Loss of expertise feared as Budget ignores request to fund Canadian Neutron Facility

The materials science and engineering community fears it will lose its next generation of researchers following the failure of the federal government to fund a dual-use neutron research reactor. The absence of the Canadian Neutron Facility (CNF) from the federal Budget for the second year running means Canada could be without a crucial research reactor, once the existing 43-year-old NRU reactor in Chalk River ON is decommissioned in 2005. It takes at least six years to design, construct and commission a reactor, leaving a two-to-three year gap during which researchers will be without a critical piece of equipment.

The government has been silent on why the $388-million CNF proposal remains unfunded, but many point to Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL), which needs the CNF to ensure that its CANDU nuclear reactor business remains viable. Yet AECL is without a long term plan and Ottawa may be reluctant to make such a large investment in an organizations whose future direction is not clearly spelled out.

The CNF, along with the Canadian Light Source (CLS) and TRIUMF, comprise the three pillars upon which Canada's advanced materials research depends. Given the funding approval for both the CLS and TRIUMF, backers of the CNF are frustrated and bewildered by the government's indecision.

"We didn't get a 'no' from government. They apparently just haven't made up their minds," says Dr William Buyers, director of the Neutron Program for Materials Research at the National Research Council's Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences in Chalk River. "There's a real danger of loss of expertise in Canada. It's hard to get good people and although I've hired several young people recently, I'm not sure what will happen to them if the CNF isn't built."

As proposed, the CNF will include a cold neutron source, making the facility of particular interest to companies involved in biological sciences and polymer science. The actual reactor is estimated to cost $200 million, as well as $98 million for CANDU-related equipment and $90 million for the cold neutron source. Neutron scattering facilities are located in most highly developed industrial nations. In recent years, Australian, Japan and Germany have committed to new facilities, threatening to leave Canada behind.

"It's hard to understand. All G-7 nations have a neutron centre. It's going to cause problems if there's a further delay," says Buyers.

Buyers' concern is echoed throughout the materials science research community, which had anticipated Budget approval this year after being bypassed in 1999. The Canadian Institute for Neutron Scattering (CINS) has sent a letter to prime minister Jean Chretien expressing its concern and stressing the "great urgency and importance" of approving CNF funding. Dr Bruce Gaulin, a McMaster Univ physics professor and CINS president, who penned the letter to the prime minister, says Canada is quickly running out of time before its research capabilities are permanently hampered.

"Canada has very extensive infrastructure and personnel in place to move forward and that may not be the case in three or four years," says Gaulin. "But I'm still optimistic and aggressively pursuing approval of the CNF proposal. We intend to maintain the enthusiasm of our supporters and our lobbying effort."

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CNF STORY CALL-OUT

"The uncertainty resulting from the absence a CNF announcement has shaken

the confidence of the large scientific and engineering community that

requires neutron scattering capabilities to compete successfully in their

research endeavors. A speedy announcement to proceed with the CNF is

needed to restore the confidence needed to keep talented young researchers

in Canada." - Letter to prime minister from the Canadian Institute for Neutron Scattering