1980s-1990s
US source for discovery science
Between the mid-1980s and 90s, the United States conducted a series of studies into the country’s need for major science facilities. It was decided to build a second neutron source at ORNL, one dedicated solely to neutron scattering.
The facility was designed and constructed by an ORNL-led team with significant contributions from Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, and Los Alamos national laboratories, as well as the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Source.
Left: Central Lab and Office Complex (CLO, Bldg 8600). Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) construction site, December 26, 2003.
(Photo Credit: Jim Richmond/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy)
Right: The Spallation Neutron Source, 2024.(Photo Credit: Percy Harrell/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy)
