BEATS, the European Horizon 2020 project BEAmline for Tomography at SESAME, has started work on the Technical Design Report or TDR. This is a key stage in the building of any beamline, but what is a TDR and why it is important?
Although there are many beamlines in operation around the world today, it would be quite safe to say that none of them are identical. This is because of the technical boundaries linked to the source, the energy of the electrons, the equipment, which may have been constructed at different eras of synchrotron technology, and also because of the different needs of the respective user communities.
The TDR follows on from the initial conceptual design report, or CDR.
The BEATS TDR will start with an executive summary of the TDR followed by an overview of why the beamline is being developed, and its benefits. The report will then cover the different aspects of the project:
– Optical design, so all the elements for the beamline layout (e.g. mirrors) and how they affect the properties of the beam are well understood
– Infrastructure, describing any infrastructure required for the beamline (e.g. radiation safety and control hutches)
– End station, which will specify the experimental station where the samples will be located and the approach to follow to meet these specifications
– Control, Data Acquisition and Data Analysis: an analysis of the software and equipment required to operate all instrumentation on the beamline, acquire data from detectors and analyse the resulting data
– Risk Analysis, to ensure that any risks are well understood and managed properly
– Project timeline, with a clear plan of what activities are going to be done and when
– Budget and resource estimates, ensuring that the project is fully funded in both human and financial resources
– Operation, which will explain the requirements for a successful operation of the beamline once it has been delivered.
The project process explained. ©ESRF/K. Colvin
The BEATS TDR is important because it will become then the “blueprint” for BEATS. It will provide assurance that the project is feasible, give an analysis of the challenges involved in developing the beamline and align all actors on the approach to follow.
Once a TDR is accepted, it serves to guide the execution of the project. An accepted TDR gives confidence to all the teams involved in delivering the beamline that the challenges ahead have been thoroughly examined and that the solution is feasible within the resources available.
The BEATS TDR will be submitted to the SESAME Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) for endorsement end January 2020. The first calls for tender will go out in Spring 2020.