Speaker
Description
The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) is located at Technical Area 53 (TA-53) at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. LANSCE is driven by an 800 mega electron volt (MeV) proton accelerator that delivered first beam in 1972. The LANSCE accelerator is unique in that it accelerates both H- (to full energy of 800 MeV) and H+ ions (up to 100 MeV currently but has accelerated high-power H+ beam to 800 MeV in the past) and supports five separate experimental areas that operate simultaneously with each having different timing and beam current requirements. Many of the LANSCE accelerator front end components date back to its original commissioning in 1972, including the ion sources, Cockcroft-Walton (CW) generators, and the Drift Tube LINAC (DTL) which accelerates the beam up to 100 MeV.
The purpose of the LANSCE Accelerator Modernization Project (LAMP) is to replace and modernize multiple accelerator systems and components to improve beam delivery, reliability and availability. LAMP modernization will improve system maintainability and prepare the facility for operation through 2050. The scope currently includes modernizing the two ion sources, replacing the two CW generators with a modern Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ), and replacing the 60-meter-long DTL which is exhibiting severe degradation and has significantly exceeded its expected lifespan. Modernization of accelerator systems beyond the 100 MeV beam energy are not within the currently approved scope of LAMP, however, start-to-end modeling through the entire accelerator including the Proton Storage Ring (PSR) will need to be performed to verify the project’s performance requirements will be met for all five experimental areas.
LAMP is executed as a congressional line-item project under DOE Order 413.3b for the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA). The design will follow the Program Requirements Document (PRD) for LAMP and other requirements that flow down from the PRD. The project successfully completed a conceptual design review (CDR, 30% design maturity) in October 2025 and is on a path towards the DOE Critical Decision (CD) 1. Removal and installation are planned to start in 2031 and span over a period of 18 months.