Details of the latest prototype targets are presented. T. Stora thanks the Collaboration for the constant support provided for the past three years to this Target and Ion Source Development program. The necessary manpower to maintain the capacity to produce, test and tune during operation such a high number of target units, is not secured from 2014 on. The ISCC states that securing this manpower is indispensable to ensure the running and development of the facility.

T. Stora then summarises RILIS operation in 2012. RILIS provided 319 on-line shifts and ion beams of thirteen elements were produced. Finally future developments at RILIS such as the extension of the RILIS cabin, the implementation of a high power Nd:YVO laser and the installation of a machine protection and monitoring system are presented.

5. Proposed activities for LS1 (T. Stora)

T. Stora details the work that will be undertaken in the target area during LS1. This includes the dismantling of the hot cell, the redesign of the target storage and MEDICIS area and the upgrading of the robot installation. The new CERN PAD-MAD access system will be installed which will mean biometric access to the primary(target) area from December 2013 and the new Alpha Gamma Hot Cell should be ready by February 2014.

The committee is then informed of the work planned in the experimental hall during LS1 such as maintenance of the vacuum systems and beam instrumentation as well as beam line adjustments. Finally T. Stora presents the work scheduled for various ISOLDE laboratories including the decommissioning of the radioactive laboratory 26-R-040 which will then be used for the assembly of new off-line equipment.

All the planned work should be finished by the end of March 2014 and the facility will start up in April. Separator courses will probably be held at the end of May/ beginning of June 2014.

A discussion follows about whether the running costs of HIE-ISOLDE will be higher than those of the present ISOLDE facility. T. Stora states that if HIE-ISOLDE experiment runs are longer than present runs at ISOLDE it will be challenging to maintain beam intensity of the most exotic isotopes over the full duration of the runs.

6. News from the ISOLDE Physics Group (M.J.G. Borge, M. Kowalska, Y. Blumenfeld)

M. Kowalska presents a summary of the 2012 ISOLDE run. During the 37 weeks of protons, 529 shifts were delivered out of the 565 that were scheduled. An average of 1.61 shifts per day were delivered to IS experiments compared to 1.55 in 2011. The distribution of shifts during 2012 with regard to type of physics is shown and compared to that of 2011.

Physics carried out at ISOLDE since the last ISCC meeting is then summarised. The committee is informed that, after LS1, protons will be provided to ISOLDE from June 16th 2014 and will stop again on December 15th 2014.

M. Kowalska tells the committee that the CERN library is encouraging ISOLDE to create it’s own ”space” in the CERN Document Server (CDS) for details of publications related to ISOLDE. The committee encourages ISOLDE experimentalists to register their articles in this system. The committee suggests that the CDS system is somehow linked by the CERN library to the ”web of science” to avoid having to enter data about an article more than once. The CERN library is working on an automatic system where only the DOI number has to be entered by the user. M.J.G. Borge requests that a copy of ISOLDE PhD theses should be sent to the ISOLDE Group Leader as well as being  registered in CERN CDS. The committee agrees that ISOLDE should be mentioned in the abstract of articles related to experiments performed at the facility and that, if possible, the ISOLDE team should be mentioned in the aknowledgements. Experiments that have benefitted from ENSAR funding at ISOLDE should also mention this in the aknowledgements of any articles they publish.

The committee is informed that a number of articles about ISOLDE have recently appeared in the CERN bulletin: http://cds.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2013/04/News%20Articles/?ln=en

M. Kowalska presents the new ISOLDE website layout which the CERN communications team has helped to make CERN-standard. Once the content has been added to the site it will be user tested before going on-line.  M. Kowalska finishes by showing the committee how ISOLDE will be much more visible on the new CERN website.

M.J.G. Borge informs the committee of the courses and lectures that will take place at ISOLDE during 2013:

• Course on Statistical methods for Nuclear Physics, Karsten Riisager, 18-20 March
• Summer Student Lectures, end July 2012: Rick Casten -Themes in the physics of Atomic Nuclei, complex interaction and extraordinarily simple behaviour, Magda Kowalska – ISOLDE Facility, Magda Kowalska – ISOLDE Physics
• Two Physics Group lectures, R. Casten, 22nd July – 2nd August
• Course on Shell Model for non Practitioners – Alfredo Poves (Provisional)

The present manpower situation in the ISOLDE Physics group is then summarized:

• Associate: Marek Pfützner (until June 2013) – other applications are in the pipeline
• CAS: Olof Tengblad (July to December 2013)
• Fellows:Susanne Kreim (until December 2013 plus 1 year cofunded), Elisa Rapisarda (until September 2014), Monika Stachura (April 2013 to March 2015), Jan Kurcewicz (until November 2013). The application deadlines in 2013 are 1st March and 3rd September.
• Doctoral Student: Kara Lynch (until August 2013). Applications for a new doctoral student are requested for 1st March 2013.
• Technical student: Rikard Vinge (until July 2013)
• Technician: Julien Thiboud (until August 2014)
• User Support: Jenny Weterings

M.J.G. Borge goes on to present the status of the ENSAR project, in particular the TNA spending up until December 2012. A total of 309 672CHF has been paid out to ISOLDE users leaving 33kCHF still to be spent before the end of the project in August 2014.

The committee is informed that the updated ISOLDE MoU has now been signed by all member countries except Greece, Norway, Spain and Ireland. The committee agrees that until Greece signs the updated MoU and has paid its outstanding fees it will no longer be considered a member of the ISOLDE collaboration.

An overview of the collaboration spending during 2012 is presented to the committee as well as the projected expenditure for 2013 including the 500kCHF contribution to HIE-ISOLDE. The committee is informed that M. Deicher has requested to know how much remains of the 240kCHF that was deposited into the collaboration team account by the University of Konstanz in 1997 for the building of a beam line from REX to the platform that was never constructed. The committee agrees that this money has been put to good use over the last 15 years but that it will continue to support the changes to the solid state laboratory building 115.

M. J. G. Borge ends by announcing that the deadline for contributions to this year’s ISOLDE newsletter is 28^th February.

Y. Blumenfeld informs the committee that a call for proposals has been made by Muhsin Harakeh, the ENSAR coordinator at GANIL, for activities within the ENSAR2 project. A town meeting to discuss the new application will take place in mid-June 2013.

7. Status of the present equipment in the hall extension (M. Pfutzner)

M. Pfutzner shows the committee the excellent progress that has already been made in the clearing of the ISOLDE hall extension for which the deadline is March 2013. The extension has to be completely empty except for the β-NMR, scattering chamber, MINIBALL frame and some racks which will be allowed to remain within the marked area.

8. Timeline for the works in the ISOLDE hall in 2013. Implications for users (E. Siesling)
E. Siesling summarises the work that will be carried out in the ISOLDE experimental hall 170 for HIE-ISOLDE during 2013. This work has the following consequences for users:

• The hall extension and the linac area should be avoided whenever possible.
• From March 1st 2013 everyone entering the hall must wear safety shoes and helmets.
• The hall entrance at the back, through building 601, should be used.
• Hazards in the hall will include noise, dust and handling of heavy weights.
• There will be restricted use of the crane from February to May 2013.
• The crane will be in high demand from March to Autumn 2013.
• Planning can be found on EDMS:HIE-ISOLDE integration
• Any coordination issues should go through M. Kowalska, M. Pfutzner or E. Siesling.

9. INTC matters (M. Kowalska)

M. Kowalska summarises the proposals received by the INTC at the October 2012 meeting. Thirty proposals from over 80 countries and naming 344 physicists requested over 800 HIE-ISOLDE shifts of which 429 were accepted. Most other proposals were asked for clarification letters. The committee is informed that the situation of shifts open at ISOLDE is as follows :

• Low-energy IS experiments (including WITCH): 364.5 shifts
• Post-accelerated REX experiments: 216.5 shifts
• HIE-ISOLDE shifts (Oct12): 429 shifts

The INTC strategy will be to ask all low-energy collaborations with open shifts to provide a status report and, if more shifts are required, an addendum for each IS experiment. All REX experiments with open shifts will be asked to provide either a status report or an addendum. If nothing is heard from an experiment then it will automatically be closed.

The committee is informed that the INTC meetings in both June and October 2013 will be open to low energy and HIE-ISOLDE proposals, LOIs, status reports and addenda, but the INTC meeting in January/February 2014 will only accept low energy status reports and addenda.

10. Status of the Buildings 115 and 507 (M.J.G. Borge).

The committee is shown the present proposal to increase the surface area of the solid state physics laboratory (building 115) to 200m² costing 400kCHF including electricity, cooling and ventilation and the plan to replace building 507 with a modular cabins building 508. Funding for building 115 has been promised but not yet released from the Director General’s funds.

M.J.G. Borge then presents a new idea to replace both buildings 115 and 507 with one new building. There would only be a relatively small increase in cost and the building could house laser and detector laboratories, the solid state laboratory, a mechanical workshop and chemical storage.

The ISCC agrees that this new proposal is a better solution than having two separate buildings.

11. New CERN procedures: Access and Registration (M. Kowalska).

M. Kowalska informs the committee that from March 2013 onwards helmets and safety shoes must be worn by all physicists in the ISOLDE hall and it is the responsibility of each experiment to buy the required items. The helmets and shoes can be stored in the data acquisition room which can be locked with the standard ISOLDE SC40 key. Twenty four helmets will be available for visitors only and will be stored in the room opposite the ISOLDE kitchen.

The committee is informed of the changes to the CERN User registration procedure that have recently come into effect. The registration form is unchanged but a new “Home Institution Declaration” form has now replaced the proof of association with an institute and proof of insurance. This new form must be signed by someone from administration (HR) or management (department/institute Head or Director) at the home institute; it cannot be signed by the teamleader or deputies who have the right to sign the registration form. The maximum length of registration has been extended; first registration can now be for up to three years and a prolongation can be up to five years.

12. A.O.B

• The next ISOLDE Workshop will be held at CERN 25th to 27th November 2013.
   
• The next ISCC meeting will be held on Tuesday July 9th  2013 at 10:30 and the final meeting in 2013 will be held on Tuesday October 22nd at 13:30.

The meeting ends at 17:05.

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