1. Technical news:

• REX-TRAP has been started this week. It is planned for the following week to deliver the first beam to the WITCH experiment.
• The shielding of the REX-LINAC has been completed.
• Vacuum problems persist with the 9-gap resonator of REX. For the moment the vacuum seal is tight. However, there is a concern if it would hold at higher power. Spare seals are available in case of problems.
• Further work on the turbo pumps in the separator area is needed. The installation of the new PVSS system seems to show good progress.
• The new frond end FE6 is being pumped out again after necessary rearrangement of parts due to the limited space around. For the moment the vacuum is not satisfactory.

• The Boris-tube insulator of HRS has been replaced. This is expected to have a positive impact on the high-voltage stability during the next on-line period. The insulator of GPS has been cleaned. However, the effect of this effort is uncertain.
• The interlocks of FE6 have been checked and tests with Cs beam have been performed. Hence phase II of the FE6 integration is complete. Phase III is ongoing.
• The MISTRAL magnet has been disconnected and prepared for removal. Cutting the wall and the transport are expected to take place in the next weeks.

2. News from the ISCC meeting:

• The committee selected Magdalena Kowalska for the position of ISOLDE Physics coordinator. She is expected to take over the responsibility from the current coordinator Alexander Herlert on Oct 1.
• There is interest by three new countries to join the ISOLDE collaboration: Ireland, South Korea and Chile. While for the first two the negotiations are advancing, the situation with Chile has to be clarified.

3. A.O.B.:

• The INTC committee approved the allocation of 132 out of 183 requested shifts for radioactive beam with five new ISOLDE experiments (IS499-IS503)
• The abstract-submission deadline for the EURORIB 2010conference (Lamoura, Jura, France) is extended until Feb 21.
• The call for letters of intent for HIE-ISOLDE stands until May 21. Contributions from ISOLDE users are strongly encouraged as this will affect the design of the future facility! The call will be sent soon.
• The deadline for summer-student projects is Feb 12 (Friday)! A discussion to prioritize the requests will take place at next week’s meeting.
• The ISOLDE workshop will take place on Dec 8-10.

• Kirby W. Kemper (Florida State University) presented “Current research in radioactive-beam physics: A new era is about to happen”.
• Next week, 17/02 talk by Heinz Haas on quadrupolemoments and solid-state physics.

Minutes by DTY