IAEA activities in support of sustainable development of accelerator facilities and their applications

Particle accelerators are used not only in fundamental research to improve our understanding of different scientific fields and subjects but also in a plethora of socio-economic applications. Hereby, their unique analytical capabilities make them particularly suitable and partly irreplaceable tools for studying and solving problems of modern society. Human health, biophysics, climate change and environmental monitoring, water and air quality, advanced materials of high technological interest, forensics, cultural heritage, food quality and many other fields are included into the analytical portfolio of particle accelerators. Particle beams delivered from more than 20000 accelerators worldwide are used for industrial applications and high-tech services resulting in business revenues in the billion-dollar scale, which clearly demonstrates the decisive contribution of particle accelerators to the increase of competitiveness of economies worldwide and the welfare of modern society in general.

For all these reasons, accelerator-based research and applications are among the thematic areas, where the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supports its member states in strengthening their capacity to adopt and benefit from the use of accelerator-based technologies. The relevant activities are implemented by the Physics Section (PS) and the Radioisotope Products and Radiation Technology (RPRT) Section of the IAEA. Both sections belong to the Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences (NAPC) of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications (NA). The Physics Section also supports research and applications with neutron sources, implements projects with relevance to nuclear fusion research and technology development as well as operates the Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory (NSIL) that is located at the campus of the IAEA Laboratories at Seibersdorf, a small town 40 km outside Vienna.

To support its Members States in accelerator-based technologies and their usage, the IAEA employs a number of modalities and tools, listed, and briefly described below.

1 The IAEA tools to support accelerator-based research and applications

1. Consultancy Meetings (CM): Meetings in which up to ten experts are invited to provide specialized advice and recommendations on particular scientific or other aspects of relevance for the IAEA’s subject matter programmes and activities. During the last five years, the Physics Section has organized 31 CMs, from which eight (8) were dedicated to management of accelerator facilities or to accelerator-based research and applications. Ten (10) CMs were organized to recommend and prepare Technical Meetings or Coordinated Research Projects (both modalities described below) or to prepare other scientific events in support of accelerator-based research and applications. In addition, five CMs were held with the aim to prepare and/or finalize IAEA publications in the field of accelerator-based science.

2. Technical Meetings (TM): Technical events with 30-40 participants (sometimes even above 100 if virtual component is added), aiming at enhancing interaction among experts, share knowledge and expertise, establish scientific collaborations, and create topical networks. One of the most recent networks resulted from a TM is the one focusing on the Ion Beam Analysis of plasma-facing materials in controlled fusion devices. It comprises 11 research institutions from 8 European countries, Brazil and South Africa. This network is now implementing a CRP (see below). Since 2018, ten (10) TMs were organized dealing directly with accelerator-based research and applications or management of accelerator facilities. In addition, five more TMs were held focusing on associated nuclear instrumentation.

3. Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs): Networks of typically 10-15 research institutes from developed and developing countries that work in coordination for 4-5 years on research topics of common interest and acquire new scientific knowledge and skills. Periodic meetings are organized to report progress and plan/coordinate future joint activities. It is worth noting that there are 105 CRPs currently implemented by the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications (NA). Their distribution in thematic areas is shown in fig. 1.

The Physics Section is currently coordinating five CRPs focusing on accelerator applications involving 65 different research organizations and representing 40 countries. Since 2018, the Physics Section organized 12 periodic meetings, termed Research Coordination Meetings (RCMs), in support of the CRPs implemented during this period.

4. Training Workshops, Courses, and dedicated Schools: Events enabling participants to acquire specific knowledge – theoretical or practical or both – on a given subject of interest. Organized at IAEA Headquarters, IAEA laboratories, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy, or at partner laboratories in IAEA Member States. During the last five years and in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Physics Section offered 17 training events related to accelerator-based science and applications, from which six (6) were jointly organized with the ICTP in Trieste, Italy.

5. Publications of technical documents and technical reports: Publications of reported results, shared good practices and lessons learned; in most cases produced by CRPs or through Technical Meetings. The most widely known publications hereby are the IAEA Technical Documents (IAEA TECDOCs).

6. National, regional, interregional Technical Cooperation (TC) projects: National, regional and interregional projects supported by the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to build capacity directly in the IAEA Member States via Expert Missions, training of personnel, purchase of equipment, assistance in establishing new facilities, etc. Depending on the year, the IAEA Physics Section supports between 10 to 15 TC projects with relevance to accelerator usage and applications.

In addition to aforementioned tools and modalities, there are many other IAEA activities aiming at

• facilitating access to accelerator facilities for scientists from developing countries without such capabilities, like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malaysia, and Senegal;
• offering e-learning courses for students, laboratory staff and users;
• assisting Member States in carrying out feasibility and infrastructure assessment studies and establishing new accelerator facilities;
• providing Member States with technical support in preparing technical specifications and procurement as well as in installing, operating, maintaining, and upgrading their accelerator facilities and associated instrumentation;
and
• promoting the practical use of accelerator-based techniques. For this purpose, the IAEA collaborates with designated Member State institutions hosting accelerator facilities under the so-called IAEA Collaborating Centre scheme, which helps reach important targets of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

2 Selected examples

2.1 Materials Irradiation and Characterization relevant to Fusion Technology using IBA techniques

The development of materials for energy applications covers a wide spectrum of research activities focusing on the synthesis, bulk characterization, surface composition and theoretical understanding of functional materials used in energy producing and/or energy storing systems. The analytical methods applied to study the properties of such materials are diverse, depending on the technology applied to produce and store energy.

Fusion energy is one of the promising energy sources for the future. As illustrated in fig. 2, the physical conditions dominating in fusion are extreme and most demanding for the materials to be employed in the operation of fusion energy systems. Given the need for coordination of experimental efforts aiming at developing proper materials as well as investigating many physical processes altering their surface and composition under the extreme physical conditions expected in future fusion energy systems, a CRP “Development and Application of Ion Beam Techniques for Materials Irradiation and Characterization relevant to Fusion Technology” was launched in 2021 by the Physics Section with the intended duration of four years. In this CRP, 11 research institutions from 10 Member States are currently participating.

This CRP aims at coordinating research efforts in understanding aspects of ion-induced radiation damage in materials relevant to fusion energy by using IBA techniques. For this purpose, three major activities are under way, i.e., a) measurements and/or validation of new or existing reaction cross sections of nuclear reactions engaged in the aforementioned physical processes as well as measurements of stopping powers, b) round robin exercises to evaluate the performance of IBA laboratories world-wide for experiments of ion-induced radiation damage in materials relevant to fusion energy and c) development of good practices and procedures necessary for the standardization of IBA techniques for materials irradiation and characterization with relevance to fusion technology.

2.2 Advances in Laser-Driven Neutron and X-ray Sources and their applications

In recent years, significant progress has been made in generating intense ion beams from relativistic laser plasmas (RLP). These advances in high-power laser technology have led to the development of lasers producing extremely short light pulses in the femtosecond range with very high intensities exceeding 10²¹ W/cm². By guiding these pulses onto a solid foil, intense sources of photons, ions and neutrons can be generated as shown in fig. 3, which can subsequently be used for a wide spectrum of applications. To date, laser-based techniques demonstrate potential to support accelerating electric fields at least four orders of magnitude larger than those of conventional accelerators and the goal of the international scientific community of producing compact and portable particle accelerators appears to be feasible within the next decade.

Laser-driven ion beams are born in sub-picosecond timescales and micron spatial scales. Thus, they can deliver unprecedented power densities. In the case of neutron sources, fluences exceeding 10¹⁰ neutrons/sr in approximately ns-long pulses can be achieved. Under these conditions, the prospects of significantly improved performance of Laser-Driven Neutron Sources (LDNS) are excellent.

These developments have prompted many discussions on the compelling applications for such intense neutron beams that include, among many others, non-destructive testing methods in aerospace; radiographic imaging of large objects; in operando diagnostics of lithium-ion batteries; radiation processing to fabricate smart, functional materials; and active interrogation of sensitive nuclear materials, including nuclear waste characterization, as well as volumetric dynamic thermometry for macroscopic samples in shock physics and warm-dense-matter research.

Due to these features, Laser-Driven Neutron and X-ray sources may have a great potential for contributing to the socio-economic development in many countries. To assess this potential and propagate further the advantages in using these technologies in the interest of IAEA’s Member States a virtual Technical Meeting on Advances in Laser-Driven Neutron and X-ray Sources and their applications was organized in February 2021. During this meeting, representatives of worldwide leading laser facilities and research institutions working in the new field of laser-driven neutron and X-ray sources were gathered. The meeting discussed advances in the emerging technology of high-power short-pulse lasers and their use to create intense bursts of neutrons and X-rays and confirmed the large potential of laser-driven neutrons for research and applications.

Among the TM objectives, was the collection and evaluation of scientific information for the preparation of an IAEA TECDOC on the topic addressed by the meeting. This task was successfully accomplished, and a group of experts is currently preparing this publication. Moreover, the TM participants recommended IAEA to consider organizing a joint IAEA-ICTP School in the field of Laser-Driven Neutron Production which could address the information exchange and capacity building needs, especially among developing countries, and would lay the foundations for a new generation of scientists in this field. Such a joint School is now in preparation.

2.3 Facilitating access to accelerator facilities

Although many IAEA developing Member States recognize accelerator technologies as one of the key possibilities to serve research as well as socioeconomic development, many of them face difficulties to allocate the funds required for the installation and effective operation of these facilities. As a result, researchers from these Member States often do not have any support to employ accelerator-based techniques, or their access to accelerator facilities is very limited.

To cover this identified gap, a CRP entitled “Facilitating Experiments with Ion Beam Accelerators” was launched in mid-2019. For this purpose, a call of interest was circulated to IBA facilities from all IAEA Member States willing to provide beam-time access to researchers interested in carrying out IBA experiments. Based on the responses received by laboratories from different IAEA Member States, their access procedures as well as their vicinity to developing countries, 11 IBA accelerator facilities were finally selected. A list is provided, together with the types of accelerators and the experimental setups they offer to users. Their geographical distribution is shown in fig. 4.

Researchers interested in taking advantage of the access opportunities offered by this CRP can apply for financial support to the IAEA to perform experiments in the IBA facilities of their preference. Such a support can be used for travelling, accommodation and daily allowances during experiment and is granted on the basis of scientific proposals submitted to the IAEA which are then evaluated by the scientific secretaries of the CRP, in consultation with the host accelerator facilities for feasibility. Up to date, 15 research proposals have been received and their comparatively small number is mostly due to travel ban measures as well as working restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The CRP, however, will be running for the next two years and will continue facilitating IBA-time access to researchers, mainly from developing countries.

Independently of the aforementioned CRP “Facilitating Experiments with Ion Beam Accelerators”, the IAEA Physics Section utilizes two cooperative agreements with the Ruder Bošković Institute (RBI), Zagreb, Croatia, and the Elettra Synchrotron located in Trieste, Italy. These were signed with the aim to support access to beam time to scientists from all IAEA Member States.

In the former case, RBI offers four weeks of beam time every year to scientists to perform experiments or for hands-on training courses jointly organized by the IAEA Physics Section at the RBI. External users from IAEA member states interested in conducting experiments have to submit a research proposal which is evaluated jointly by the IAEA and an in-house user selection panel. The rejection rate is approximately 50%. The Laboratory of Ion-Beam Interactions (LIBI) of RBI offers its experimental end-stations for conducting IBA experiments for basic and interdisciplinary research as well as applications in biomedicine, environment, and cultural heritage. In addition to the standard IBA setups, LIBI hosts certain experimental end-stations with unique capabilities such as the Dual beam Irradiation beamline for Fusion-relevant research activities (DIFu), which is shown in fig. 5. This beamline and ion source was partly financed by the IAEA.

Synchrotron light users from IAEA Member States can have access to Elettra’s X-ray fluorescence (XRF) beamline, which hosts an ultra-high vacuum chamber that is funded and operated in partnership with the IAEA (see fig. 6). According to the cooperation agreement, the IAEA provides every year funds to Elettra with the aim to cover the travel costs of users from IAEA Member States who are eligible to receive technical assistance under the Technical Cooperation Programme (see sect. 2.5 below). Access is granted exclusively on the basis of the scientific merit and tentative users have to submit research proposals, which are evaluated twice a year by the external Proposal Review Panels (PRPs) appointed by Elettra. Hereby, the rejection rate ranges between 50 and 75% depending on the requested setup and backlog. External users who have been selected by the PRP, may then proceed with XRF and XAFS experiments. Almost 30% of these users were from developing countries.

In 2021, 19 research groups from 12 Member States used the joint IAEA-Elettra X-Ray Fluorescence experimental end station, while 15 research groups from 7 Member States accessed the IAEA co-funded ion beam facility infrastructure at RBI. The areas of research varied from materials research, detector testing, life sciences, environmental studies to electrochemistry and cultural heritage.

2.4 Training activities on accelerator-based applications and associated technologies

At its Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory (NSIL) in Seibersdorf, the IAEA Physics Section offers every year and on regular basis a series of hands-on training courses focusing mainly on analytical techniques based on X-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy as well as on nuclear instrumentation and nuclear electronics, and more recently on neutrons using compact neutron generators. On top of that, the Section organizes jointly with the ICTP, as well as with LIBI of the RBI, training activities (schools, workshops, webinars, etc.) related to accelerator-based research and applications. Some typical examples of these activities are the Joint ICTP-IAEA Advanced School on Ion Beam Driven Materials Engineering: Accelerators for a New Technology Era, the Joint ICTP-IAEA Advanced Workshop on Enhancing Accelerator- Based Analytical Techniques for Forensic Science, and the Joint ICTP-IAEA Workshop on “Electrostatic Accelerator Technologies, Basic Instruments and Analytical Techniques”.

During the latter Joint ICTP-IAEA Workshop, which was a two-week long event, 16 young scientists from 12 countries had the opportunity to complement their training with two scientific visits (see fig. 7). The first one was at the premises of the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the second one at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (LNL), Legnaro, Italy. During the first visit, the workshop participants received a guided tour of the 250 kW TRIGA Mark II research reactor and the 2 MV Tandetron accelerator, where they also participated in demonstration IBA experiments. The visit at LNL was a first of its kind for all participants, as they had the opportunity to visit a number of accelerators hosted by LNL, i.e., the ALPI linear accelerator, the 14.5 MV XTU Tandem, the 70 MeV SPES Cyclotron and the two single-stage Van de Graaff accelerators, i.e., the 7 MV CN and the 2 MV AN2000 machines. These visits provided all participants with a broad view of the different types of accelerators, their operation principles and use for research and numerous applications.

Training activities focusing on operation and maintenance of electrostatic accelerators are organized also on a regular basis. The most recent events hereby are the Training Workshop on “Hands-on Operation and Maintenance of Electrostatic Accelerators”, held in December 2019 at the RBI, Zagreb, Croatia, and the Training Workshop entitled “Advances in Ion Beam Techniques and their Applications”, held also at RBI in March 2021 as well as in November 2022.

The former training workshop was attended by 10 young scientists from developing countries. Together with basic introductory seminars, it provided participant hands-on training on accelerator control units and associated control software, voltage measurements and voltage stabilization devices, dew point measurements, operation of beam-focusing elements accompanied with evaluation of magnetic hysteresis, and calibration of terminal voltage. The workshop offered also training in operating and maintaining vacuum systems, i.e., setting up pumps, vacuum measurements, leak detection, etc. A very important component of the workshop was the training on ion sources. This included beam extraction, beam current measurements, changing source parameters, element selection, and source optimization as well as changing the operation of a Duoplasmatron ion source from negative-ion extraction to positive one. The workshop also addressed basic theory and hands-on training on beam optics, including beam focusing and steering, quadrupole magnet alignment, beam brightness, and size measurements. This training workshop is offered every two years. Due to travel restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the next one of this series will be held in December 2022 at the Tandem & AMS (TAMS) laboratory of iThemba LABS, in Gauteng near Johannesburg, South Africa. The selection of a South African laboratory for this training aims primarily at facilitating the participation of young scientists from the African continent.

The other training workshop on Ion Beam Techniques and their Applications that was held at RBI in March 2021 was attended by 19 male and 17 female young researchers from 16 IAEA Member States. The workshop was initially planned to be held in November 2020; however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event was converted from in-person to virtual and shifted to March 2021. Under these conditions, a new workshop concept was elaborated and applied to cover a) the well-established Ion Beam Analysis techniques: Proton Induced X-ray and Gamma-ray Emission (PIXE, PIGE), Rutherford Backscattering (RBS), Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA), Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA); b) Nuclear Microbeam Applications; and c) additional ion-beam based applications, such as Ion-Beam Induced Charge (IBIC). These topics were covered in five working days, each day grouped into four major sessions. The first session provided trainees with an introductory seminar (60 to 90 min, depending on the topic), followed by a 20-to-25-minute demonstration video of the previously presented techniques (second session). After a break, the third session covered a demonstration experiment, during which the data acquisition system was interfaced with the screens of the remotely participating attendees. In this way, experimental spectra were accumulated, which served as training data for analysis by the trainees as homework in the subsequent last (fourth) session. The results of the analysis by the trainees were presented at the end of the sessions. The videos were prepared by a professional company with expertise in educational multimedia in collaboration with RBI scientists and the IAEA.

At the end of this workshop, trainees were requested to give feedback by filling out a dedicated questionnaire. The analysis of these questionnaires demonstrated that: a) 75% of the participants never had a previous opportunity to attend a training on IBA techniques, though many of them were about to start conducting related research; b) only 10% of the attendees were aware of a training workshop on IBA offered in their country; and c) 87% of the participants evaluated the level of the demonstration experiments and the assigned homework either very good or excellent. Given this demonstrated need of training, especially among developing countries, as well as the positive evaluation of this training by the participants, it was decided to repeat this workshop on a biannual basis. As a result, a similar workshop was held in November 2022 that was attended by 15 trainees (8 women researchers) from nine Member States. The workshop covered most of the well-established IBA techniques.

In addition to the aforementioned training events, e-learning courses have been developed and are also offered through the IAEA’s Learning Management System. For example, a course entitled Introduction to electrostatic accelerators: from basic principles to operation and maintenance is offered with the objective to provide introductory theoretical knowledge as well as practical information for the effective and safe operation and maintenance of accelerators, ion sources, associated equipment, and operational procedures.

2.5 Technical support to accelerator facilities through Technical Cooperation projects

Facilitating transfer of knowledge in a sustainable manner to Member States and assisting them in planning and using nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes are key components of the IAEA’s mission. The applied approach hereby comprises three major stages. The first focuses on creating knowledge and expertise through R&D at the IAEA laboratories and the IAEA Collaborating Centres, as well as through R&D activities jointly conducted by institutions participating in relevant CRPs. In the subsequent second phase, the methods and technology developed in the first one are validated through dedicated CRPs or some specific pilot projects. Both stages are funded through the IAEA’s regular budget, in some cases with additional extrabudgetary funds. Generally, the knowledge gained in the first two stages is then transferred to Member States through properly designed educational and training courses, that are offered to trainees either through in-person participation or virtually, also through e-learning courses, or through the IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Programme in the form of national, regional, or interregional Technical Cooperation (TC) projects.

The IAEA’s TC Programme is in fact the Agency’s primary mechanism for transferring nuclear knowledge and technology to Member States, helping them to address key development priorities in areas with socioeconomic impact as illustrated in fig. 8. Capacity building, networking, knowledge sharing, and partnership building are the key components of TC projects, and the associated activities are implemented through TC funded fellowships, scientific visits, expert missions to institutions, specialized training courses, and the procurement of materials and equipment through the technical assistance of IAEA scientific personnel. In this context, the Physics Section provides technical support to more than 50 national, regional, or interregional TC projects being implemented in more than 50 Member States. About one-fifth of these projects focus on accelerator operation and maintenance, sustainable management, personnel training, and implementation and integration of accelerator-based techniques in the Member State’s scientific portfolio. To date, the Physics Section has technically supported accelerator-related national TC projects in Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Bangladesh, Croatia, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Slovakia, Syria, and Thailand.

An example of TC support to accelerator-based science is SESAME, the Synchrotron light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, which is located in Al Balqa, approximately 30 kilometers from Amman, Jordan’s capital city, and was inaugurated on May 16, 2017. Through a number of consecutive Interregional TC Projects launched in 2010, the IAEA has provided extensive support to train staff at SESAME to safely commission and run the facility. This support included instruments, training of 66 technical and scientific fellows in beamline technologies, and over 30 expert missions to SESAME to help build capacity in the installation and testing of equipment. IAEA also facilitated networking of SESAME staff with experts from other synchrotron facilities in Europe, the United States, and Japan.

SEEIIST, the South-East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies, is another project with a high regional impact, as it aims at establishing a centre for Cancer Therapy and Biomedical Research with Protons and Heavy Ions in Southeastern Europe. SEEIIST is currently receiving technical assistance by the Physics Section through the IAEA’s regional TC project RER6039 that focuses on building capacity through training of scientific fellows, expert missions, and the organization of thematic workshops.

In collaboration with the TC Department, the Physics Section facilitates hands-on training of scientific and technical personnel in accelerator operation and maintenance, assists in refurbishment and modernization of beam lines and associated instrumentation, assists in feasibility and design studies and the preparation of business and strategy plans, provides technical support in specifications, procurement, installation, repairs, and upgrades of experimental devices. The accelerator facility of the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission (LAEC) in Beirut, Lebanon, is a typical example: The Physics Section provided technical assistance in procurement of their 1.7 MV Pelletron tandem, start-up the laboratory, development of a new beamline for a nuclear microprobe, implementation of further upgrades of the accelerator, and installation of experimental setups as well as training of staff in accelerator technology and ion beam analysis.

The Accelerator Laboratory of the Centre for Nuclear Research Algiers (CRNA) in Algeria, hosting a 3.75 MV KN Van de Graaff also has benefitted from support from the Physics Section, implemented through TCP. Specifically, a status assessment mission was conducted within the framework of a national TC project aiming at increasing the national analytical capacities through upgrading of nuclear analysis laboratories.

2.6 Support to international conferences, workshops, and schools

The IAEA supports international schools, workshops, or conferences through its framework as “organized in cooperation with the IAEA”. Such events often receive some financial support in the form of grants for scientists from lower-income Member States to enable their participation in the event. In the last five years, the Physics Section has supported the following events in the field of accelerator-based science:

• The International Workshop on Correlations in Partonic and Hadronic Interactions held in September 2018, in Yerevan, Armenia.
• The 27th International Nuclear Physics Conference (INPC 2019) held in Glasgow, UK, from 29 July to 2 August 2019.
• The 13th European Conference on Accelerators in Applied Research and Technology (ECAART13) that took place in May 2019 in Split, Croatia.
• The 2019 edition of the Euroschool on Exotic Beams, held in August 2019 in Aarhus, Denmark.
• The first and the second edition in the African Nuclear Physics Conference (ANPC) series, held, respectively, in July 2019 at the Kruger National Park in South Africa (ANPC 2019) and virtually in September 2021.
• The Nuclear Photonics 2020 international conference, planned initially to be organized in 2020 in Kurashiki, Japan, but due to Covid-19, took finally place in June 2021.
• The 14th European Conference on Accelerators in Applied Research and Technology (ECAART14), held in July 2022 in Sibiu, Romania.
• The 22nd International Conference on Ion Beam Modification of Materials (IBMM-2022), held in July 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal.

It is worth noting that support may also be granted to events with strategic importance for regional or interregional projects, for example, the Forum on New International Research Facilities in South-East Europe that was organized by the SEEIIST proposers in January 2018 at ICTP. This meeting was attended by 115 delegates from 21 countries to explore a new world-class research infrastructure for South-East Europe.

2.7 IAEA Collaboration Centres in accelerator-based science and applications

Selected programmatic activities of the IAEA are implemented also in collaboration with an IAEA Member State institutions/organizations which are designated as IAEA Collaborating Centres (CCs). The designation process culminates with the signing of an Agreement between the IAEA and the CC organization. This is a legally binding document defining the cooperative undertakings of the parties, duration of designation, objectives, activities, and expected results and outcomes stated in a jointly agreed Work Plan, which addresses R&D work, educational and training activities and, in many cases, cost-free services to the IAEA and its Member States. There are currently over 60 IAEA Collaborating Centres worldwide. In the field of accelerator-based research and applications, there exist eight CCs across the globe as indicated in fig. 9.

The fields of collaboration with the IAEA and these corresponding Collaboration Centres are:

• Multi-analytical techniques for materials research, environmental studies, and industrial applications; Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Australia.
• Boron Neutron Capture Therapy; Okayama University, Japan.
• Accelerator-Based Scientific Research. and Applications; iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences (iThemba LABS), South Africa.
• Accelerator-based analytical techniques for the study of radionuclides in marine samples; Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA), Spain.
• Multidisciplinary applications of electron beam and X-ray technologies and related dosimetry; Aérial, France.
• Advanced Light Sources: Hardware and Development of Multi-Disciplinary Methodologies; Elettra-Sincrotrone, Italy.
• Atoms for Heritage; Paris-Saclay University, France.
• Electron beam technology for food, health, and environmental applications; National Center for Electron Beam Research (NCEBR), USA.

2.8 The Accelerator Knowledge Portal

The Physics Section has developed and maintains the Accelerator Knowledge Portal (AKP), which among other capabilities also hosts interactive maps (data bases) of various types of accelerators operating worldwide. The maps run under the public version of the tableau^® data visualization software. As shown in fig. 10, these maps currently contain data on 324 electrostatic accelerators, 146 accelerator-based neutron sources, 60 synchrotron light sources, 33 BNCT facilities and 14 X-ray Free Electron Laser Sources.

The maps are continuously updated. It is planned to also accommodate proton/hadron therapy centres as well as Radioactive Ion Beam facilities in the future. The AKP also includes case studies with neutron and Ion Beam techniques and provides additional interactive maps of medical cyclotrons, irradiator facilities, and XRF laboratories. In 2021, the AKP was visited by more than 9000 scientists, users, and operators of accelerator facilities.

2.9 The International Conference on Accelerators for Research and Sustainable Development

The Physics Section and the Radioisotope Products and Radiation Technology (RPRT) Section are actively involved in organizing IAEA conferences relevant to accelerator development and applications. In May 2022, they organized the very first IAEA International Conference on Accelerators for Research and Sustainable Development: From Good Practices Towards Socioeconomic Impact (AccConf2022). It was held as hybrid event and attended by around 500 scientists (with 200 in-person participation, see fig. 11) from 72 IAEA Member States. While focusing mainly on the use of accelerators in research and development, the conference was also geared towards accelerator technologists, operators, users, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders involved in multiple applications of accelerator technologies as well as policy makers and regulators.

2.10 The IAEA Ion Beam Facility project

Ion beam accelerators have a large potential for contributing to the socio-economic development of IAEA Member States because of their unique analytical and irradiation capabilities to solve problems of modern society related to environmental pollution and monitoring, climate change, water and air quality, forensics, cultural heritage, agriculture, development of advanced materials for energy production via fission or fusion, and many other fields.

In order to assess whether and how the acquisition and operation of an ion accelerator at the IAEA Seibersdorf laboratories could match the Physics Section’s mission and existing program of teaching and training, and the provision of services across many fields of relevance to the IAEA Member States and internal to IAEA users, a comprehensive feasibility study for the establishment of an Ion Beam Accelerator Facility was performed. For this purpose, a stakeholder analysis and quantification of user needs were first collected; internal IAEA stakeholders contributed through interviews and external stakeholders through a questionnaire aimed at evaluating the current needs of Member States for training and for ad hoc services, including access to particle accelerators for research and development. More than 60 replies were received, representing close to 40 Member States.

According to the results of the stakeholder analysis and quantification of user needs, the most commonly demanded areas of interest and support were identified:

• Training in accelerator technology, such as ion sources and vacuum systems, end stations (design and assembly), radiation detectors in general, control systems, and nuclear electronics.
• Training in IBA techniques.
• Services relevant to the analysis of samples, mostly related to environmental studies, using IBA and nuclear microprobe techniques.
• Applied research using IBA for bulk analysis of air quality, archaeological samples, minerals, 2D and 3D imaging, and spatially resolved analysis using a nuclear microprobe.

Following the results of the feasibility study, in combination with the already established XRF and Neutron Science Facility (NSF) at NSIL/ Physics, an appropriate accelerator facility design matching the IAEA’s programme for capacity building and provision of products and services across many fields of interest for the Member States was identified, which includes:

• A 3 MV Electrostatic accelerator (TANDEM) equipped with ion sources delivering a wide variety of ions, from the lightest element (protons) to the heaviest ones (gold).
• An experimental hall dedicated to the production of fast neutrons with accelerated proton beams, for a broad spectrum of applications.
• State-of-the-art scientific instruments for the detection of ions, neutrons, X-rays, and $\gamma$-rays, and specific experimental setups for IBA techniques.
• Digital electronics and signal processing for Data Acquisition and Analysis.

The layout of the ion beam facility (IBF), which resulted from the feasibility study and the subsequent conceptual design, is shown in fig. 12. The IBF project is expected to be funded through extrabudgetary contributions by the IAEA Member States and other stakeholders. For this purpose, an open call has been launched asking Member States, organizations as well as the private sector for direct funding and contributions in-kind, or equipment donations.

3 Summary

The IAEA Physics Section manages and implements a vibrant program to support accelerator-based research and applications in multiple disciplines by using available IAEA tools and frameworks, i.e., organization of scientific and technical meetings, webinars and conferences, implementing CRPs, facilitation of access to accelerator facilities, offering training activities and capacity building in accelerator-based technologies and techniques through TC projects, management of databases and thematic portals, and support to international conferences, workshops and schools. It also assists Member States in carrying out feasibility and infrastructure assessment studies for establishing new accelerator facilities and provides them with technical support in preparing technical specifications and procurement as well as in installing, operating, maintaining, and upgrading their accelerator facilities and associated instrumentation.

Motivated by the unique contribution of accelerator technologies to socio-economic development of IAEA member states, an Ion Beam Facility project has been launched with the objective to establish a state-of-the-art accelerator facility at the IAEA laboratories in Seibersdorf to cover the identified Member States’ needs for training scientists and engineers in operating and applying ion beam accelerator technologies and to provide a range of associated services. The expected outcome of the project is to enhance the capacity and capability of the IAEA to address the rising demand of Member States to provide assistance in promotion of applied research using accelerator technologies for a large variety of practical applications.