Present: K. Blaum, Y. Blumenfeld, P. Butler, R. Catherall, J. Cederkall, A. Di Pietro,
K. Flanagan (replacing J. Billowes)  L. Fraile, M.J. Garcia-Borge (Chairperson), A. Herlert, A. Jokinen, Y. Kadi,  N. Marginean (representing V. Zamfir), K. Riisager, S. Siem, P. Van Duppen

Excused: J. Billowes, S. Franchoo, S. Harissopulos, M. Henry

Invited: R. Losito, M. Pasini

The meeting starts at 08:30 h

1. Introductory remarks by the chairperson

The chairperson opens the meeting and announces that M. Henry, S. Franchoo and S. Harissopulos are excused from the meeting while J. Billowes will be replaced by K. Flanagan.

2. Approval of the minutes of the 57th meeting.

The minutes of the 57th ISCC meeting are approved with changes.

3. INTC matters (P. Butler)
P. Butler informs the committee that at the next INTC meeting 34 LOIs will be discussed and that they include 284 participants from a total of 76 different laboratories from 22 different countries. Most of the LOIs make use of the energy increase of HIE-ISOLDE and at least 5 will need to introduce major new instrumentation.

P. Butler goes on to tell the committee that the presentations made by Y. Blumenfeld and Y. Kadi at the CERN Scientific Policy Committee meeting were very well received and that Y. Blumenfeld’s presentation had included the complimentarity between HIE-ISOLDE and SPIRAL2.

The committee is then informed that the CERN council has requested a revised medium term plan which will be discussed at a special meeting in August 2010. A discussion then follows about how to strengthen the position of the HIE-ISOLDE project in order to make sure that ISOLDE is firmly implanted in the plan in case funding cuts are made. It is decided that P. Butler will contact the CERN Director General and Y. Blumenfeld will contact M. Spiro to discuss the HIE-ISOLDE project and that they will both contact the director of GANIL on an informal level to clarify the complimentarity between HIE-ISOLDE and SPIRAL2. All ISCC members are encouraged to contact their country’s council member in support of the HIE-ISOLDE project.

4. Scheduling and PH Department news (A. Herlert / Y. Blumenfeld) (see overheads)

The committee is told that at the February INTC meeting 5 new experiments were accepted with a total of 132 RIB shifts approved.

A. Herlert informs the committee that protons will be received from 3^rd May until 22^nd November this year. Physics was started on 6^th May giving a possible 29 weeks of physics at ISOLDE in 2010. There are several long periods of machine development and the dates of the technical stops are constantly changing.

The beam requests for 2010 are then summarized by A. Herlert. He tells the committee that 627.5 RIB shifts have been requested by 50 experiments of which 333 shifts are for REX-ISOLDE and 350 request the use of RILIS. A further 40 shifts are required for TISD, LOIs and off-line MD.

The present ISOLDE schedule for 2010 is then presented to the committee. There will be 432 RIB shifts for 41 experiments and 74 different beams are scheduled.

A. Herlert goes on to summarise the planned use of key resources during 2010:

• Targets: A total of 28 targets will be used of which 10 will be new actinide targets.
• RILIS: There will be more than 210 RIB shifts using RILIS during 2010 which corresponds to approximately 2000 hours of online work
• REX-ISOLDE: 160 RIB shifts are planned to be delivered to 11 different experiments.

The first on-line runs at ISOLDE in 2010 are then summarised and the committee is made aware of the problems that occur if there is a target breakdown on a Friday or during the weekend. The fact that there is no Radiation Protection (RP) on-call service outside working hours causes major problems and sometimes experiments scheduled to run at the weekend have to be cancelled which causes great inconvenience to the ISOLDE user community. The committee agrees that this situation must be improved by the time HIE-ISOLDE is running. R. Losito suggests that a survey of ISOLDE user requirements be made regarding the RP availability and that a request be put before the CERN technical committee (note: who is going to make this survey and under what form?).
A. Herlert then summarises the present situation regarding the new “safety file” requirements for experiments at CERN:

• All experiments at CERN are now required to have a safety file
• A web form exists in order to help set-up a safety file.
• All new INTC proposals need to provide a safety file when the proposal (or addendum) is submitted.
• Safety aspects of an experiment will be discussed with CERN specialists before the proposal is considered by the INTC.
• Approval for an experiment will only be given by the CERN research board if the experiment has an endorsed safety file.
• ISOLDE set-ups will have a safety file which can be used by all IS experiments that make us of them.
• The time between the INTC submission deadline and the INTC meeting will soon be extended to about six weeks to allow a technical committee to consider the proposals.

The status of some ISOLDE set-ups is then presented. The clean-up of MISTRAL is still on-going and the opening in the wall has been enlarged by 50cm so that the 22 ton magnet can be removed when storage space is found. The committee thanks everyone who has been involved in the clean-up of MISTRAL.  The ISOLDE group is now the owner of the ASPIC experiment and the LOI was endorsed at the February 2010 INTC meeting. However the BMBF funding proposal was not accepted so the committee recommends that ASPIC is to be dismantled. The HV platform has been removed and work is in progress to refurbish the collection point.

A. Herlert informs the committee that testing of the new ISOLDE website is in progress and that the old website has now been frozen.  The new website should be moved to its new location http://isolde.web.cern.ch/ISOLDE/ in mid July 2010 and feedback from ISCC members at this point would be welcome. Y. Kadi tells the committee that the HIE-ISOLDE webpage is in the process of being updated.

The committee chairperson thanks A. Herlert on behalf of the committee for the hard work and commitment he has shown over the past 3 years and wishes him well for the future.

The news from the PH department is then summarised by Y. Blumenfeld:

• Kara Lynch will start as a doctoral student at ISOLDE from 1^st September 2010.
• Thomas Cocolios will start as a CERN fellow at ISOLDE on 1^st July 2010.
• ISOLDE will have a new associate, Piet Van Duppen, for the period February to September 2011. He will be 50% funded by the collaboration.
• There have been requests for associate positions at ISOLDE from Marek Pfützner and Phil Walker.
• BMBF funding has been approved to allow K. Johnston to remain as Solid State Coordinator at ISOLDE for a further 3 years.
• CERN has issued a new code of conduct which ISOLDE users are encouraged to consult.
• CERN will bid for INPC 2013.
• The ISOLDE brochure is now available. Requests for brochures can be made to J. Weterings.
• The HFI/NQI conference will be held at CERN 13-17 September 2010.
• This years ISOLDE workshop will be held at CERN 8-10 December.

5. Technical developments and BE & EN Department news (R. Catherall) (see overheads)

R. Catherall begins by summarising the complexities of the Front End (FE) exchange and emphasises the excellent demonstration of teamwork across different CERN groups which allowed the commissioning of the new FE before the start-up in May 2010. He goes on to present the work undertaken to achieve the exchange and cabling of the Boris tube insulator and the implementation of the new vacuum system and controls. The groups TE-VSE and EN-ICE are thanked for their work on the ISOLDE vacuum system.

R. Catherall goes on to summarise the situation of projects undertaken during this year’s shutdown in both the target area and experimental hall.  He then tells the committee about on-going work at REX-ISOLDE including the upgrade of the REXTRAP control system, the separator shielding to the WITCH magnet field and the investigation of the REXEBIS SC magnet problems.

 Problems encountered at the REX cathode are then detailed and the committee is told that, even though no final conclusion or solution is known, a short term action plan has been put in place and options for a long term action plan are being considered. The short term plan consists of using a new batch of cathodes, introducing a gas leak as close as possible to the electron gun and replacing the copper cathodes with copper/tantalum insert cathodes. The long term options include purchasing similar lanthanum hexaboride from Kimball Physics (delivery time 20 weeks plus 6 weeks of installation) and the procurement of an IrCe cathode from Russia. The latter would require at least 3 months to rebuild the gun. Ideally, a test bench should be set up so as to be able to test future modifications prior to final installation.

The committee is informed of the status of the Linac consolidation programme and the upgrade of the RILIS Nd:YAG lasers.

 News from EN-STI is then summarised:

• Anna-Paula Bernardes is the new safety Engineer within EN-STI-RBS.
• On 1st July 2010 the fellow Alexander Stadler will start work on hot cell design and target elimination.
• Elodie Macario will begin as a fellow on 1st October 2010 working on safety issues.
• The technical student Florian Kiersch is working on the fire risk assessment of the ISOLDE target area.
• Raul Fernandes Luis began work on target development on 15th June.
• Yuriy Romanets began work on HIE-ISOLDE Fluka simulations on 1st June 2010.
• Space in the ISR has been allocated for temporary target storage for 3 years but a long term solution to target disposal still has to be found.
• High density uranium carbide has arrived at CERN from Luch, Russia and tests are planned for the end of 2010.
• Front End #7 is under construction.

Finally R. Catherall covers progress in target and ion source development and informs the committee that Sandrina Fernandes has been awarded a Young Scientist award by the European Materials Research Society for work undertaken for her PhD. A short discussion about target disposal then follows.

Y. Blumenfeld informs the committee of an overspend of about 175kCHF that has occurred on the Wallenberg laser grant; this is mainly due to tax and exchange rate fluctuations.

J. Cederkall tells the committee that a request has been submitted in Sweden for extra funds and a decision is expected in November. However, the committee is made aware that the collaboration may have to cover some of this extra cost.

The committee congratulates R. Catherall and his colleagues for the large amount of work achieved during this year’s shutdown.

6. HIE-ISOLDE and summary of the HIE-ISOLDE SC meeting (Y. Kadi) (see overheads)

Y. Kadi begins by summarising the HIE-ISOLDE project organisation and then presents the management and communication structure.  A proposal for the make-up of the HIE-ISOLDE Physics Coordination Group is shown as follows:

• ISOLDE Group Leader
• ISOLDE Physics Coordinator
• ISCC Chairperson
• MINIBALL spokesperson
• Representative of T-REX, Separator
• Representative of Storage Ring
• Representative of Scattering light nuclei
• Representative of HELIOS, ACTAR, Tilted Foil

The committee agrees that the HIE-ISOLDE Steering Committee chairperson should be added to this list.

Y. Kadi then presents the status of the material budget. A total of 4.8MCHF from external funding has already been spent leaving a remaining material budget of 35MCHF to be spent over the period 2010 to 2015.

The personnel budget is then summarised. CERN staff will make up 105 FTEs over a 5 year period while fellows will make up another 70 FTEs. Of the fellows 5 FTEs will be paid by CERN departmental budget, 9 FTEs will be paid by the ISOLDE Collaboration and 56FTEs will be funded by the ITN3 Marie Curie Contract (the CATHI proposal).

A list of institutes who are participating as partners in the CATHI proposal is shown. The committee is told that of the 20 fellows covered by the CATHI proposal, 16 will be early stage researchers who do not yet have a PhD and will be given a 36 month contract while the remaining 4 fellows will be postdocs with a maximum of 5 years experience who will have a 24 month contract.  The fellows will be selected by a special committee made up of CERN HR, the project leader and delegates from project partners and will probably not start work until the beginning of 2011. The committee agrees that a website should be set-up to publicise the positions while the applications are made through the CERN electronic application system. Links to this website should be made from the HIE-ISOLDE webpage http://hie-isolde.web.cern.ch/HIE-ISOLDE/ .

The status of external funding for the HIE-ISOLDE project is then presented, both the funds assured and grants for which applications have been submitted including a new Spanish Grant proposal.

Y. Kadi then shows the committee the HIE-ISOLDE project schedule and informs it that the first 5.5 A MeV beam time should be at the end of 2013. He goes on to tell the committee that RF measurements of the cavity have been completed at TRIUMF. Some problems with the sputtering of the cavity were observed so work is on-going to improve this and further test will be carried out at CERN by mid-July 2010.

The present layout of HIE-ISOLDE is presented and Y. Kadi explains that a new position has to be found for two radioactive laboratories which are now in building 275. Civil engineering work for the hall extension should start in September 2010 while cryogenics should be able to go ahead in December of this year.

7. Work packages for HIE-ISOLDE (M. Pasini)(see overheads)

M. Pasini presents an overview of the HIE-ISOLDE work packages:

• Cu Substrate Cavity package
• RF Special Components Package
• Cryomodule package
• Beam Diagnostics Short Box Package
• Emittance Meter Package
• Beam Energy Measurement Package
• Beam Lines Package

The committee is informed the work packages will be added to the HIE-ISOLDE website with links to the specification documents.

Two possibilities for future extensions of the ISOLDE Hall are then presented by M. Pasini. An extension on the Jura side would have to be raised by three metres to avoid a service tunnel. K. Riisager requests that any future extension should incorporate a visitors gallery which would allow people to visit ISOLDE without entering restricted areas and would mean that visits to ISOLDE could be included in general CERN visits. K. Flanagan suggests that the possible extension of the hall on the Jura side shown by M. Pasini should be enlarged to provide more suitable space for experimental lasers.

L. Fraile requests that a data acquisition room with outside access be incorporated in the plans for the present HIE-ISOLDE extension. A discussion follows and the committee agrees to this idea emphasising that it is also a question of health and safety. M. Pasini requests that he receives the specifications for the daq room as soon as possible.

8. News about ENSAR@CERN (Y. Blumenfeld)

Y. Blumenfeld informs the committee that the ENSAR funding programme will start on 1^st September 2010 and run until 31^st August 2014. The TNA funding will be about half that of EURONS which means ISOLDE will have 252kEuros to distribute for subsistence over the whole period. This corresponds to about 2500 days in total so about 600 days a year.

Instructions about how to apply for these funds will be sent to experiment spokespersons in August. According to EC guidelines, priority for subsistence payments should go to new users, non-nuclear physics  and young researchers.

A total of 290kEuros of ENSAR Access funding will also be available. Y. Blumenfeld suggests that this be used to fund half a technician post and half a fellow for a period of 3 years.

The committee is told that ISOLDE will lead both Network EURISOL-NET (Y. Blumenfeld) and JRA ACTILAB (T. Stora) packages and will also be involved in Network EFINION (J. G. Correia) and JRA Pre-Mass (V. Fedosseev).

9.M.O.U issues – new members (Y. Blumenfeld)

The current M.O.U. and collaboration fee situations summarised by Y. Blumenfeld:

• All member countries have now paid the ISOLDE collaboration fee for 2009 except France and Norway. An invoice has now been allowed to be sent to France and S. Siem tells the committee that the problems of the Norway payment should be fixed soon. (The collaboration fee for 2009 was received from France on 23.07.2010).
• Greece has now signed the M.O.U. and will pay the introductory annual fee of 30kCHF for a period of 3 years.
• Ireland has now paid its introductory fee of 10kCHF for 2010 but has not yet signed the M.O.U.
• Portugal has informed ISOLDE that it cannot sign the M.O.U. at present.
• Negotiations are ongoing with Korea.
• Y. Blumenfeld requests that the ISCC agrees to negotiations being opened with Israel about joining the ISOLDE Collaboration. The committee agrees to this proposal.
• The M.O.U. annexes were updated in 2009 and will be done again in 2011.

10. News about collaboration agreements (Y. Blumenfeld)

The committee is informed that the collaboration agreements with Kolkata, LNL/SPES and SKKU Korea have now been signed and that the agreement with GANIL/SPIRAL2 is almost ready to be signed.

11. Future of ISOLDE secretariat and User assistance

The committee is informed that the contract of J. Weterings will not be transformed into an Indefinite Contract. Her current Limited Duration contract expires on March 31, 2011 and cannot be renewed since she will have already worked the maximum 6 years.

The committee unanimously acknowledges the excellent work done by Jenny and asks the chairperson to write a letter to the PH Department leader to request a continuation of Jenny’s contract. In the likely event that this request will be unsuccessful the committee considers two alternatives:

• Continue to employ Jenny as a user on an outside contract
• Ask the PH department to provide a new secretary

A majority of the committee speaks in favor of the first solution. Y. Blumenfeld will look for an institute which would be willing to employ Jenny and second her to CERN. The collaboration (with a contribution from PH) would reimburse the salary paid.

12. A.O.B

• The next ISCC meeting will be held at CERN on Thursday 4^th November 2010.
• The matter of the next ISOLDE Physics Group Leader is discussed and the committee decides that Y. Blumenfeld will be asked to accept an extension to his contract and to stay on as group leader for an extra year.

The meeting ends at 13:30.