The NIST Center for Neutron Research, in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Credit: J. Stoughton/NIST
Federal facilities that offer neutron beams for U.S. industry play an outsized role in bringing new goods to market more quickly and cost-effectively, according to an analysis of neutron science’s economic impact.
The study, conducted by the nonprofit research institute RTI International, focuses on quantifying the national economic benefits derived from investments in three neutron scattering facilities operated by the U.S. government: the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR), the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) High-Flux Isotope Reactor, and the ORNL Spallation Neutron Source. The study, funded through a cooperative agreement with NIST, also provides insights into ways of keeping the United States competitive moving forward in areas involving neutron research, including infrastructure needs.
Neutrons are subatomic particles that can penetrate materials more deeply than can X-rays and other probes of matter. Researchers can use neutron beams to discover new things about the properties of materials, making neutrons important in scientific research fields from materials science to the physical and life sciences. Neutrons often reveal what X-rays cannot; for example, they can more easily image and study light atoms such as hydrogen. Hydrogen is common in living things and organic matter, making neutrons invaluable for scientific report highlights economic value neutron science industry
