Help for ERLP

Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire has received a further £2m for constructing and testing a prototype particle accelerator facility as part of its Energy Recovery Linac Prototype (ERLP) project.

This additional funding will help prove concepts vital to the development of plans for 4GLS technology (Fourth Generation Light Source). 4GLS will be designed to produce very short pulses of light, over a million, million, million times brighter than a household light bulb. It could allow researchers to study molecules working in real time, follow chemical reactions as they happen, look at potential drug molecules as they interact with cells and examine the spin of electrons.

Science and Innovation Minister Lord Sainsbury said, ‘The prototype phase of 4GLS is an important step towards placing Daresbury at the cutting edge of accelerator science. Its potential capability is unique in the world and its capacity to combine a wide range of experiments would establish the UK and Daresbury as a major player in this technology.’