SARAF – Soreq Applied Research Accelerator Facility

The Soreq Applied Research Accelerator Facility (SARAF) will be a multi-user and versatile particle accelerator facility. It is based on a proton/deuteron RF superconducting linear accelerator, with variable energy (5-40 MeV) and a continuous wave (CW) high ion current (0.04-5 mA), and located at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center.

The SARAF high-intensity superconducting linear particle accelerator for light ions belongs to a new generation of particle accelerators. The high ion current generates an unprecedented amount of fast neutrons and radioactive nuclei, that may be used to explore rare nuclear reactions, produce new types of radiopharmaceuticals and more. Moderated neutrons can be used for non-destructive tests with similar resolution and contrast as performed in reactors. Accelerator facilities such as SARAF are designed to produce enough neutrons to perform the functions that are today possible only at research nuclear reactors, such as IRR1 at Soreq. Since accelerators do not use fissile materials, they are expected to be a welcome replacement of research reactors, as they do not pose a proliferation or an environmental concern, and they have much better public acceptance than nuclear reactors. The SARAF Phase-I accelerator was built by ACCEL Instruments (now RI Research Instruments GmbH). The novel acceleration technology proved the feasibility of the construction of the full SARAF Project. Until 2012 (since 2010), SARAF is the first and only superconducting accelerator in the world to demonstrate CW acceleration of mA-range proton beams.

The research and development programs at SARAF include the following subjects:

SARAF is intended to be an Israeli national facility, to be used by Soreq's researchers, the Israeli academy and institutes and universities from all over the world, in order to attract, train and educate a new generation of nuclear physicists and engineers. Fruitful collaboration with Israeli research institutes and universities, as with world leading accelerator laboratories, turned SARAF to an eminent key player in the world's accelerator community. Newly developed components from other accelerator projects are being tested at SARAF and in addition, SARAF scientists are sharing their knowledge and expertise with worldwide accelerator programs. The central role of SARAF in the linear accelerator community lead to Soreq NRC being host for the 26th bi-annual LINAC conference, LINAC'12, at Tel Aviv, Israel in September 2012. Furthermore, SARAF has already become a major facility for students and young researchers, to perform their graduate studies and practice in nuclear physics and nuclear engineering. Over the last 8 years, approximately 10 graduate students, 15 undergraduate students and 5 post-doctorate fellows performed research projects associated with SARAF.

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