AN ASSESSMENT OF THE 

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS 

AND TECHNOLOGY 

CENTER FOR NEUTRON RESEARCH 

FISCAL YEAR 2011 

Panel on Neutron Research 

Laboratory Assessments Board 

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences 

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 

Washington, D.C. 

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www.national-academies.org 
iv 

PANEL ON NEUTRON RESEARCH 

TONYA L. KUHL, University of California, Davis, Chair

MEIGAN ARONSON, Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory 

FRANK S. BATES, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 

DONALD M. ENGELMAN, Yale University 

PAUL A. FLEURY, Yale University 

CHRISTOPHER R. GOULD, North Carolina State University 

PETER F. GREEN, University of Michigan 

ALAN J. HURD, Los Alamos National Laboratory 

JAMES R. LEE, Sandia National Laboratories 

JOHN B. PARISE, Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory 

SUNIL K. SINHA, University of California, San Diego 

Staff 

JAMES P. McGEE, Director 

CY BUTNER, Senior Program Officer 

LIZA HAMILTON, Administrative Coordinator 

EVA LABRE, Program Associate 

 
v 

Acknowledgment of Reviewers 

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their 

diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by 

the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this 

independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the 

institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the 

report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the 

study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect 

the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for 

their review of this report: 

Ian S. Anderson, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 

Susan N. Coppersmith, University of Wisconsin, 

V. Adrian Parsegian, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 

R.G. Hamish Robertson, University of Washington, and 

Alton D. Romig, Jr., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. 

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments 

and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor 

did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was 

overseen by Alton D. Slay, Warrenton, Virginia. Appointed by the National Research 

Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this 

report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review 

comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report 

rests entirely with the authoring panel and the institution. 

vii 

Contents 

SUMMARY 1 

1 THE CHARGE TO THE PANEL AND THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS 5 

2 GENERAL ASSESSMENT OF THE NIST CENTER FOR NEUTRON 7 

 RESEARCH 

3 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AT THE CENTER 12 

4 FACILITIES AND HUMAN RESOURCES 19 

5 THE CENTER AS A USER FACILITY 21 

6 CONCLUSIONS 24 

1 

Summary 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Center for Neutron 

Research (NCNR) is a national user facility whose mission is to ensure the availability of 

neutron-measurement capabilities to meet the needs of U.S. researchers from industry, 

universities and other academic institutions, and other government agencies. The NCNR 

continues safely and reliably to provide a high flux of neutrons to an evolving suite of 

high-quality instruments and sample environments. The current array of thermal- and 

cold-neutron instruments at the NCNR enables measurements over a wide range of 

timescales, energy scales, and length scales. Over the next few years, the cold-neutron 

capabilities at the NCNR will be increased by more than 25 percent through the center’s 

Expansion Project. The enhancements associated with this project include the recent 

completion of a new building for technical services and administration, expansion of the 

guide hall, the installation of a new cold source, and the acquisition of new instruments, 

as well as improvements to some existing instruments. 

The facilities and measurement capabilities at the NCNR play a critical role in 

advancing science and developing new technologies in the United States and enable 

NIST to fulfill its role of promoting science, standards, and technology. The new 

instruments and upgrades associated with the planned facility expansion will ensure that 

the NCNR continues to provide users with access to internationally competitive 

instruments. 

As requested by the Director of NIST, the scope of the assessment of the NCNR 

by the National Research Council’s Panel on Neutron Research included the following: 

(1) the degree to which NCNR programs in measurement science, standards, and services 

achieve their stated objectives and fulfill the mission of the organizational unit (the 

NCNR); (2) the technical merits and scientific caliber of the current NCNR programs 

relative to comparable programs worldwide; and (3) the alignment between NCNR 

research and development efforts and those services and other mission-critical 

deliverables for which the NCNR is responsible. With the Expansion Project well 

underway, the report also contains the panel’s more retrospective review of the NCNR in 

order to provide a benchmark for comparison as the facility goes through a major 

upgrade. 

KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

 The panel presents the following key findings and major recommendations from 

its 2011 assessment of the NCNR. 

1. A signature feature of the NCNR is a culture and environment that promotes 

respect for science, user education and training, and internal leadership 

development. 

2. The NCNR has been and continues to be a leading facility in cold-neutron 

research. The Expansion Project will significantly improve the capabilities 

of the facility. Continued support to upgrade instruments and develop the 

next generation of state-of-the-art instruments should enable the NCNR to 

remain among the best user facilities for neutron research in the world. 
2 

3. The NCNR has also developed and retained instrument scientists and 

research personnel with, in many cases, considerable scientific reputations. 

The continued scientific excellence of the NCNR scientific staff is critical 

for maintaining the quality and impact of neutron-scattering science by the 

facility and its users and for developing new measurement techniques and 

applications. 

RECOMMENDATION 1: The NCNR management should continue to 

take care that the next generation of senior researchers continues to 

develop and remain excited about their research and that they are not 

overly burdened with administrative and other duties that are not 

characterized as research. 

 

4. The NCNR has consistently operated safely, efficiently, and reliably. The 

NCNR has maintained a safe and secure facility while serving the needs of a 

robust neutron-scattering community through an open-call, merit-based 

proposal process. 

5. Partnerships with universities and other agencies have strengthened the 

scientific impact and capabilities of the NCNR. For example, the Center for 

High Resolution Neutron Scattering (CHRNS) represents a long-standing 

partnership between the NCNR and the National Science Foundation. It 

provides funds for scientific staff to support users on the CHRNS 

instruments; instrument development such as the multi-angle crystal 

spectrometer (MACS), a best-of-its-kind, high-flux spectrometer allowing 

ultrahigh-sensitivity access to dynamic correlations in condensed matter on 

length scales from 0.1 nm to 50 nm and energy scales from 0.05 meV to 20 

meV; and outreach activities to educate and serve the neutron-scattering 

community. Flexible partnerships with universities have enabled the NCNR 

to carry out leading-edge research and advance the application of neutronscattering techniques. 

6. The Expansion Project is moving ahead well within the expected range of 

uncertainties. Given the historically exceptional reliability and performance 

of the NCNR, a timely and successful restart of the facility is expected by 

the research community after the period of outage needed to complete the 

Expansion Project. The maintaining of direct control of the project by the 

Director of the NCNR should enable rapid response to and mitigation of 

potential challenges for a timely restart. 

7. Discretionary time on the NCNR instruments is used for calibration 

measurements, instrument development, and projects conducted by NIST 

researchers, but it is also very important for the following purposes: 

(1) bringing new users into the facility and introducing them to neutronscattering techniques in general, (2) providing flexibility and rapid access 

for cutting-edge science, and (3) developing and retaining excellent 

instrument scientists and personnel at the facility. 

RECOMMENDATION 2: Discretionary time on NCNR instruments 

should be maintained. 
3 

8. The maintenance of existing university partnerships and the development of 

new partnerships should continue to enhance the ability of the NCNR to 

advance neutron-measurement techniques and their application to science 

and engineering problems. 

9. The NCNR has best-in-class instruments and capabilities in the area of soft 

condensed matter. A focus area in neutron-scattering measurements of 

membrane proteins has been significantly enhanced over previous years 

through collaborative partnerships involving the NCNR and other NIST 

laboratories and external collaborators, such as the Biomolecular Labeling 

Laboratory (involving the University of Maryland and the NIST 

Biochemical Science Division of the Material Measurement Laboratory); a 

joint hire of a research scientist with the Material Measurement Laboratory; 

and a proposal developed jointly by the Institute for Bioscience and 

Biotechnology Research (a collaborative institute involving NIST and the 

University of Maryland), JILA (located in Boulder, Colorado), and NCNR 

staff in this area. Continued emphasis and effort to ensure a successful 

realization of this partnership should greatly strengthen the capabilities and 

impact of biological work at the NCNR as well as tap into a high-growth 

community. The focus on membranes and membrane proteins is a 

reasonable approach, given the number of individuals currently 

spearheading this effort. 

10. Synergies between the NCNR and the Polymer Division of the NIST 

Material Measurement Laboratory have historically led to highly productive 

science. 

RECOMMENDATION 3: Collaborative efforts with the NIST Material 

Measurement Laboratory and the Physical Measurement Laboratory 

should be maintained to aid the NCNR in extending its leadership in 

cold-neutron research. Future partnerships with the NIST Center for 

Nanoscale Science and Technology should be explored to strengthen the 

capabilities and impact of the NCNR. 

11. Funding of the ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) proposal to develop 

scintillation detectors could lead to a significant improvement in detector 

capabilities and help to mitigate concerns regarding the future availability of 3

He for detectors. 

12. Currently, the Beam Time Allocation Committee is working well. 

RECOMMENDATION 4: Care should be taken to ensure that the 

proposal review process continues to work effectively as the NCNR 

facility expands. 

13. There is only one vendor for the fuel used in the NCNR reactor, and costs, 

which are increasing every year, will be substantially higher with the 

conversion to low enriched uranium. Additional operational funds will be 

required for the facility to maintain its high level of operating days and 

productivity. 
4 

14. The NCNR has established a system that seems to preserve all safety 

requirements while keeping the openness and accessibility needed for a user 

facility. Continuing to maintain a rational security program within the 

constraints of increasing security demands is critical in order to allow 

efficient use of the facility, especially as the number of users increases with 

the completion of the Expansion Project. 

15. The development of software for facile structural biology analysis by the 

general user community is likely to have significant impact and will aid in 

promoting the conduct of neutron-scattering measurements by nontraditional 

users in the life sciences. Two personnel are being hired, using funds 

provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

(Public Law 111-5), for the further development and refinement of the 

SASSIE analysis software (which is used to create atomistic models of 

molecular systems and also to compare scattering data from these models 

directly to experimental data), although these hires are for only 1 and 2 

years for the respective tasks. Continuing support in this area can ensure the 

completion of a robust analysis package for users as well as enhanced 

modeling and analysis capabilities in the future. For example, similar 

capability to include known chemistry, physics, and structural information 

in order to analyze scattering data from magnetic materials would be 

extremely helpful not only for the analysis of scattering data but also for the 

design of pertinent experiments. 

16. The development of facilities for the growth of large single crystals suitable 

for neutron-scattering experiments would remove a considerable hindrance 

to further advancement in many areas of condensed-matter science. The 

addition of this capacity would be an important service to the materials 

community. 

17. The NCNR continues to develop novel ancillary sample environments and 

equipment, developed in part by users, such as the development of the novel 

shear cell with the University of Delaware, the development of the humidity 

cell for membrane studies with Carnegie Mellon University, and advances in 3

He polarization capabilities. Such capabilities add to the attractiveness of 

the NCNR as a facility for carrying out unique studies with a convenience 

not yet found in other facilities. 

RECOMMENDATION 5: The development at the NCNR of novel 

ancillary sample environments and equipment should be continued. 
5 

1 

The Charge to the Panel and the Assessment Process 

 At the request of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the 

National Research Council (NRC) has, since 1959, annually assembled panels of experts 

from academia, industry, medicine, and other scientific and engineering environments to 

assess the quality and effectiveness of the NIST measurements and standards 

laboratories, of which there are now six,1

 as well as the alignment of the laboratories’ 

activities with their missions. NIST requested that three of its laboratories be assessed in 

2011: the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST), the NIST Center for 

Neutron Research (NCNR), and the Information Technology Laboratory. Each of these 

was assessed by a separate panel of experts; the findings of the respective panels are 

summarized in separate reports. This report summarizes the findings of the Panel on 

Neutron Research. 

 For the fiscal year (FY) 2011 assessment, NIST requested that the panel focus on 

the following criteria as part of its assessment: 

1. Assess the degree to which laboratory programs in measurement science, 

standards, and services achieve their stated objectives and fulfill the mission 

of the operating unit (laboratory); 

2. Assess the technical merits and scientific caliber of the current laboratory 

programs relative to comparable programs worldwide; and 

3. Assess the alignment between laboratory research and development (R&D) 

efforts and those services and other mission-critical deliverables for which the 

laboratory is responsible. 

The context of this technical assessment is the mission of NIST, which is to 

promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement 

science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve 

the quality of life. The NIST laboratories conduct research to anticipate future metrology 

and standards needs, to enable new scientific and technological advances, and to improve 

and refine existing measurement methods and services. 

 In order to accomplish the assessment, the NRC assembled a panel of 11 

volunteers whose expertise matches that of the work performed by the NCNR staff.2

 

The panel members visited the NCNR facility at Gaithersburg, Maryland, on March 14-

16, 2011, for 2.5 days, during which time they attended presentations, a tour, a poster 

session, and interactive sessions with NCNR staff. The panel members also conducted 

interactive sessions with NCNR managers and with leaders of NCNR user groups and 

 1

 The six NIST laboratories are the Material Measurement Laboratory, the Physical Measurement 

Laboratory, the Engineering Laboratory, the Information Technology Laboratory, the Center for Nanoscale 

Science and Technology, and the NIST Center for Neutron Research. 2

 See http://www.ncnr.nist.gov/ for more information on NCNR programs. Accessed June 14, 

2011. 
6 

met in closed sessions to deliberate on the panel’s findings and to define the contents of 

this assessment report. 

 The approach of the panel to the assessment relied on the experience, technical 

knowledge, and expertise of its members, whose backgrounds were carefully matched to 

the technical areas of NCNR activities. The panel reviewed selected examples of the 

technological research covered by the NCNR; because of time constraints, it was not 

possible to review the NCNR programs and projects exhaustively. The examples 

reviewed by the panel were selected by the NCNR. The panel’s goal was to identify and 

report salient examples of accomplishments and opportunities for further improvement 

with respect to the following: the degree to which the NCNR programs achieve their 

stated objectives and fulfill the NCNR mission, the technical merit and scientific caliber 

of the NCNR work, and the alignment between NCNR R&D efforts and NCNR services 

and other mission-critical deliverables. These examples are intended collectively to 

portray an overall impression of the laboratory while preserving useful suggestions 

specific to projects and programs that the panel examined. The panel applied a largely 

qualitative rather than a quantitative approach to the assessment, although it is possible 

that future assessments will be informed by further consideration of various analytical 

methods that can be applied. 

For its assessment, the panel relied primarily on presentations made by NIST and 

NCNR managers and staff and by other researchers associated with NIST projects and 

programs, and on informational notes prepared by NIST and NCNR staff for use by the 

panel. Posters by various researchers involved with NCNR activities were also presented 

to the panel during its visit to the NCNR. This report does not contain extensive citations 

of technical articles and reports. Other documents and resources used by the panel are 

cited in the report, as appropriate. 

The comments in this report are not intended to address each program within the 

NCNR exhaustively. Instead, this report identifies key issues. Given the necessarily 

non-exhaustive nature of the review process, the omission of any particular NCNR 

program or project should not be interpreted as a negative reflection on the omitted 

program or project. 

The preceding Summary highlights major issues that apply to the center as a 

whole and presents the panel’s key findings and recommendations for the NCNR. 

Chapter 2 presents a more detailed overall assessment of the NCNR, including a 

comparison of the center with other neutron research centers. Chapter 3 provides an 

assessment of the scientific and technological research conducted at the NCNR. Chapter 

4 discusses the adequacy of the facilities and human resources that support the center, 

and Chapter 5 discusses the center’s role as a user facility. The panel’s general 

conclusions are presented in Chapter 6. 
7 

2 

General Assessment of the NIST Center for Neutron Research 

 The timing of this review of the NIST Center for Neutron Research coincided 

with a time of considerable change for the U.S. neutron community: namely, the coming 

online of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory 

(ORNL) and the approaching 10.5-month shutdown of the NCNR facility for upgrades 

and the installation of a new guide hall and new instruments. It is, therefore, an 

appropriate time to put in perspective the role that the NCNR has played in the field of 

neutron-scattering science in the United States and to discuss the NCNR facility in 

comparison with other leading neutron sources worldwide. 

ROLE OF THE CENTER IN THE NEUTRON-SCATTERING COMMUNITY 

For the past decade, the NCNR can claim to have been the flagship of American 

neutron-scattering facilities, and it ranked high among all international facilities in 

neutron scattering. In fact, after the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in France, which is the 

largest neutron facility in the world (as measured by the number of beam lines and staff), 

the NCNR is, by almost all measures, the next most productive and effective scientific 

neutron facility in the world. This is borne out by statistics measuring its performance 

according to several criteria: number of instruments; number of operating days per year 

(with a 20-year average of 233 days per year and a record 267 full-power operating days 

in 2010); number of participants per year; number of publications per year; an enviable 

safety record;3

 a staffing level of 4 or 5 scientists, technicians, and engineers per 

instrument (acknowledged worldwide as the desirable and required staffing level); and a 

high level of user satisfaction as shown by surveys of users. 

The facility, which was originally a research reactor meant at the time to serve the 

needs of NIST and industry, grew in the 1980s, with the addition of a cold-neutron guide 

hall, into a true national user facility, driven by the vision of its scientist-managers. Their 

hands-on and effective management helped to develop the spirit of dedication, efficiency, 

and scientific excellence that persists to this day. These qualities enabled the NCNR 

(along with the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source, or IPNS, at the Argonne National 

Laboratory) to maintain U.S. competitiveness in the field during the long “neutron 

drought” at Department of Energy (DOE) sources in the 1980s and 1990s. That drought 

resulted from the shutdown of the High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR), the long periods of 

shutdown at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the ORNL, and, during that period, 

the erratic performance of the Lujan Neutron Scattering Center at the Los Alamos 

Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) facility. (The IPNS itself was shut down in 2005.) 

It also opened up an era in which industrial firms including Exxon, DuPont, and 

others, together with various universities, were able to operate Participating Research 

Teams at the Cold Neutron Research Facility (CNRF, the original name for the NCNR) 

 3

 National Institute of Standards and Technology, The NIST Center for Neutron Research: 2010 

Accomplishments and Opportunities, NIST Special Publication 1110, December 2010. Available at 

http://www.ncnr.nist.gov/AnnualReport/FY2010/AR_2010_large.pdf. Accessed June 14, 2011. 
8 

and to use neutron scattering as one of their R&D tools. The presence of several 

experienced and renowned scientists on the staff of the CNRF who were willing to work 

closely with these users and to help them with their problems was crucial to the success 

of this effort. 

Industrial involvement at the NCNR, which has continued to the present day, and 

the involvement of the Polymers Division at NIST—which brought in industrial consortia 

made up of groups such as Sematech and Exxon that use small angle scattering, neutron 

reflectivity, and powder diffraction, and which, in partnership with General Motors, has 

used the Neutron Imaging Facility for imaging hydrogenous matter in large 

components—help the NCNR to fulfill its role of being a resource for industry. Thus, 

over the past decade (and longer), the NCNR has amply carried out its role as a scientific 

and technical resource for U.S. industry and the U.S. scientific community. In this 

context, gauging the scientific impact of the NCNR facility by comparing the citations to 

published scientific work done at the NCNR to those of other facilities would be one 

means to quantify the role of the facility on the world stage. 

The management philosophy, scientific tradition, and user satisfaction continue to 

be a focus of the facility. Personnel development and strategic promotion from within the 

NCNR have enabled this culture to continue. It is also gratifying to see that a respected 

retired NCNR director is still actively involved in the technical design of the new cold 

source and that several of the excellent and experienced retired scientists at the NCNR 

still take part in the scientific life and activities at the center. 

The plans for the upgrade appear to be well thought out and are being 

implemented satisfactorily. The designs for new instruments such as the very small angle 

neutron scattering (vSANS) spectrometer, the chromatic analysis neutron diffractometer 

or reflectometer (CANDoR), and the new materials diffractometer are imaginative and 

sound, and it is hoped that the required increase in staffing will not be disrupted by the 

uncertain fiscal plans of the U.S. government. 

The planned 10.5-month shutdown of the NCNR and decrease of neutronscattering capabilities in the United States will adversely affect the neutron-scattering 

community, particularly university users whose research grants and students’ 

dissertations depend on current programs at the NCNR. It is hoped that NIST 

management and scientists will help facilitate for their current users alternative 

arrangements at the HFIR, LANSCE, and SNS. After the NCNR restarts with its suite of 

new instruments—it is hoped, as scheduled in September 2012—it is expected that the 

NCNR will continue to be one of the world’s leading neutron facilities and will provide 

to the U.S. neutron community a resource comparable to the SNS. The maintaining of 

direct control of the Expansion Project and restart by the Director of the NCNR should 

enable rapid response to and mitigation of potential challenges for a timely restart. 

COMPARISON OF THE CENTER WITH OTHER USER FACILITIES 

The comparison between reactor sources and continuous and pulsed spallation 

sources is technically complicated by different power and neutron flux issues, since 

continuous and pulsed flux optimize different experiments. Utilization metrics including 

“users” are complicated by non-uniform definitions throughout the neutron community 

and therefore are excluded from the comparison of the NCNR and other user facilities. 

Similarly, oversubscription is not compared because user-requested time is not under 
9 

facility control. (Oversubscription is the number of days requested by users divided by 

the total number of days available.) 

The NCNR oversubscription rates by beam line are in a healthy range, averaging 

2.2 over the facility, indicative of a robust and vibrant user community. To provide a 

means to evaluate the NCNR relative to other comparable user facilities and to allow for 

a straightforward and direct comparison, the average number of beam days that a user 

team requires in order to develop a publication was considered here. In most cases, a 

2010 figure, if available, is reported for each metric shown in Table 1. In order to 

provide comparable data for sources undergoing change, a consistency check was 

performed to determine whether the 2010 figure was representative of a 5-year average. 

Thus, for example, the ISIS publications in 2010 (209) were considered representative in 

spite of the low 2009 (108) figure, which may have been depressed by the outage that 

occurred in order to bring up the second-target station; 2010 SNS and HFIR metrics were 

also estimated. When publication lists were available, conference proceedings were 

removed from counts; otherwise, publications numbers from the facilities were used 

directly. The definition of “high-impact publications” as specified by the respective 

facilities was accepted; otherwise the “Vettier List” was used—namely, Nature, Science, 

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Physical Review Letters

(PRL), Physical Review E (PRE), Physical Review B (PRB), Journal of Molecular 

Biology (JMB), and Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). (The high-impact 

fraction was found to be consistent with a 2004 report by Christian Vettier for 19 neutron 

facilities.4) 

On the international scene, the clearest point of comparison is with the Institut 

Laue-Langevin, a reactor source of comparable power and flux to that of the NCNR. ILL 

is the consensus gold standard for neutron-scattering and neutron science user programs. 

With n = 47 instruments operating and d = 200 days of operation per year, ILL produces 

over p = 630 (585 for its 5-year average) publications per year and claims h = 12 to 16 

percent high-impact papers. The NCNR currently has 22 instruments operating about 

250 days per year (~233 days, 20-year average), 325 publications per year, and 

approximately 11 percent high-impact papers. Productivity P = nd/p, the average beam 

time required to produce a refereed publication, is 18 instrument days for NCNR, 

comparable to 14 instrument days at ILL. The productivity P depends on source, 

instrument, and user service factors. 

The ILL is at or near the top in budget and staffing for reactor sources. In 2010, 

the overall ILL staffing of 489, which includes an in-house theory group, is supported by 

a facility budget of 88.5 million euros, or $124 million. By comparison, the NCNR fields 

134 core full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff members with a budget of $46 million; the 

larger NCNR staffing is 260 FTEs (including staff deployed from other NIST 

laboratories). 

 4

 See Robert M. Briber, Henry Glyde (Chair), and Sunil K. Sinha, Access to Major International 

X-Ray and Neutron Scattering Facilities, Committee on International Scientific Affairs of the American 

Physical Society, April 30, 2009. Available at 

http://www.aps.org/programs/international/resources/upload/Facilities_Access_All_2009.pdf. Accessed 

August 15, 2011.
10 

TABLE 1 Comparison of the NCNR with Other Representative Neutron Facilities 

 ILL NCNR HFIR ANSTO Lujan SNS 

ISIS TS1 

+muons ISIS TS2 

ISIS 

Total 

n

instruments 45 22 7.5a 9 11 7.5a

 28 13 41 

d days 200 267 168 340 125 177 201 179 194 

p papers 

2010 630 325 66b

 89 109 53b 209 50 259 

h % high 

impact 12% 11% 45% 11% 12% 45% 11% — — 

nd/p 14.3 17.9 18.9c 34.4 12.6 25.0c 26.9 46.5 30.7 

Type reactor reactor reactor reactor spallation spallation spallation spallation spallation 

MW 60 20 85 20 0.1 1.0 0.3 0.1 0.4 

NOTES: ILL, Institut Laue-Langevin; NCNR, NIST Center for Neutron Research; HFIR, High Flux 

Isotope Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory; ANSTO, Australian Nuclear Science and 

Technology Organisation; Lujan, Lujan Neutron Scattering Center at the Los Alamos Neutron Science 

Center (LANSCE); SNS, Spallation Neutron Source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory; ISIS TS1 +

muons, ISIS Spallation Neutron Source in England; ISIS TS2, ISIS Spallation Neutron Source in England; 

n, number of instruments; d, days of operation per year; p, number of publications in 2010; h, percentage of 

high-impact publications; nd/p, measure of facility output = number of instruments x number of days ÷ 

number of papers; type, type of neutron source; MW, megawatts. 

SOURCES: 

 ILL: ILL Annual Report, Available at http://www.ill.eu/fileadmin/users_files/Annual_Report/AR10/index.htm. Accessed June 30, 2011. 

 NCNR: National Institute of Standards and Technology, The NIST Center for Neutron Research: 2010 

Accomplishments and Opportunities, NIST Special Publication 1110, December 2010. Available at 

http://www.ncnr.nist.gov/AnnualReport/FY2010/AR_2010_large.pdf. Accessed June 30, 2011. 

 HFIR and SNS: Allen Ekkebus, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 

ORNL Neutron Sciences, Neutron Review, ORNL/TM-2011/88, April 2011. Available at 

http://neutrons.ornl.gov/media/pubs/pdf/2010neutronreview.pdf. Accessed June 30, 2011. 

 ANSTO: ANSTO Annual Report 2009-2010, September 2011. Available at 

http://www.ansto.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/48912/AR_2010_online.pdf. Accessed June 30, 2011. 

 Lujan: for LANSCE, 2010 publications were obtained from ISI Web and Google Scholar. 

 ISIS: ISIS 2010, September 2010. Available at 

http://www.isis.stfc.ac.uk/about-isis/annual-report/2010/isis-annual-review-201011462.pdf. Accessed June 

30, 2011. 

 aInstruments available to general users: 

 SNS: 7.5 available throughout 2010 (8 instruments fully available in general user call for one cycle 

and 7 for the other);12 instruments on the floor 

 HFIR: 7.5 available throughout 2010 (8 instruments fully available in general user call for one 

cycle and 7 for the other); 9 instruments on the floor b

Papers are only those involving research performed on or describing SNS or HFIR instruments. 

Publications involving all HFIR and SNS resources, including staff using other techniques and facilities 

and irradiation and accelerator activities, number 156 for HFIR and 250 for SNS. c

Publications in 2010 result from experiments performed in 2008 and 2009 while the SNS and HFIR 

were constructing and commissioning many new instruments and ramping beam days. Therefore, the 

number of instrument days per publication metric, “nd/p,” is an overestimate using the 2010 data. 
11 

A straightforward measure of user service is the level of beam-line staffing. The 

NCNR fields approximately 5 FTEs per instrument; ILL claims to field 7 FTEs.5

 The 

NCNR is competitive with the best facilities in the world in user support. Thus, the 

NCNR program is currently about 50 percent of ILL in size and scope from instruments 

to staff. In this context, the NCNR productivity metric is excellent. 

 5 Colin Carlisle, Director of the ESS Scandinavia Secretariat Lund, personal communication to the 

panel, March 23, 2011.
12 

3 

Science and Technology at the Center 

 Research conducted at the NIST Center for Neutron Research continues to be 

highly collaborative, and the facility continues to attract a diverse cross section of users 

from academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and from Europe. 

Whereas academic and national laboratory researchers comprise 67 and 13 percent of the 

participants, respectively, industrial researchers currently account for only 5 percent. 

Plans are being developed and implemented to increase the number of industrial 

participants. The formation of the nSoft consortium to involve industry in using neutron 

scattering in the area of soft materials is an attempt to formalize and continue 

collaborations with industry, and it is hoped that it will result in successful collaborations. 

A workshop on industrial uses of neutron scattering is being planned for industrial 

scientists. This is an excellent idea, with the laudable goal of improving industrial 

participation. 

Partnerships with universities and other agencies have strengthened the scientific 

impact and capabilities of the NCNR. For example, the Center for High Resolution 

Neutron Scattering (CHRNS) represents a long-standing partnership between the NCNR 

and the National Science Foundation. It provides funds for scientific staff to support users 

on the CHRNS instruments; instrument development such as the multi-angle crystal 

spectrometer (MACS), a best-of-its-kind, high-flux spectrometer allowing ultrahighsensitivity access to dynamic correlations in condensed matter on length scales from 

0.1 nm to 50 nm and energy scales from 0.05 meV to 20 meV; and outreach activities to 

educate and serve the neutron-scattering community. Flexible partnerships with 

universities have enabled the NCNR to carry out leading-edge research and advance the 

application of neutron-scattering techniques. The maintenance of existing university 

partnerships and the development of new partnerships should continue to enhance the 

ability of the NCNR to advance neutron-measurement techniques and their application to 

science and engineering problems. 

One of the primary reasons that the NCNR continues to be one of the best places 

in the world for performing neutron experiments is the quality of the research staff and 

the availability of state-of-the-art instrumentation for measuring the structure and 

dynamics of diverse materials systems. The capabilities and continuous improvement of 

the instruments, which currently enable measurement of the structure and dynamics over 

a wide range of length scales (0.01 nm to 10 microns) and timescales (0.01 picoseconds 

to 100 nanoseconds), respectively, make the NCNR facility competitive on the world 

stage. The instruments continue to be oversubscribed, as evidenced by the proposal 

pressure, which is between two and three proposals offered for each one accepted. The 

research continues to be at the forefront, covering a number of areas of soft and hard 

condensed-matter science, as well as measurement science. These areas include 

structural biology (particularly membranes and vesicles), neutron radioactive decay 

experiments, ferroelectricity, dynamics of complex fluids, high critical-temperature (Tc) 

materials, and magnetism. The highest level of proposal oversubscription and the most 
13 

publications currently arise from experiments utilizing small angle neutron scattering 

(SANS) and powder diffractometry. 

An important metric of performance is the number and quality of publications 

annually and the percentage of experiments performed at the facility that lead to 

publications. At 325, the number of publications in 2010 remains high; 76 percent of the 

papers are published in journals with impact factors equal to or greater than 2. Moreover, 

50 percent of the experiments performed at the facility resulted in publications. This 

indicates that the experiments are well planned and that the proposal review process is 

effective. Notably, most of the publications are in the area of soft-matter science, 

reflected by the fact that four of the top five journals in which publications appear 

emphasize topics involving soft matter. 

The NCNR has best-in-class instruments and capabilities in the area of soft 

condensed matter. A focus area in neutron-scattering measurements of membrane 

proteins has been significantly enhanced over previous years through collaborative 

partnerships involving the NCNR and other NIST laboratories and external collaborators, 

such as the Biomolecular Labeling Laboratory (involving the University of Maryland and 

the NIST Biochemical Science Division of the Material Measurement Laboratory); a 

joint hire of a research scientist with the Material Measurement Laboratory; and a 

proposal developed jointly by the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (a 

collaborative institute involving NIST and the University of Maryland), JILA (located in 

Boulder, Colorado), and NCNR staff in this area. Continued emphasis and effort to 

ensure a successful realization of this partnership should greatly strengthen the 

capabilities and impact of biological work at the NCNR as well as tap into a high-growth 

community. The focus on membranes and membrane proteins is a reasonable approach, 

given the number of individuals currently spearheading this effort. In addition, synergies 

between the NCNR and the NIST Polymer Division have historically led to highly 

productive science. Collaborative efforts with the NIST Material Measurement 

Laboratory and the Physical Measurement Laboratory should be maintained to aid the 

NCNR in extending its leadership in cold-neutron research. Future partnerships with the 

NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology should be explored to strengthen the 

capabilities and impact of the NCNR. 

The NCNR continues to develop novel ancillary sample environments and 

equipment, developed in part by users, such as the development of the novel shear cell 

with the University of Delaware, the development of humidity cell for membrane studies 

with Carnegie Mellon University, and advances in 3

He polarization capabilities. Such 

capabilities add to the attractiveness of the NCNR as a facility for carrying out unique 

studies with a convenience not yet found in other facilities. The development at the 

NCNR of novel ancillary sample environments and equipment should be continued. 

The section below contains an assessment of the potential impact of ongoing 

projects presented to the panel. 

CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT: USANS, VSANS, AND 

POWDER DIFFRACTION 

The ultra-small angle neutron scattering (USANS) instrument at the NCNR 

continues to attract new users needing the world-leading capabilities of this unique 

instrument. New users, including those from industry, interested in topical areas such as 
14 

carbon sequestration, and concrete and explosives research present new opportunities for 

the SANS program. The development of vSANS, which will extend the momentum 

transfer vector (Q) range to overlap USANS and SANS, is a particularly noteworthy 

development. The vSANS instrument should allow for efficient measurements with low 

background, and, given appropriate samples, be as convenient as conventional SANS 

measurements. With the addition of vSANS, the NCNR instruments will provide the 

capability of carrying out measurements over multiple length scales, covering five orders 

of magnitude in a single facility. Such a capability is especially important in real-world 

problems; for example, size distribution of voids is important to the shock resistance of 

explosives and to the integrity of concrete used in nuclear waste storage. 

The powder diffraction program continues to be internationally competitive as 

well as forward looking, owing largely to excellent management support and high-quality 

external and internal collaborators. Currently, research is devoted to iron 

superconductors, hydrogen, CO2, and other gas sorption/separation experiments. A 

preconceptual design for a high-flux materials diffractometer was presented to the panel. 

This is an important development, as its existence will enable measurements such as 

time-resolved powder diffraction and diffraction from small samples, which might allow 

more routine study of hydrogenated materials. If fully realized, such capabilities are 

likely to be utilized by a large number of users, as it will be much more tractable to study 

pure samples of novel compounds when only small volumes of material are required. 

The new materials diffractometer also will enable the study of materials under extreme 

conditions of, for example, pressure (up to 2.5 GPa), temperature (30 milli-kelvin to 700 

K), and magnetic field (10 and 15 tesla), with sample environments available at the 

NCNR with higher temporal resolution. It might well return prominence to the NCNR, 

where the modern era of high-pressure science began with the invention of the diamond 

anvil cell at NIST/National Bureau of Standards in the 1950s through the 1970s 

(http://nvl.nist.gov/pub/nistpubs/sp958-lide/100-103.pdf). The development of such an 

instrument should be supported. 

RHEOLOGY 

The work done in the area of rheology is diverse. It includes the structure and 

properties of polymers for fuel cells, organic materials for solar cells, and polymers for 

microelectronics, as well as the flow and rheology of complex fluids. Collaborations 

with universities through the Center for High-Resolution Neutron Scattering have been 

very successful. These collaborations have been responsible for the development of a 

commercial rheometer that enables the in situ study of complex fluids under shear, while 

simultaneously probing the structure using SANS. Exciting results using scanning 

narrow aperture flow-USANS (SNAFUSANS) were presented to the panel and were also 

featured in the 2010 annual report of the NCNR. The construction of a novel sample cell, 

now available in the pool of ancillary equipment at the NCNR, allowed observation of 

compositional and structural differences in complex fluids under shear. This new 

capability enabled the establishment of “non-equilibrium phase diagrams” for complex 

fluids that are used for a wide range of applications, from health care products to drug 

delivery. 
15 

THIN-FILM STRUCTURE 

Another area of active investigation involves off-specular neutron scattering to 

develop an understanding of the structure of two-dimensional ordered materials and the 

extracting of orientational nanophase information from thin films. The technique is 

complementary to more conventional atomic force microscopy and grazing-incidence 

small angle x-ray scattering (GSAXS) measurements. Software is being developed to 

analyze data taken from a position-sensitive detector in order to gain information laterally 

about the structure of the sample within the film. Success of this program should lead to 

more widespread use of this technique for studying two-dimensional complex fluid films, 

such as ordered block copolymer thin films subject to geometrical constraints, and 

biomimetic membranes. Reflectivity measurements continue to be used to address 

important research problems. 

CORRELATED ELECTRON AND MAGNETIC MATERIALS 

Research on correlated electron materials continues to be an area of strength at the 

NCNR for its internal researchers as well as for the vigorous national and international 

user community. The NCNR continues to make key advances on the iron pnictide 

superconductors, having made important alliances with leading sample growers. There 

continue to be important advances in the understanding of the magnetic excitations and 

structures of the 122 compounds, and the position-sensitive detectors and spin 

polarization on the BT-7 double focusing triple-axis spectrometer have proven 

instrumental for these advances. Of particular note in the past year have been the 

diffraction and inelastic scattering experiments on the iron chalcogenide compounds that 

clarify the role of iron interstitials and strain on the magnetic structure of Fe1-xTe, and 

also the evolution of magnetic excitations with doping. 

The U.S. quantum magnetism community, with interests in compounds such as 

heavy fermions and geometrically frustrated insulators, remains headquartered at the 

NCNR. The MACS is becoming increasingly important for these users. The 

incorporation of spin polarization analysis into inelastic scattering and diffraction 

experiments is just starting to make its mark, as evidenced by the recent results on the 

magnetic shell structure of nanoparticles and magnetic domains in a multiferroic 

compound. The NCNR’s continued emphasis on providing reliable sample environments 

makes it competitive with the SNS in retaining these users, although this situation is 

likely to become less tenable as SNS capabilities increase in the next few years. NCNR 

management is providing appropriate and unique capabilities that will keep the NCNR 

relevant to the correlated-electron user community, even as more intense sources come 

online elsewhere. The CHRNS has played an especially important role in the continued 

vitality of this field, both in providing resources and in recruiting and training new 

practitioners. The NCNR continues to attract excellent junior scientists whose research 

interests reside in these correlated electron materials, which bodes very well for the 

continued preeminence of NCNR research in this area. 
16 

LIPID MEMBRANES 

The work with the membrane diffractometer (advanced neutron diffractometer/ 

reflectometer [AND/R]) on lipid membrane multilayers continues to be of high quality 

and is geared toward studying the structure of proteins inside lipid membranes. One 

surprising result from recent measurements carried out by a group at the NCNR is that 

the disorder due to fluctuations in the multilayers is much larger than previously thought. 

Another group has carried out some impressive neutron spin-echo work to study the 

fluctuation dynamics of unilamellar vesicles to obtain their elastic moduli. There are 

very few results of this type in the field at present. 

The hiring of a leader for the joint team involving the NIST Material 

Measurement Laboratory and the NCNR is an excellent move that should strengthen the 

collaborative efforts with strong groups outside of the NCNR in this area. As the 

Biomolecular Labeling Laboratory with the Biochemical Science Division comes online, 

the ability to use neutron-scattering techniques to address biological questions of interest 

will grow, positioning the NCNR to serve a high-growth community in the biological 

sciences. In a similar vein, the transition of SASSIE to a robust, user-friendly analysis 

software package has the potential for significantly aiding the expansion of neutronscattering techniques in the life sciences. 

The development of software for facile structural biology analysis by the general 

user community is likely to have significant impact and will aid in promoting the conduct 

of neutron-scattering measurements by nontraditional users in the life sciences. Two 

personnel are being hired, using funds provided under the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), for the further development and 

refinement of the SASSIE analysis software (which is used to create atomistic models of 

molecular systems and also to compare scattering data from these models directly to 

experimental data), although these hires are for only 1 and 2 years for the respective 

tasks. Continuing support in this area can ensure the completion of a robust analysis 

package for users as well as enhanced modeling and analysis capabilities in the future. 

For example, similar capability to include known chemistry, physics, and structural 

information in order to analyze scattering data from magnetic materials would be 

extremely helpful not only for the analysis of scattering data but also for the design of 

pertinent experiments. The positive impact of robust and user-friendly software to the 

existing potentially growing user community is substantial. 

FE-BASED SUPERCONDUCTORS 

The NCNR science in the area of Fe-based superconductors is competitive with 

efforts anywhere in the world, and the MACS and spin polarization are special 

capabilities that the NCNR offers. The NRC’s 2009 assessment report6

 noted how 

rapidly the NCNR pursued this new family of Fe-based superconductors that had been 

discovered; the NCNR group’s work had been based on samples brought to it by a group 

from the ORNL. Together, the NCNR and ORNL groups published the first report of 

antiferromagnetic order in one of the compounds and showed that it occurred close to, 

but not coincidentally with, a structural phase transition. Work on these materials has 

 6

 National Research Council, An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Center for Neutron Research: Fiscal Year 2009. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2009. 
17 

continued, even though many other groups around the world, and at the SNS in 

particular, are also carrying out neutron-scattering experiments on these materials. Some 

of the NCNR researchers are also part of collaborations involving work carried out 

elsewhere. The focus at the SNS has been mainly on the study of the spin excitations by 

inelastic neutron scattering, whereas much diffraction work (both powder and single 

crystal) and some inelastic scattering is being carried out at the NCNR. The current 

efforts at the NCNR have been partly focused on the iron-tellurium compounds, doped 

with lighter chalcogenides, selenium, and sulfur, using both neutron diffraction and 

inelastic scattering. 

The powder diffraction work mentioned above concentrated on studying the 

consequences for nuclear and magnetic structure of controlled depopulation, by deintercalation with I2 vapor, of the interstitial iron, which also controls the 

superconductivity. The inelastic scattering on the MACS has observed an energy 

resonance and a spin gap at the Fermi surface nesting vector. The other focus has been 

on the compound CaFe2As2 as a function of rare-earth doping, to simulate the effect of 

pressure. This compound is known to undergo a volume collapse under pressure, and 

Lynn and coworkers at the NCNR showed that this also exists as a function of 

temperature in rare-earth doped compounds. They have also studied spin-wave 

excitations in SrFe2As2. Overall, the NCNR maintains considerable momentum in this 

very competitive area of research. 

In the well-trodden field of ferroelectrics, the NCNR group has studied the 

ferroelectric phase transition in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and identified the soft 

modes associated with the corresponding structural phase transitions, and clarified the 

differences in behavior with the well-studied relaxor ferroelectric PMN 

(Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3). This work is a continuation of a long tradition of studying soft 

modes in ferroelectrics (primarily at the Brookhaven National Laboratory); through the 

use of large, vertical focusing monochromators, the work has been successful in spite of 

the limited size of available single crystals. 

FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS IN NEUTRON SCIENCE 

The research group at the NCNR continues to develop unique capabilities for 

probing the properties of the neutron, for using the neutrons for imaging and 

interferometry applications, and for the development of 3He spin filters and imaging 

techniques. The group recently completed a new measurement of the parity-violating 

spin rotation of neutrons in 4

He, and for the first time it has observed the radiative decay 

branch of the neutron with a precision that may allow the group to begin testing detailed 

models of the bremsstrahlung processes involved. The group’s work with three-blade 

single-crystal silicon interferometers has long set the standard for precision 

measurements of neutron-scattering lengths and tests of quantum mechanics with 

neutrons. By adding two more blades to the standard configuration and employing a 

quantum error correction code, the researchers have shown that they can suppress 

vibration effects, potentially allowing more widespread use of the technique. The group 

achieved a world-record 85 percent polarization for a 3

He glass cell and developed 

imaging capabilities for fuel cells and lithium batteries. 
18 

SUMMARY 

In summary, with the new instruments and improvements becoming available 

through the Expansion Project, there is an emphasis on the continued development and 

enhancement of the neutron-scattering techniques available at the facility. The new 

instruments will have an important impact on studies of hard and soft matter and will 

enable the NCNR and its research output to remain at the forefront of the field for many 

years. To further augment the scientific productivity of the NCNR, the development of 

facilities for the growth of large single crystals suitable for neutron-scattering 

experiments would remove a considerable hindrance to further advancement in many 

areas of condensed-matter science. The addition of this capacity would be an important 

service to the materials community. 
19 

4 

Facilities and Human Resources 

The NIST Center for Neutron Research has earned a reputation for reliable 

operation and outstanding service to the research community. In 2010, the NCNR 

successfully operated on 267 days, well above its target of 250 days. This performance is 

best in class among similar neutron research facilities. The NCNR is robustly staffed 

with reactor operators, reactor engineers, and technicians to support these activities. The 

staff has a healthy demographic composition, with a mix of very experienced personnel 

and recent hires, who will stay on after the upgrade is completed. This staffing asset 

positions the NCNR to maintain operational excellence in the future. The Director of the 

NCNR estimates that there are about 4 or 5 staff personnel supporting each instrument, 

which leads to a high level of satisfaction in the user community. 

The NCNR is about to suspend reactor operation for 10.5 months in order to 

complete its Expansion Project. Five new beam lines will increase its cold-neutron 

measurement capacity by more than 25 percent, and the reconfiguration of existing 

instruments will enable better optimization of their performance. The Expansion Project 

schedule is aggressive and has been analyzed in detail both by NCNR staff and by 

visiting advisory committees. The critical-path elements are well understood by staff. 

Removal of the CO2 seal on the BT-9 cold source (a remote handling project) could be 

problematic. 

Some of the reactor refurbishments that were planned for the Expansion Project 

have been deferred. A new refrigerator for the cold source and an upgrade of the control 

room will be done at a later time. Only 4 safety shim arms will be procured initially, 

rather than the planned 24. Detailed planning for these activities revealed that they are 

more complex than originally thought, and anticipated funding from the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was redirected to other items at NIST. The 

NCNR management decided to reduce the scope of the Expansion Project in order to 

maintain the schedule. This adjustment demonstrates an admirable commitment to 

supporting the user community. However, it does increase the risk that equipment failure 

could force an unplanned interruption of reactor operations in the future. 

The NCNR Safety Assessment Committee (SAC) recently examined the safety 

culture of the NCNR. As indicated to the panel, the SAC reported that “the NCNR 

exhibits the highest regard for safety culture at every level and is implementing the 

Technical Specifications as required.”7

 

Coinciding with the NRC panel’s current review of the NCNR in March 2011, 

Japan was struggling to control four nuclear power reactors crippled in a magnitude 9.0 

earthquake. Explosions blew the roofs off three of the Japanese reactors. Nearby 

residents were ordered to stay inside because of dangerous releases of radioactive 

material. This disaster will likely lead to an intense scrutiny of hazards associated with 

nuclear facilities. The NCNR should be prepared to answer questions about the 

 7

 Robert Dimeo, NCNR Director, “NCNR Overview to the Panel on Neutron Research,” 

presentation to the panel, Gaithersburg, Maryland, March 14, 2011. 
20 

consequences of low-probability but extreme events that might exceed the design criteria 

of the reactor building that was built in 1967. 

The NCNR has established a system that seems to preserve all safety 

requirements while keeping the openness and accessibility needed for a user facility. 

Continuing to maintain a rational security program within the constraints 

of increasing security demands is critical in order to allow efficient use of the facility, 

especially as the number of users increases with the completion of the Expansion Project. 

Continuing concern about the security of nuclear facilities is driving the 

replacement of highly enriched uranium fuel with low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel in 

research reactors. No date for the conversion of the NIST reactor has been scheduled, but 

current projections by the Convert program of the Department of Energy’s National 

Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) suggest that conversion could take place in the 

2015-2016 time frame. Changing to LEU fuel will reduce the neutron flux from the 

reactor, but the NNSA will mitigate this impact to performance by funding a D2 coldsource system to replace the current H2 cold source and refrigerator with the additional 

cooling capacity required for the D2 cold source. Additionally, refurbishing the control 

room and the planned development of a formal software quality program have broad 

applicability for contributing to safe operation and constitute a key element of a 

comprehensive security program. 

There is only one vendor for the fuel used in the NCNR reactor, and costs, which 

are increasing every year, will be substantially higher with the conversion to low enriched 

uranium. Additional operational funds will be required for the facility to maintain its 

high level of operating days and productivity. 
21 

5 

The Center as a User Facility 

 The NIST Center for Neutron Research is a state-of-the-art facility that serves a 

wide range of national and international needs regarding various aspects of neutron-based 

science and technology. A primary purpose of the NCNR is to foster scientific research 

by users from universities, industry, and other national laboratories and across myriad 

disciplines, including condensed-matter physics, materials science, chemistry, biology, 

several types of engineering, and fundamental neutron science. The NCNR plays a 

leading role in developing new measurement techniques along with offering access to 

state-of-the-art instrumentation that serves basic and applied research needs, while 

addressing critical technological needs. 

The overall NIST mission—“to promote U.S. innovation and industrial 

competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways 

that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life”8

—is evident in the 

breadth of the neutron science program at the NCNR, including both scattering and 

neutron physics, with U.S.-based and international users. The NCNR is an island of 

stability in the U.S. neutron science scene. One reason for this stability is the 

empowerment of local leadership over two decades to mold the program into a true user 

facility without dissipative oversight. Empowerment may be a cultural value within the 

Department of Commerce; it is nonetheless true that alignment of NCNR to the NIST 

mission has established a high level of trust. As an example, the NCNR is recognized as 

an international user facility because NCNR management has had the freedom to 

optimize the NCNR’s scientific program irrespective of the institutional origin. 

In 2011, the NCNR offered a total of 4,272 instrument days through peerreviewed proposals, which far exceeds the total instrument days offered through peerreviewed proposals by any other U.S. neutron source. The number of proposals has risen 

over the past 20 years, with a near-record total of 357 proposals submitted in response to 

the most recent call. Overall the oversubscription rate is 2.2, and while there is clearly 

some variation among instruments, this figure has remained approximately constant over 

the past 5 years. 

The number of NCNR participants continues to grow, with the 2,290 researchers 

in 2011 originating from every research sector: NCNR, other NIST laboratories, 

universities, other government agencies, and industry. The diversity of the participant 

base is one of the unique strengths of the NCNR, supported by the flexibility of the 

instrument suite, by the commitment of the NCNR staff to education and reaching out to 

new users, and by the NCNR’s favorable location. University participants remain the 

largest cadre, and the usage modes include long-standing collaborations with the 

University of Maryland and the University of Delaware, for example, as well as 

participation by researchers from other respected U.S. universities. The NCNR’s ability 

to meet the research needs of committed neutron-scattering users as well as those of more 

casual users is key to its continued success, and this mix should be preserved as the 

 8

 See http://www.nist.gov/publicaffairs/mission.cfm. Accessed June 16, 2011. 
22 

NCNR moves forward. It is significant that the number of NCNR participants has not 

changed in the past few years, despite the growing user base of the SNS. 

The quality of participant research at the NCNR is very high. Of the 367 

publications produced in 2011 through work at the NCNR, 75 percent appeared in 

journals with high-impact factors, which is competitive with international sources such as 

the ILL, which offers many more instrument hours per year. Impressively, 13 different 

instruments produced high-impact papers (Journal Impact Factor [JIF]  7) in 2011, with 

powder diffraction and SANS responsible for more than half. Taken together, the 

continued degree of oversubscription and the high quality of participating user science at 

the NCNR confirm that there is continued high demand for neutron-scattering facilities in 

the United States. This demand is broad, spanning different research areas and neutronscattering techniques, and it is very promising that there continue to be many researchers 

in the United States who want to use neutron scattering. 

There are several reasons for the outstanding success of the NCNR’s user 

program. At the most basic level, users decide where to carry out their experiments 

depending on beam flux and availability, the suitability and accessibility of sample 

environments, and the quality of staff support. It is clear that the NCNR management 

and staff understand very well what impels these decisions; it is also clear that the 

Expansion Project will provide extremely important new capabilities that will enable new 

science for existing participants as well as attracting new NCNR participants. 

The NCNR is also a very reliable source, providing more instrument hours than 

any other U.S. source at present, which is very important for attaining the high levels of 

user satisfaction. To assess the level of user satisfaction with the NCNR, the center 

conducted a user survey in 2007. In response to questions regarding (1) instrument 

performance, (2) sample environments and support facilities, and (3) capabilities and 

assistance from the NCNR staff, more than 75 percent of the 327 respondents reported 

that the NCNR was “very good” or “excellent.” Participants were only slightly less 

complimentary of the NCNR’s health physics services. The survey showed that 

commitment to developing new sample environments and to providing the needed level 

of support to ensure that the environments work during experiments is widely viewed as a 

defining feature of NCNR’s success. In addition, the long-running summer school and 

the various workshops on special topics were viewed by survey participants as being very 

effective in bringing students up to speed quickly on the capabilities of neutron-scattering 

measurements. 

Interviews that the panel conducted with the chair of the NCNR users group and 

the chair of the Beam Time Allocation Committee (BTAC) reinforced these findings. 

Both attested to the general satisfaction of the user community with the process and 

practices associated with granting beam time, including the roles played by NCNR staff 

members in obtaining proposal reviews. Both also expressed concern over the increase in 

the number of proposals anticipated with the upgrade of the facility, which will strain the 

current system. Each expressed the belief that the NCNR’s collaborative programs with 

universities, such as the University of Delaware and the University of Maryland, 

encouraged the development of sample environments and facilities that benefited all 

users. The chair of the BTAC noted in particular that she had access to new in situ 

shearing equipment recently placed in operation through the collaboration between the 

NCNR and the University of Delaware. Care should be taken to ensure that the proposal 

review process continues to work effectively as the NCNR facility expands. 
23 

NIST senior scientists are crucial to the NCNR’s success. They have the 

experience and scientific perspective necessary to make sure that all the pieces are 

present to make experiments successful, to identify promising new scientific projects, to 

work with researchers to refine the experiments, to optimize the scientific output, and to 

use their considerable scientific reputations to seek out new and timely collaborations. 

These individuals also have the inclination and ability to train new users, forming the 

long-term mentorships that in many cases underlie the loyalty and continued association 

of many long-term users and their students. Most importantly, these senior researchers 

set much of the tone at the NCNR, making it a very attractive and productive place for 

young researchers, who in turn embrace the values of scientific excellence and education 

that define the NCNR’s central mission. The continued scientific excellence of the 

NCNR scientific staff is critical for maintaining the quality and impact of neutronscattering science by the facility and its users and for developing new measurement 

techniques and applications. The NCNR management should continue to take care that 

the next generation of senior researchers continues to develop and remain excited about 

their research and that they are not overly burdened with administrative and other duties 

that are not characterized as research. 

 Discretionary time on the NCNR instruments is used for calibration 

measurements, instrument development, and projects conducted by NIST researchers, but 

it is also very important for the following purposes: (1) bringing new users into the 

facility and introducing them to neutron-scattering techniques in general, (2) providing 

flexibility and rapid access for cutting-edge science, and (3) developing and retaining 

excellent instrument scientists and personnel at the facility. Discretionary time on the 

NCNR instruments should be maintained. 

This is a rather volatile time in the international neutron-scattering community, 

made complex by widespread financial uncertainties, the possible loss of capabilities at 

the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), and the SNS’s increasing 

capabilities. It will be challenging to maintain the excellent and broad scientific user 

base at the NCNR in this changing landscape, and it will be challenging for the NCNR to 

maintain its important institutional values given these considerable external forces. It is 

important that the NCNR not become complacent about its ability to attract the best 

neutron-scattering science. Special attention should be paid to maintaining the strong 

connections with participants over the approaching long shutdown, particularly if delays 

in the construction schedule lead to a delayed user cycle. As stressed above, the breadth 

and depth of the NCNR user research portfolio are crucial to its mission success, and care 

should be taken that this balance is maintained. There is a balance of user relationships, 

and university and—increasingly—industrial collaborations are very important for 

attracting both science and resources to the NCNR. There appears to be no current cause 

for concern. The NCNR management should remain mindful that the user perception of 

open access must not be compromised as the center serves the diverse communities that 

depend on the NCNR. 
24 

6 

Conclusions 

The NIST Center for Neutron Research is a national user facility. Its mission is to 

ensure the availability of neutron measurement capabilities to meet the needs of U.S. 

researchers from industry, academia, and government agencies. The development of the 

next generation of neutron-scattering scientists and engineers also remains a vital part of 

the NCNR’s program. 

 The NCNR continues to provide a reliable, high flux of neutrons to a suite of 

high-quality instruments and sample environments that continue to evolve. The suite of 

thermal- and cold-neutron instruments at the NCNR enables important measurements 

over a broad range of time, energy, and length scales. 

 The NCNR is an excellent facility, with outstanding management and staff and 

with programs that serve well the research community and the nation. The capabilities of 

the NCNR play a crucial role in advancing science and in developing new technologies in 

the United States. They also enable NIST to satisfy its role in promoting science, 

standards, and technology. The upgrades and new instruments associated with the 

Expansion Project will enable the NCNR to continue to provide its users with access to 

internationally competitive instruments and to continue its preeminence as a neutronscattering facility.