[Isotope-prod] Fwd: Isotope Production Proposal at JLAB's LERF Facility...

[Andrew Hutton]

Everyone
We are down but not yet out!
Andrew

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Balkin, Ethan R." <Ethan.Balkin at science.doe.gov>
> Date: April 18, 2016 at 4:19:34 PM EDT
> To: Hutton Andrew <andrew at jlab.org>
> Cc: "Gillo, Jehanne" <Jehanne.Gillo at science.doe.gov>, "Garland, Marc" <Marc.Garland at science.doe.gov>, "Phillips, Dennis" <Dennis.Phillips at science.doe.gov>, "Romero, Luisa" <Luisa.Romero at science.doe.gov>
> Subject: RE: Isotope Production Proposal at JLAB's LERF Facility...
> 
> Dear Andrew,
> I would be happy to discuss this in greater detail over the phone, and was hoping that you would suggest as much.  I am out of the office on official travel for beginning tomorrow afternoon, 4/21, and will return to the office on Monday, 4/25.  Let’s try to get something on the calendar as soon as you have a feel for your schedule.  
> Thank you for the continued invitation to the J-Lab open house.  Unfortunately, I have another business trip on my calendar for the week of May 2nd and will be unable to make it down for the open house on 4/30.  I would like to schedule a day trip at some point in the not-to-distant future though.
>  
> Best regards,
>  
> -Ethan
> From: Hutton Andrew [mailto:andrew at jlab.org] 
> Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 4:05 PM
> To: Balkin, Ethan R. <Ethan.Balkin at science.doe.gov>
> Cc: Gillo, Jehanne <Jehanne.Gillo at science.doe.gov>; Garland, Marc <Marc.Garland at science.doe.gov>; Phillips, Dennis <Dennis.Phillips at science.doe.gov>; Romero, Luisa <Luisa.Romero at science.doe.gov>
> Subject: Re: Isotope Production Proposal at JLAB's LERF Facility...
>  
> Dear Ethan
>  
> I am just back from Rome and I must say that this was an unexpected response.  I would like to take a few days to consider your response and then I would like to talk it over with you.  
>  
> Thanks for taking the time to write down your thought processes; it makes your response much more valuable to us.  
>  
> On another front, can I re-invite you to our Open House on April 30 - you are not “persona non grata” here?  
>  
> All the best
>  
> Andrew
>  
> On Apr 16, 2016, at 11:49 AM, Balkin, Ethan R. <Ethan.Balkin at science.doe.gov> wrote:
>  
> Dear Dr. Hutton,
>  
> We considered your proposal addressing “Isotope Production at the Jefferson Lab LERF Facility”.  Unfortunately, in its present form, we cannot support this proposal.  We are concerned with the proposed target design and the lack of cost-effective production.
>  
> The technical expertise of the J-Lab investigators is unquestionable.  Additionally, J-Lab has unique resources that could be leveraged to advance the DoE Isotope Program’s production efforts.  However, the particular target design chosen (liquid Ga metal) is a technically challenging approach for facilities which routinely conduct isotope production; let alone one attempting it for the first time.  It is not clear that the design complexity, as it directly relates to isotopic production and radiochemical separation, has been taken into consideration.  If a liquid metal target is something that you wish to pursue, I encourage you to seek funding in one of the competitive isotope production R&D FOAs administered by Dennis Phillips (there is one that will be advertised in the very near future).  However, if routine integration into the isotope production complex is what you seek, I would encourage you to consider redesigning your target to improve the radiochemical yield obtained per-hour of irradiation while significantly reducing the per-unit cost of production/isolation, and/or identify alternative isotopes which might afford you those production characteristics.  Just to let you know, the current proposed costs are more than an order of magnitude too high for cost effective routine production.  
>  
> For reference, please see the 2015 NSAC-I committee report to identify alternative isotopes in demand by the user community.
>  
> Thank you again for your proposal and we look forward to considering a revised version.
>  
> Best regards,
> -Ethan
> ____________________________________
> Dr. Ethan R. Balkin
> Isotope Production Facilities Program Manager
> U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program
> Office of Science: Office of Nuclear Physics
> Germantown Building, SC-26.2 
> 1000 Independence Ave., SW 
> Washington, DC 20585-1290
> Phone: (301)903-1861
> Fax:       (301)903-3833
> Email: ethan.balkin at science.doe.gov
> 
> 
>  
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