By J. W. AHLEN
Staff scientist for the Illinois
Legislative Council, he holds a Ph.D. in
physiology / bioengineering from the
University of Illinois at the Medical
Center. Ahlen is a native of Illinois and
interested in enhancing public
understanding of science.
Fermilab, the scientific prize of the century, takes root in northern IllinoisAfter a long battle, the world's largest atom smasher settled in the area formerly known as Weston, Illinois. Since then, Fermilab has developed into an international research center, a great tourist attraction, and a home-away-from-home for its 1,300 employees |
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THE BATTLE which the New York Times called the "toughest . . . ever fought for a federally sponsored installation," ended in December 1966, when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) selected Weston, Illinois, as the construction site for the world's largest atom smasher. The State of Illinois invested $30 million in a 6,800-acre site for the AEC, and the Weston village trustees voted their village out of existence so that what the Times called "the scientific prize of the century" could be located in Illinois. Weston was located next to Batavia and 30 miles west of Chicago.
Named after Enrico J. Fermi, the 1938 Nobel Prize winner who led the development of the world's first nuclear reactor at the University of Chicago, Fermilab was established with a single mission: to study high energy physics. This esoteric field of scientific research involves experiments in which high speed atomic particles collide with the nuclei of a variety of atoms in special detectors. The particles used at the Fermilab are protons, which constitute the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. They are accelerated to high speed (nearly the speed of light) and high energy by three accelerators: a linear accelerator, a circular booster accelerator, and the circular main ring accelerator. The detectors permit experimenters to observe the collisions by revealing the paths followed by the subatomic "debris" that result from these collisions.
It is ironic that researching the nature of the smallest pieces of atomic material requires the use of the largest of scientific tools. The size of the site alone is impressive. Fermilab occupies more than 10 square miles and has within its boundaries an entire town. The former village of Weston, now called the Fermilab Village, remains — houses, streets and a small park. The village houses machine shops and workshops for fabricating some of the lab's equipment. Some of the former homes now serve as offices for laboratory personnel while others are used as accommodations for visiting scientists and graduate students. One of the most interesting features of the village is a group of white farm houses at the edge of town. These buildings were moved to the village from the numerous farms that comprised much of what is now Fermilab. Three of them sit side by side forming one large building that is used as a dormitory. The others are situated with attractive randomness in what must be a unique collection of rural American architecture.
The Central Laboratory
The laboratory is dominated by the
distinctive 16-story Central Laboratory
Building which is visible from all parts
of the laboratory. The Central Laboratory Building is also clearly visible to
motorists on the East-West Illinois
Tollway, two-and-a-half miles to the
south. The core of the building is open
for 15 floors, and the entire laboratory
site can be surveyed from the 15th floor.
From this height the downtown Chicago skyline, 30 miles to the east, can be
seen against the horizon.
On a satellite photograph of the Chicago area, the lab's main accelerator ring is easily identifiable. It has a diameter of over a mile (exactly two kilometers) and a circumference of four miles. It is in the main ring that the particles undergo the final stage of acceleration.
The particles that are accelerated have their origin in a one-story building adjacent to the Central Laboratory Building. A wing of this building contains the main control room from which scientists, with the aid of computers, generate the particles and
14 / September 1976 / Illinois Issues
coordinate the three stages of acceleration in the linear, booster, and main ring accelerators. The TV monitors, computer keyboards, and situation display panels remind one of a smaller scale mission control center from the days of the Apollo space program.
The particles are extracted from the main ring and pass through a three-way switchyard that allows the particle beam to be directed to any of three remote experimental areas that lie between half a mile and one mile away. The high energy physics experiments are carried out in these areas, which contain the detectors. The three experimental areas are the meson area, the neutrino area, and the proton area.
Economic impact
Construction of the Fermilab cost
$243.5 million, which was $6.5 million
below the amount authorized by Congress. Besides costing less than authorized, the lab was completed ahead of
schedule and at specifications above
those called for in the original design.
With an operating budget of over $42 million in the 1976 fiscal year, the economic impact of the Fermilab on Illinois is significant. Roughly half of this amount is for salary and benefits for the lab's 1,300 employees. In addition, between 300 and 400 scientists and technical staff visit the accelerator to perform high energy physics experiments each year. Since experiments of this type normally require six to twelve months for completion, these physicists spend considerable time in Illinois. Some physics graduate students spend even longer periods in residence at Fermilab while doing the research for advanced degrees.
For scientists or visitors, the lab is within commuting distance from Chicago's O'Hare Field, which is about 30 miles from Fermilab. The most convenient route from the airport to the lab is provided by two of Illinois' tollways.
Another laboratory expenditure of some importance to Illinois is the electric bill for Fermilab. The trajectory of the accelerated particles is controlled by electromagnets. These magnets consume large quantities of electricity supplied by Commonwealth Edison. Electric power costs for the lab are in excess of $5 million annually.
Near the end of the site selection process in 1966, the chairman of the AEC indicated that a major criterion for final site selection would be civil rights. The following year the lab had the issue thrust sharply upon it when the Illinois General Assembly failed to pass an open housing bill. The late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., sponsored a protest against locating the accelerator in a state where the legislature "almost defiantly" voted against open housing. Fermilab supported Dr. King by petitioning the General Assembly for approval of a strong open housing bill, but without positive legislative results.
The lab's first policy statement on human rights in 1968 preceded federal requirements for an Affirmative Action Plan and went beyond the principle of equal opportunity for minorities, including positions on aggressive employment practices, special educational and apprentice training programs and open housing. Minority contractors have held significant contracts with the lab, and about 15 per cent of the laboratory's personnel are from minority groups.
Foreign visitors
Locating the National Accelerator
Laboratory in Illinois reversed a drain
of physics brainpower from the midwest
to east and west coast high energy
physics laboratories, and also made
Illinois a world center for physics research.
The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is the largest scientific tool of its kind in the world. It draws some of the greatest physicists in the world to Illinois for experimentation that can only be accomplished at Fermilab. A row of flagpoles in front of the Central Laboratory Building fly the colors of foreign scientists doing research at the lab. Among others, one might see the flags of the Soviet Union, Poland, England, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland. The foreign scientists, typically at Fermilab for 12 months or longer, are exposed to a uniquely Midwestern view of the United States.
Scientific advances
When the accelerator was being designed, a new electrical component,
the silicon controlled rectifier, was just
reaching commercial development.
These components, called SCRs, are
devices similar to transistors and are
capable of switching electric currents on
and off at very high speeds. This
characteristic made them ideal for use in
the accelerator, and the design specifications called for installation of SCRs.
The use of SCRs in such a large and
important project gave a boost to an
embryonic segment of the electronics
industry, and continues to stimulate
research.
The primary results of high energy
physics research are best understood
and appreciated by physicists. This does
not diminish the importance of the
work. In the nineteenth century, man's
understanding of matter was furthered
by the atomic theory. This theory was
the key to the development of modern
chemistry. In the middle of the twentieth
century, man's understanding of matter was extended into the nucleus of the
atom. This laid the foundation for
developing nuclear power. Physicists
consider these to be major advances for
their science. Many scientists believe
that man is on the verge of making
another major advance, this time in high
energy physics. The potential benefits
that might be associated with the next
advance cannot be predicted, but some
benefits are being realized now as
spinoffs from research being done at Fermilab.
Cancer research
Perhaps the most timely spinoff from
the technology used at Fermilab is the
energy doubler / saver project. This
project takes advantage of a property of
electrical conductors called superconductivity. At temperatures of 450
A cancer therapy project is in its initial phases at Fermilab, and is being
funded by the National Cancer Institute in the U.S. Department of Health,
Education and Welfare and from the
Illinois Division of the American
Cancer Society. The Fermilab Nucleon
Therapy Facility will use particles from
the linear accelerator to study improved methods for radiation treatment of cancer.
September 1976 / Illinois Issues / 15
degrees Fahrenheit below zero, electrical resistance and the associated heat loss in copper or any other metal wire can be reduced significantly. Reduced electrical resistance makes the wire a more efficient conductor of electricity, in fact, making it a superconductor. The lab's substantial consumption of electricity and increasing electric utility rates have combined to focus the scientists' attention on cryogenics and superconductor technology. Employing this technology in its electromagnets will permit the laboratory to accelerate particles to energy levels twice as high (1,000 billion electron volts) as is currently possible (500 billion electron volts), but without an increase in electric power use. Superconducting magnets would also allow energy to be saved if the accelerator were operated at present energy levels.
Development of the energy doubler / saver project is progressing at Fermilab. When finished it will be the first practical application of superconductor technology and will mark an important technological advance. A mature superconductor technology has high potential for use in the generation and transmission of commercial electric power. A superconducting transmission line is being planned for installation at Fermilab.
Conservation efforts
Environmental conservation is also
being practiced at the laboratory. A
herd of about 20 American bison, more
commonly called buffalo, is maintained
on the lab site. It is not unusual to see
hawks soaring over the site or to spot
deer from office windows in the Central
Laboratory Building. A project is also
underway to restore the 650 acres of
former farm land inside the accelerator
ring to Illinois tallgrass prairie. A water retention project collects rain
water runoff in ponds that have been
created on the site. Even though the lab
can draw water from wells or the nearby
Fox River, water from the site's own
sources — Lake Ephemeral, the Sea of
Evanescence and Casey's Pond, and
others — provides primary cooling for
the lab's electromagnets.
In an energy conservation move,
Fermilab is experimenting with a fleet of
five electric powered automobiles.
Transportation is required to shuttle lab
personnel around the 10-square mile
site, and electric cars might be able to
provide it most economically. The
Fermilab Solar Energy Club, a volunteer group, has outfitted a one bedroom
house in the village with an auxiliary
solar heating system. The solar heating
project will allow the club to collect information and assess the feasibility of
using sun power to heat homes in the
Chicago area.
Community relations
The lab's auditorium, used primarily
for scientific presentations, is available
for community use. The public is
welcome to Fermilab for cultural
activities, such as a performance of the
Bolshoi Ballet (which visited Fermilab
because Soviet scientists were performing experiments there). An estimated
35,000 visitors attended the lab's 1975
open house. The lab looks like a park
from the roads along its boundaries.
There is no perimeter fence, and during
the daylight hours on weekdays and for
limited hours on weekends, the public
can tour the laboratory by auto and is
welcome to visit the Central Laboratory
Building's central court or atrium.
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The laboratory is a federal reservation. It is operated by a consortium of
United States (and one Canadian)
universities for the federal Energy
Research and Development Administration (ERDA).