[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 18 (Friday, January 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7548-7549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01959]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Creating a Robust Accelerator Science & Technology Ecosystem

AGENCY: Office of Accelerator R&D and Production, Office of Science, 
Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Request for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: The Office of Accelerator R&D and Production, as DOE's 
coordinating office for accelerator R&D to support the Office of 
Science research mission, is requesting information on the current 
state of the accelerator technology market, and for information about 
successful public-private-partnership models.

DATES: Written comments and information are requested on or before 
March 15, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may submit comments by email only. 
Comments must be sent to [email protected] with the subject line 
``Accelerator RFI Comments''.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Eric R. Colby, (301) 903-5475, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    The Challenge: Particle Accelerators and closely related 
technologies play a key role in the discovery sciences, including Basic 
Energy Sciences, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, and 
Nuclear Physics. Modern discovery science accelerators are high 
technology instruments of remarkable complexity, having advanced over 
eight orders of magnitude in energy since their invention. Aggressive 
reinvention of the underlying technology has driven improvements in 
this science and has required sustained investment in accelerator 
science R&D that advances the methods, materials, and understanding of 
accelerator science. National Laboratories, academia, and industry each 
play vital, mutually reinforcing roles in the success of the 
accelerator-based discovery sciences. They provide a pipeline of 
scientific and technological advances and corresponding accelerator-
component production capability, both necessary to sustain U.S. 
leadership in this area. With an estimated 30,000 particle accelerators 
operating worldwide, there is a significant and growing need \1\ for a 
technically proficient industrial base that can provide the 
increasingly high technology components for modern accelerators. 
Reductions in federally funded long-term accelerator R&D over the past 
decade, coupled with marginal domestic markets for accelerator 
technologies have resulted in weakening of the domestic accelerator 
technology production capability.
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    \1\ ``Accelerators for America's Future'', workshop report, 
http://science.energy.gov/~/media/hep/pdf/accelerator-rd-
stewardship/Report.pdf (2009).
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    The Response: The U.S. Department of Energy, acting through the 
Office of Accelerator R&D and Production in the Office of Science, is 
gathering information on the state of the accelerator technology 
ecosystem, and on future investments that would be of mutual benefit to 
both DOE's physical sciences research mission and to industry.
    For the purposes of this Request for Information, Accelerator 
Technology encompasses the materials, components, subsystems, and 
integrated accelerator systems needed for modern accelerators. This 
includes accelerator structures (both room temperature and 
superconducting); high power radio frequency sources and transmission 
components; high efficiency high-voltage pulsed-power systems; high 
precision accelerator magnets (both conventional and superconducting); 
high power laser systems; high brightness sources of electrons, 
protons,

[[Page 7549]]

and ions; high power targets for secondary beam generation; precision 
x-ray optics; particle and radiation detectors, and advanced 
accelerator concepts. It also includes materials such as 
superconducting sheet, wire, and cable; permanent magnet materials; 
materials for laser and x-ray optics and coatings; photocathode 
materials and structures for polarized electron sources; and materials 
for particle detectors.
    The transfer of high technology from academic and research use into 
industrialized production for broader use is a vital step towards 
reducing cost and increasing reliability of particle accelerators 
generally. Collaborative models of accelerator R&D, public-private 
partnerships, cooperative research and development agreements, Small 
Business Innovation Research programs, and industrial R&D are but a few 
of the critical mechanisms that move technology from concept to 
practice.
    Request for Information: The objective of this request for 
information is to gather information about the current marketplace of 
particle accelerator technology, and to explore opportunities, possible 
partnerships, and mechanisms to strengthen the domestic supply chain.
    The questions below are intended to assist in the formulation of 
comments and should not be considered as a limitation on either the 
number or the issues that may be addressed in such comments. A summary 
of the comments provided will be made public.
    The DOE Office of Accelerator R&D and Production is specifically 
interested in receiving input pertaining to any of the following 
questions:

Status and Future of the Market

    1. What are the current industrial applications of particle 
accelerators and closely related accelerator technologies (see previous 
description)? What is the approximate size of these markets?
    2. What are the emergent industrial applications of particle 
accelerators and closely related technologies?
    3. Are there specific aspects of the current market that pose 
challenges to maintaining a viable accelerator technology business?
    4. Are there specific aspects of the current market that inhibit 
technology transfer and/or the introduction of new accelerator 
technologies?

Models for Technology Transfer

    5. What mechanisms are currently in use to transfer technology 
innovations to industrial practice in your technology area?
    a. What aspects of these mechanisms are effective?
    b. What opportunities exist to improve these mechanisms?
    c. How widely known or easily accessible are these mechanisms?
    6. Can you describe previous examples of successful technology R&D 
partnerships or mechanisms? Why, specifically, were these partnerships 
or mechanisms successful?
    7. Can you describe examples of failed technology partnerships or 
mechanisms? Why, specifically, did these attempts fail?
    8. Are there new models of technology transfer that should be 
explored?

Workforce Development

    9. Do present training mechanisms such as SULI,\2\ post-
baccalaureate programs in accelerator science & engineering, 
Traineeship Programs,\3\ USPAS,\4\ and the Energy I-Corps \5\ meet the 
workforce needs for industry, academia, and the national laboratories?
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    \2\ https://science.osti.gov/wdts/suli.
    \3\ https://uspas.fnal.gov/opportunities/educational-opps/DOE-traineeships.shtml.
    \4\ https://uspas.fnal.gov/index.shtml.
    \5\ https://energyicorps.energy.gov/.
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    a. What aspects of current training mechanisms could be improved?
    b. What additional mechanisms could be used to improve overall 
workforce expertise and readiness?

Defining an Optimal Federal Role

    10. What mix of institutions (industrial, academic, lab, 
government) could best carry out the required technology transfer R&D, 
and who should drive the R&D?
    11. What collaboration models would be most effective for pursuing 
joint technology R&D?
    12. How could accelerator technology R&D efforts engage with other 
innovation and manufacturing initiatives, such as Manufacturing USA? 
\6\
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    \6\ See https://www.manufacturingusa.com/for a program 
description.
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    13. At what point in the technology transfer and subsequent 
manufacturing development cycle would federal support no longer be 
needed?
    14. How best can integrated production know-how for niche market 
technologies be preserved once high-quality sustainable production has 
been achieved?
    15. What metrics should be used to assess the progress of an 
accelerator technology transfer effort over the short term (e.g., 1-2 
years) and long term (e.g., 5 years or more)?

Other Factors

    16. Are there other factors, not addressed by the questions above, 
that impact the successful transfer and industrialization of 
accelerator technology?
    Depending on the response to this RFI, a subsequent workshop may be 
held to further explore and elaborate the opportunities.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on January 25, 
2021, by J. Stephen Binkley, Acting Director, Office of Science, 
pursuant to delegated authority from the Acting Secretary of Energy. 
That document with the original signature and date is maintained by 
DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance with 
requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE 
Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit 
the document in electronic format for publication, as an official 
document of the Department of Energy. This administrative process in no 
way alters the legal effect of this document upon publication in the 
Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on January 26, 2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021-01959 Filed 1-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P