U of S Awards $3.4-M Synchrotron Amplifier Contract to Multinational Firm
Posted September 11, 2001
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 11, 2001 2001-09-06-OTHER
U of S Awards $3.4-M Synchrotron Amplifier Contract to Multinational Firm
The University of Saskatchewan has awarded a $3.4-million contract to Thales
Radio Broadcast Inc. of Virginia to design and supply a radio frequency (RF)
amplifier system for the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron project now
under construction on campus.
The RF amplifier will be used to power the superconducting acceleration
module for the CLS storage ring (a large vacuum tube for electron
circulation). The work is to be completed by the end of September.
The contract was recently approved by the U of S board of governors. A
request for proposals was sent out to 22 vendors around the world including
Thomcast Radio Systems Inc. which has since become Thales Radio Broadcast
Inc. Thales is the world's leading supplier of RF systems for the scientific
market.
The U of S-owned CLS is a national facility that will provide a
high-intensity source of infrared, visible, ultraviolet and X-ray radiation
to academic and industrial researchers when it starts operations in January
of 2004. The project is on time and on budget.
The CLS uses radio frequency waves and powerful magnets to accelerate
electrons to nearly the speed of light. The synchrotron then directs the
resulting light through beamlines to laboratory endstations where scientists
can do their experiments. Each beamline will be specialized for a specific
technique or field of research.
The CLS will be a tool for research and innovation in fields as diverse as
medical imaging, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, environmental sciences, and
materials science.
Thales Radio Broadcast will subcontract the system integration, power supply
and control system to Thales Broadcast and Multimedia AG of Switzerland.
Thales Electron Devices of France will supply the Klystron -- the RF tube
that produces the radio waves -- and other components of the system. The RF
amplifier system will supply up to 300 kilowatts of power -- equivalent to
3,000 100-watt light bulbs.
CLS construction is mainly funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation,
the Canadian government, the Saskatchewan government, the Alberta
government, the Ontario government, the University of Saskatchewan, the City
of Saskatoon, and SaskPower.
-more-
..2/synchrotron amplifier contract
This contract brings the total committed funds for CLS construction and
services to $80 million, of which more than $54 million (68 per cent) has
gone to Saskatchewan companies. A total of $141 million in contracts will be
let for new construction.
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For more information on the CLS, visit: http://www.cls.usask.ca
Kathryn Warden
Research Communications Officer
University of Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 966-2506 Fax: (306) 966-2411
kathryn.warden@usask.ca
Martin Heikoop
CLS Project Manager
Tel: (306) 227-3081 (cellular)
mheikoop@cls.usask.ca
