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In this issue:
B Factory Run 5 for the Record Books
Safety Today: New Permit Required for Drilling and Cutting
Joint USDA-DOE National Renewable Energy Conference Opens Registration

SLAC Today

Tuesday - August 29, 2006

The PEP-II Ring. (Click on image for larger version, SLAC only.)

B Factory Run 5 for the Record Books

The PEP-II collider and BaBar detector finished Run 5 on August 17 with flourish, showing great promise for the next run. The day before saw many performance records fall by the wayside and long-term goals achieved. The record day was a fitting culmination for 17 months of nearly continuous operation of the B Factory.

Ultimately, physics from BaBar is driven by the number of B-anti-B pairs produced in the PEP-II collider. It takes a billion B pairs to produce just a handful of the most interesting rare decays. The rate of B particle production is dependent on luminosity, or how tightly packed the particles in the beam are when they collide.

The PEP-II team magnificently satisfied this voracious appetite for more B particles during Run 5. They made significant improvements to luminosity in three different ways: by squeezing the circulating electron and positron bunches harder to produce a smaller transverse cross section, by making them shorter along the beam direction, and by putting more charge in each one.  Read more...

(Column - Safety Today)

New Permit Required
for Drilling and Cutting

(Image - Construction)SLAC and the DOE have identified penetrating walls, ceilings, floors and the ground as one of the activities most likely to end in an accident. In May of 2004, a SLAC worker drilled into a live 480 volt panel when making a penetration in drywall. Fortunately, the worker was not injured. As a result of the review of the accident, SLAC developed and implemented ES&H Chapter 44 Penetration Safety on August 19, 2005. This included a Penetration Permit process.

The original permit covered the most common hazards associated with a penetration: electric shock, explosions and suffocation. A new Penetration Permit, found on the ES&H Forms web page, now includes radiation safety as a concern. All penetrations in radiation identified areas (Radiologically Controlled Areas and Radioactive Materials Management Areas) or involving radiation shielding require the new permit.

The permit requires a survey of the area to locate utilities, rebar and other hazards. Waste material generated from making a penetration is evaluated and hazardous materials are disposed of properly.

Please contact Perry Anthony with any questions.

Joint USDA-DOE National Renewable Energy Conference Opens Registration

(Logo)
Registration is now open for Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance, a national renewable energy conference that will be hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on October 10-12, 2006, at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

The conference will focus on achieving goals outlined in President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), which seeks to change the way we power our cars, homes and businesses through the use of alternative energy sources. The conference will specifically focus discussions on research and commercialization of biomass, wind, and solar technologies. USDA and DOE expect the conference to identify critical pathways, and to make recommendations to help accelerate renewable energy technology development.

Click here for more information or to register.

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