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Synchrotron Radiation News, Volume 13, No. 2, March/April 2000
Update on progress with SESAME
Herman Winick
Progress continues on the SESAME Project during the past few months and in
December 1999 meetings at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. SESAME
(Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle
East) aims to establish a regional, international research center in the Middle
East, under the auspices of UNESCO, with a synchrotron radiation facility as
its centerpiece. (See SR News Vol. 12 No. 6 Nov./Dec. 1999). SESAME is based on
the anticipated gift of the 0.8 GeV BESSY I facility by the German government.
With the 1.9 GeV BESSY II facility, also in Berlin, now well underway and
serving users, operation of BESSY I was stopped at the end of November 1999.
Led by Gus Voss (DESY), Ernst Weihreter (BESSY), and Herman Winick (SSRL), a
team of 57 scientists from 29 institutions (half of which are in the Middle
East) has produced a 113 page conceptual design report for the facility in
October 1999. This report details the proposed upgrades to the present BESSY I
facility (primarily an increase in stored beam energy to 1.0 GeV, and an
increase in circumference from 62 to 101m to accommodate 4 insertion devices,
at least 2 of which will be 13 pole, 7. 5T superconducting wigglers). The cost
of the machine upgrades is estimated at about $6M, not including new beam lines
and wigglers.
The report also describes the scientific program planned for SESAME, extending
from the infra-red to hard x-rays up to about 20 keV. In addition to continuing
the VUV/soft-x-ray programs that have been pursued for 18 years on BESSY I, the
extended spectral range (critical energy 5 keV) of the SESAME wigglers opens
the way for programs in structural molecular biology, environmental molecular
science, materials science, LIGA and other applications that can be pursued on
the six hard x-ray stations served by the initial two superconducting wigglers.
The new lattice features low values for the beta functions at the wiggler
source points (4m x 0.5 m, horizontal and vertical) resulting in small
transverse beam dimensions (0.44mm x 0.02mm sigmas) so that very high flux
density can be delivered to small samples with focussing mirrors.
On Dec 9-10, 1999 the SESAME Technical Committee, chaired by Costas Papanicolas
(University of Athens) and Voss, reviewed proposals for 18 sites for SESAME in
7 countries (Armenia, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Oman, Palestinian Authority, and
Turkey). The summary statement in the report of this committee to the Interim
Council, the governing body of SESAME in its formative stages, states:
"The Technical Committee of the SESAME Project concludes unanimously that, based
on presentations from 7 countries, there is no question that many sites exist
that can be developed to be the basis of a successful scientific and
technological facility, fulfilling the requirements of international
cooperation."
It is understood that proposed sites must come with a guarantee of free access
to the international facility by all qualified scientists.
The SESAME Interim Council, chaired by Herwig Schopper (CERN) with Siegbert
Raither (UNESCO) as secretary, met on Dec 13-14, 1999 to receive reports from
the Technical Committee and from three other working committees (Scientific,
Training and Finances) and to proceed with the process of site selection, fund
raising and other business relevant to the SESAME Project. Representatives of
11 Middle East region countries were present (Armenia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece,
Iran, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, and Turkey)
plus observers from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Sweden and the US.
The Interim Council meeting was opened with a warm welcome and strong support
for SESAME by Koichiro Matsuura, the recently elected Director- General of
UNESCO. In his talk he said:
"Within the field of scientific cooperation, the SESAME project is an
outstanding example of 'science in action':
Matsuura concluded his speech with a strong endorsement of SESAME. He said:
"Let me assure you that UNESCO and I personally will do everything possible to
help you realize this unique and exciting project. It offers a remarkable
opportunity for international and regional scientific cooperation. It promises
to be an outstanding example of science in the service of peace."
The items of business for the Interim Council included:
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Agreement by the original members of the Interim Council to admit Armenia and
Oman (both of which offered site proposals) to membership on the Council.
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Adoption of the 113 page conceptual design report as the basis for future
scientific and technical considerations.
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Discussion of a draft of statutes for the future laboratory to be established
as a body with autonomy within the frame of UNESCO.
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Election of 2 vice-presidents of the Interim Council: Hamik Kamal Pak (Turkey)
and Khaled Toukan (Jordan). Herwig Schopper is President of the Interim
Council.
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Request the Director-General of UNESCO to proceed with the steps necessary to
implement SESAME , and to confer with the German government on the details of
the transfer of the BESSY I facility.
Much of the meeting was spent on dealing with a response to a letter from the
German government which stipulated two conditions for the transfer of BESSY I.
These are:
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The existence of an appropriate site for an international facility for basic and
applied research open to all qualified scientists from the Middle East region
and elsewhere.
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Provision of funds to cover the additional cost of a controlled, documented
dismantling of the components of the BESSY I storage ring and injector system.
The review of sites and the conclusions by the SESAME Technical Committee
clearly satisfy the first condition. Council President Schopper proposed that
the second condition be met by a donation of $20K by each member of the
Council, to be supplemented by a request for $400K from UNESCO. With agreement
by the Council (in some cases subject to approval by their governments) and
with the subsequent agreement by the Director-General of UNESCO to provide
$400k, it appears that the second condition is also met. Schopper also asked
observer states for contributions resulting in an offer of $20k by the U.S.
Observer Mission to UNESCO and a minimum of $5k by Sweden. Other observer
countries requested time to check with their governments.
Of course much remains to be done to finalize the site, dismantle BESSY I,
identify the funds required (for upgrading, wigglers, beam lines, user support
facilities and operations), selecting a Director and key staff, providing staff
training, and forming a management structure suitable for the international
facility. Progress has been made in several of these areas already. For
example, a Cooperative Research Program has been funded by the US Department of
Energy to provide supplementary support for long term (~1 year) visitors from
the Middle East to US laboratories. Ten applications have been received for
this program and one award has already been made. More are expected soon, at
labs in the US and other countries which are also initiating such programs.
Herman Winick
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