1. Technical news:
· Many thanks again for the technical support of the MINIBALL experiments, whose beams had to be prepared in a limited time due to the unforeseen power cut last week.
· There was an intervention on Monday concerned with the cooling-water system of the target stations. Similar problems seem to become frequent. There will be a meeting between the groups responsible for different parts of the system to coordinate the efforts. The option for a single group assuming full responsibility may be discussed.
· REX power supplies stopped working due to the cooling-water. This should not be confused with the problems described above, since it is a different system. Operation has been recovered. The cause of malfunction will be repaired.
· A problem occurred with the fast tape station - broken tape followed by a vacuum leak. Its reliability can be improved. Actions in this direction are being undertaken.
2.Physics and schedule
· MINIBALL successfully studied krypton and radon last week. The first run was concerned with confirming the previously observed transition on 46Kr. In 220Rn possible octupole deformations were investigated. As a side investigation the second experiment will look at X-ray emission with 208Rn.
· During the Rn run the users successfully changed masses during the weekend by following the instructions left by Fredrik. This new possibility (under certain conditions) should help with REX scheduling constraints in the future.
· ISOLTRAP is currently running at GPS on neutron-rich Tl. The goal is to purify the beam from the francium contaminant in the traps and then do spectroscopy on the ISOLTRAP tape station.
· The experiments with the current GPS target will continue on LA1 looking for beta-delayed fission of thallium and later francium. After the thallium runs RILIS will prepare for astatine ionization making use of the same target.
3.Safety
· Safety issues identified during the visit in bat 507 last week have been transmitted to the responsible people and a fast cleanup of the storage room is expected.
· There is a new radioactive source at ISOLDE: activated 60Co with 150kBq. You are welcome to use it.
4.A.O.B.
· Maria J. G. Borge will take over the group-leader position in a year from now after the term of Yorick.
· Six new chairs will be purchased for the so-called ISOLDE-DAQ room (behind ISOLDE), which is usually used by visiting teams. The old chairs will be thrown out.
· Three summer students are being welcomed by their new teams: WITCH, MINIBALL and CRIS. We also welcome Megan (child of personnel) who will put efforts into renewing the ISOLDE displays in the Bldg. 3 corridor. She may be coming to ask you for pictures or short texts about your experiments. Please do your best to help her.
5. Seminars:
· Chong Qi (KTH) presented "Recent advances in the theory of nuclear alpha decay: 100 years after its introduction".
· Next week Dr. Marcus Scheck (IKP TU-Darmstadt) will present "Experimental evidence for low-lying octupole isovector excitations".
· For more information and links to the slides please visit the ISOLDE - seminars page.
Minutes by DTY