1.Technical news

· Cooling water supply is again available

· Exchange of Faraday cups and scanners: HRS.S680, CA0 and REX is in progress

· User faraday cup for ISOLTRAP is now installed

· MCP installation in the CB0 beamline in progress

· Test of the REX cavities cooling by using warmer water (27°C vs. 20°C) is scheduled

· Modification of the vacuum control software has been done

REX:

· Modification of the low energy REX vacuum control ongoing (hardware and software)

· Cooling of the REXTRAP has been started (now at LN₂temperature). A delay is expected
in reaching LHe temperature due to LHe delivery shortages and update of the cooling
software.

· Yearly exchange of the cathode expected soon

RILIS:

· One of the two broken pumping lasers has been repaired and will be soon shipped. The second one is still following some treatment, expected to recover soon, though.

· Offline test of VADIS ion source with laser break-up in order to get refractory elements as molecules ongoing

· The new air conditioning unit is approaching

Other:

· Target cooling circuit will be restarted in March

· Maintenance of pumps in GPS section has been done

· Exchange of extraction elements has been done

· All beam lines will be put under vacuum in week 9

· Tests of the HV in the middle of March

2.Safety:

· Emptying of the Tank 2 (aka balloon) has been done followed by a check of activity

· BeO target - inspection and autopsy done

· Tests of radiation monitors are coming soon

3.Physics and schedule

· Magda sent the first version of the Schedule (until middle of June) to the technical staff for consultation

4.AOB

· Summer Student Program 2012: In total 12 requests have been submitted from ISOLDE, 6 or 7 should be accepted in the first selection round. Supervisors should be notified next week. If you are not selected don’t despair, other projects should be considered in the second round of selection -however those will not be able to select their preferred student. .

· There will be a first discussion on the new building 507 on March 1. If you have specific requirements, (space, electricity and cooling requirements) please contact Magda.

· Monika will be giving a talk on Friday, March 2 at the ICTR – PHE 2012 conference in Geneva. It is a new conference which aims at ‘uniting physics, biology and medicine for better healthcare’.

· New (post)graduations in the ISOLDE group: Tania de Melo Mendonca (PhD) and Joao Pedro Ramos (MSc ). Congratulations!

· A student from LPC Caen (France) is willing to make a 3-month internship with ISOLDE. If you
can provide a project and some funding please contact Magda.

· Presentation of CAEN DT5724 Desktop digitizer was made on Tuesday in the experimental hall. For more information please contact Jan or Elisa.

· The Portuguese research minister will visit ISOLDE on Friday, February 24.

5.Lectures

· February 29 until March 2, Olivier Sorlin (GANIL, France) will be visiting ISOLDE. During his visit, he will be giving a lecture series on ‘Shell evolution and the nuclear force’. More information available soon on the ISOLDE seminar web page

Minutes by JK