NIST CENTER FOR NEUTRON RESEARCH

Rob Dimeo, Director
NIST MISSION

Developing neutron measurements and making them available to the scientific community is central to 

the NIST mission

A MAJOR NATIONAL USER FACILITY

Research quantities of neutrons can only be produced at major, centralized facilities

DELIVERING HIGH IMPACT

NIST continues to be a source of excellent science with neutrons

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

NIST’s neutron measurement capabilities continue to improve
NIST MISSION

Developing neutron measurements and making them available to the scientific community is central to 

the NIST mission

A MAJOR NATIONAL USER FACILITY

Research quantities of neutrons can only be produced at major, centralized facilities

DELIVERING HIGH IMPACT

NIST continues to be a source of excellent science with neutrons

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

NIST’s neutron measurement capabilities continue to improve
Promoting 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.

Ensuring the availability of neutron measurement capabilities to 

meet the needs of U.S. researchers from industry, university and 

other Government agencies. 
Serve the needs of researchers from 

industry, university, and government 

by operating the research facilities of 

the Center as a national user facility

Develop neutron measurement techniques, 

develop new applications of these 

techniques, and apply them to science and 

engineering problems of national interest

Operate the NIST Research Reactor 

cost effectively while ensuring the 

safety of the staff and general public
E ~ atomic motion

THE POWER of NEUTRONS

Penetrating

Scattering power varies randomly across the 

periodic table and from isotope to isotope

λ ~ interatomic spacing

Magnetic
MULTIDISCIPLINARY

BIOLOGY

Castellanos et. al., Using 

SANS to characterize the 

NISTmAb reference material 

ENGINEERING

T. Gnäupel-Herold et. al., Residual 

stresses in additive manufactured 

parts

SOFT MATTER

J.Kornfield et. al., Safer jet fuel 

via megasupramolecules

CONDENSED MATTER

Y. Lee et. al., Quantum spin liquid state in 

herbertsmithite

CHEMICAL PHYSICS

M. Subramanian et. al., Rational pigment design

GEOLOGY

H.E. King et. al., 

Foamy porosity in 

gas shale

ARCHEOLOGY

R. Bishop et. al., Mayan trade routes

CULTURAL 

HERITAGE

R. Livingston et. al., 

Chinese jade and 

bronze dagger axes

NEUTRON 

PHYSICS

F. Weitfeldt et. al., 

Radiative beta-decay of 

the free neutron
INSTRUMENT OWNERSHIP & ACCESS

INSTRUMENT OWNERSHIP

NIST-owned

Partnership-owned (participating research team): 

interagency partnerships (e.g. NSF/NIST CHRNS), 

consortium-owned (e.g. nSoft, iPRIME/ExxonMobil)

INSTRUMENT ACCESS

General user access (competitive proposal-based)

Collaborative access (merit-based via instrument “owner”)

Consortium-based access

Partnership-based access

Proprietary access
User Group Executive Committee

The executive committee represents the 

users, provides input to management 

regarding user concerns, administers a 

periodic user survey and post-experiment 

survey, and provides a forum for keeping the 

community informed about issues impacting 

users of the NCNR.

Beam Time Allocation Committee

The BTAC assesses external reviews of beam 

time proposals and recommends allocation of 

available instrument time. The BTAC also 

provides feedback to management on facility 

developments that could affect beam time 

allocation. 

Users

NCNR management frequently 

gathers feedback from users 

on-site for experiments via 

discussion and the NUG-issued 

post-experiment surveys.

Workshops

NCNR hosts occasional 

workshops to gather input 

from the user community on 

future neutron scattering 

instruments.

Topical Meetings

NCNR staff and leadership 

engage with the user 

community at scientific 

meetings and other venues 

such as the biennial American 

Conference on Neutron 

Scattering.

USER ENGAGEMENT
“

”

https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-scisn-government-shutdown-science-impact-20190215-

story.html by Julia Rosen

Matt Helgeson (UCSB)

Zach Porter, Stephen Wilson and Eli Zoghlin (UCSB)

Yumi Ijiri (Oberlin)

Mike Hore (CWU)

Jodie Lutkenhaus (TAMU)

Bob Birgeneau (UC Berkeley)

A slot at the NCNR is a precious commodity, and Helgeson’s 

students had spent six months meticulously preparing for 

theirs. But every day the shutdown limped on, their prospects 

grew dimmer and their nerves more frayed.

Mark Dadmun (UTK)
NIST MISSION

Developing neutron measurements and making them available to the scientific community is central to 

the NIST mission

A MAJOR NATIONAL USER FACILITY

Research quantities of neutrons can only be produced at major, centralized facilities

DELIVERING HIGH IMPACT

NIST continues to be a source of excellent science with neutrons

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

NIST’s neutron measurement capabilities continue to improve
NCNR Overview

29 experimental beam instruments/experiments

NSE

nSOFT

SANS

Neutron Lifetime

PGAA

MAGIk

PBR

CANDoR

vSANS

HFBS

SPINS

DCS

NDP

PHYSICS

CNI

MDM

SANS

PHADES

NIOF

REFL

BT8

BT7

MACS

BT1

Imaging

BT4

USANS

NIOF A

mTc

PML

MML

PML

PML

PML

PML

PML

PML MML

MML/NCNR

≈ 240 operating days/year

> 97% reactor reliability
NIST REACTOR

Licensed through 2029

Regulated by the NRC

7 cycles/year

38 days/cycle

~240 days/year
NCNR Safety Evaluation 

Committee

Independent review of safety aspects 

of reactor operations; evaluates 

reactor operational activities, 

improving quality of operations 

programs, recommends corrective 

actions.

NCNR Hazard Review 

Committee

Independent group that reviews hazard 

assessments on all potentially 

hazardous activities conducted at the 

NCNR.

SAFETY

NCNR Safety Assessment 

Committee

Independent, external group reviewing 

annually: Reactor operations and 

engineering activities performed in 

compliance with license requirements, 

health physics program, industrial safety 

program, hazard review committee, NCNR 

Safety Evaluation Committee.

NCNR Executive Safety 

Committee

NCNR, MML, PML leadership and safety staff 

who meet monthly to discuss progress on 

development and implementation of safety 

programs and safety performance of NCNR.

TR-5 License

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

inspects NCNR, NIST Security and 

Emergency Services annually

maintenance and surveillance activities

fuel handling

experiments

procedures

emergency preparedness

safeguards and security

organizational structure

qualifications and responsibilities

operational activities

design and design control

review and audit functions

radiation and environmental protection

operator requalification

material control and accounting

NIST ESC

NIST safety programs

NIST IRSC

SNM-362 license
$48M (STRS)

$3.2M (OA)

BUDGET
PARTNERSHIPS

Smithsonian (National Museum of Natural History)

Nuclear Laboratory for Archaeological Research &

Chemical analysis (INAA) of > 43000 archaeological artifacts

iPRIME (UMN) & ExxonMobil Research

SANS consortium for large scale structure in soft matter (e.g. polymers, 

complex fluids, petroleum mixtures)

General Motors

Neutron imaging/visualizing the operation of fuel cells for vehicles

nSoft

Development of advanced measurements of materials and manufacturing 

processes for manufacturers of soft materials (e.g. plastics, composites, 

protein solutions, surfactants, and colloidal fluids).

Expanding the research community’s access to NIST’s neutron capabilities

Maximizing access for the scientific 

community to transformative neutron 

scattering instrumentation

NIST/NSF partnership

Operates 6 neutron scattering instruments

Robust user support

Education & outreach
NIST MISSION

Developing neutron measurements and making them available to the scientific community is central to 

the NIST mission

A MAJOR NATIONAL USER FACILITY

Research quantities of neutrons can only be produced at major, centralized facilities

DELIVERING HIGH IMPACT

NIST continues to be a source of excellent science with neutrons

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

NIST’s neutron measurement capabilities continue to improve
51 COMPANIES | 37 US GOVT AGENCIES & NATIONAL LABS | 185 UNIVERSITIES 

RESEARCH

PARTICIPANTS
PUBLICATIONS
The current study uses the bibliometric 

record to capture the outcomes and 

achievements of the CNBC’s teams and 

networks of collaborators from 1980 to 

2017. It contextualizes the CNBC’s 

activities through a comparison to 

three Canadian and five international 

benchmark institutions, which provide 

points of reference to guide the 

interpretation of bibliometric 

findings. 

FACILITY IMPACT
FACILITY IMPACT

Average of Relative Citations

Institution ARC*

Institut Laue-Langevin 1.03

Laboratoire Léon Brillouin (LLB) 1.06

Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) 1.30

Canadian Beam Neutron Centre (CNBC) 1.39

ORNL High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) 1.57

NCNR 1.95

*ARC: Average of Relative Citations for 2000-2017

1.0 = world average

1.2 → papers cited 20% more than world average
FACILITY IMPACT

The NCNR came in ... first by a wide 

margin for all citation indicators 

The NCNR is ... the only institution 

examined to have displayed consistently 

high performances across most 

indicators. 
FACILITY IMPACT: IMLYGIC

Your (SANS) measurements and analysis 

indicated to our development group that 

the virus structure was compromised in 

the formulation that was used at that 

time. This had a direct effect on our 

decision to find a proper formulation 

that has resulted in a stable 

preparation that has recently been 

approved by European regulators.

Injectable formulation of T-VEC for 

treatment of melanoma

Arnold McAuley

Amgen Senior Scientist

Approved by FDA
NIST MISSION

Developing neutron measurements and making them available to the scientific community is central to 

the NIST mission

A MAJOR NATIONAL USER FACILITY

Research quantities of neutrons can only be produced at major, centralized facilities

DELIVERING HIGH IMPACT

NIST continues to be a source of excellent science with neutrons

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

NIST’s neutron measurement capabilities continue to improve
NCNR Expansion Workshop

July 17-19, 2006 | Bethesda, MD

Neutron Measurements for Materials 

Design & Characterization

August 21-22, 2014 | Potomac, MD

Neutrons for Quantum Information 

Workshop

Nov 26, 2018 | NCNR

CHRNS Review Committee

NCNR User Group

NCNR Users

Beam Time Allocation Committee

National Academies’ Panel of Assessment

INPUT from the 

SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY
NCNR INSTRUMENT TIMELINE
Assessing the National Needs: OSTP Report‡

“The highest priority for federal investments in neutron 

scattering is to fully exploit the best U.S. neutron source 

capabilities—including the SNS—for the benefit of the 

broadest scientific community.”

“The NIST facility is the only U.S. facility which currently 

provides a broad range of world-class capability.”

“...it is also important to improve both the number and 

quality of neutron scattering instruments at the Nation’s 

best neutron sources and to broaden access to those 

facilities by the U.S. research community.”

‡ From the Office of Science and Technology Policy Interagency Working Group on Neutron 

Science: Report on the Status and Needs of Major Neutron Scattering Facilities and Instruments 

in the United States, June 2002.

2002
Assessing the National Needs: OSTP Report‡

“The highest priority for federal investments in neutron 

scattering is to fully exploit the best U.S. neutron source 

capabilities—including the SNS—for the benefit of the 

broadest scientific community.”

“The NIST facility is the only U.S. facility which currently 

provides a broad range of world-class capability.”

“...it is also important to improve both the number and 

quality of neutron scattering instruments at the Nation’s 

best neutron sources and to broaden access to those 

facilities by the U.S. research community.”

‡ From the Office of Science and Technology Policy Interagency Working Group on Neutron 

Science: Report on the Status and Needs of Major Neutron Scattering Facilities and Instruments 

in the United States, June 2002.

2002

A LOT HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST 17 YEARS
A LOT HAS HAPPENED IN 

THE LAST 17 YEARS

2005 FRM II user operations begin (Germany)

2006 SNS first neutrons

2006 OPAL first criticality (Australia)

2008 IPNS ceases operations

2008 J-PARC SNS first neutrons (Japan)

2009 ISIS STS begins operations (UK)

2010 HANARO begins cold source operations (South Korea)

2010 CARR first criticality (China) - awaiting user ops to start

2011 PIK (Russia) first criticality

2012 NCNR completes cold neutron expansion project

2012 CMRR user operations begin (China)

2014 Lujan Center ceases BES-supported user operations

2014 ESS construction begins (Sweden)

2016 RA-10 construction begins (Argentina)

2016 SNS-STS receives conceptual design funding

2017 CNBC ceases operations (Canada)

2018 CSNS commissioning completed (China)

2019 LLB to cease operations (France)

2019 BER II to cease operations (Germany)
THE LONG-TERM FUTURE OF NEUTRONS AT NIST

Replacement Neutron Source

Brainstorming conceptual designs

Emphasize science with cold neutrons

Exploit new developments in CNS technology (e.g. high 

brightness para-H2)

National need: future NAS study

Future Options for the Neutron Source at the NCNR

June 2017

 Maintain NBSR in current configuration

 Major upgrade to the NBSR to enhance flux

 Replace the NBSR with a new reactor
NIST MISSION

Developing neutron measurements and making them available to the scientific community is central to 

the NIST mission

A MAJOR NATIONAL USER FACILITY

Research quantities of neutrons can only be produced at major, centralized facilities

DELIVERING HIGH IMPACT

NIST continues to be a source of excellent science with neutrons

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

NIST’s neutron measurement capabilities continue to improve