Abstract

This presentation will introduce you to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and give a bit of history about neutrons at ORNL. From these early days, ORNL’s neutron capabilities have grown into world class neutron facilities that are using neutrons to answer some of the world toughest problems such as unlocking the mysteries of COVID. I will discuss the current capabilities of ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source and the High Flux Isotope Reactor, and what we are doing to upgrade our existing facilities. I will also discuss the increased capabilities that the Second Target Station will provide and how having 3 neutron sources in one location can be used to benefit the neutron user community.

Biography

Ken Andersen is the Associate Laboratory Director for Neutron Sciences at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. As ALD, Ken overseas the operation and management of two neutron facilities: the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and the High Flux Isotope Reactor. Each year, these facilities support about 3000 visiting users. Ken aims to further broaden ORNL’s role in neutron sciences globally, expand ORNL’s instrument capabilities, and prepare for a second target station at SNS. Previously, Ken was director for the Neutron Technologies Division within the Neutron Sciences Directorate. He has a PhD in physics from the University of Keele in the UK (1994). Between 2010 and 2019, Ken was head of the Neutron Instruments Division at the European Spallation Source in Lund, Sweden. He was previously in charge of the Neutron Optics lab at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France and has worked as a neutron instrument scientist at both ILL and ISIS in the UK, as well as having spent a brief period as a post-doc at the KENS neutron facility in Japan. His research interests center around the design and optimization of neutron instruments for both steady-state and pulsed neutron sources.