The Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin and ANSTO have now signed an agreement for the transfer of the BioRef reflectometer from the BER-II Reactor to OPAL. This initiative is expected to deepen and strengthen the research connections between the two institutions, and indeed more generally between Germany and Australia, and it is a concrete implementation resulting from the high-level agreement signed in May 2015. As part of the new agreement, German users will have access to up to 10% of the beamtime, once BioRef is installed and operating at OPAL.
From left to right; Rob Robinson, Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin CEO Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, and Birgit Schröder-Smeibidl. |
The physical transfer will take place before the end of 2016, and will double the overall capacity for neutron reflectometry experiments at OPAL. The BioRef reflectometer will be installed on a high-flux cold-neutron end-guide position on CG2B, adjacent to the BILBY small-angle neutron scattering instrument. It will be the 14th neutron beam instrument at OPAL.