On 26 October, the European Commission approved the Technical Design Report (TDR) for the new tomography beamline at SESAME.
The TDR is a key stage in the building of a beamline. Following on from the conceptual design report, it is the blueprint for the successful fruition of the project. It contains all the details needed by the teams to launch the construction phase of the project: specifications, project plan and approach.
Needless to say that for BEATS, the approval of the TDR is an important milestone. The report was submitted on 31 August to the EU, directorate general for research and innovation. The approval comes with a very encouraging appreciation, which reflects the determination and dedication of the different actors involved in its completion. The EU states: “The quality of the report is excellent, the report reflects perfectly the collaborative effort work and it could be a reference for future projects of micro-tomography beamlines.”
Axel Kaprolat, BEATS project coordinator, gave us his reaction to the approval of the TDR:
“The first 15 months of the BEATS project saw intense work on the choice and design of the BEATS X-ray source as well as on the technical layout of the beamline itself, from front end over the optical elements all the way down to the experimental station. The moment of truth for such an endeavour is reached when the preliminary findings are presented to external experts during a technical review. It is a reward to read the reviewer’s final report which reflects the very satisfying teamwork and collaboration between the BEATS partners, despite very difficult external boundary conditions created by the pandemic.”
What is the next step for BEATS ?
“We shall now move on, as planned, towards the procurement of the beamline’s equipment and infrastructure that we hope to install, with as little COVID impact as possible, on site starting summer 2021,” says Axel Kaprolat.
What is the status of the other aspects of the project?
The project is progressing according to schedule. The EU has acknowledged that the “…project has fully achieved its objectives and milestones for the period”.
The scientific case has also been approved by the EU and it is available through the Alfresco portal on this site (for project members). It includes a report on the exploration of the user community and relevant information on specific institutions, companies and administrations, including industries and academia. User community building events have been organised and more are scheduled.
The X-ray source has been defined and approved.
The specifications for the Front-Ends and the Radiation Protection hutches has been finalised. The Calls for Tender for these two items will be published imminently.