Manufacturers can take advantage of accelerator

In 2011, a £2.5m investment was made into the Science and Technology Facilities Council's Daresbury Laboratory for accelerator technology developments to meet applications from seeing through aircraft luggage and developing more effective hospital radiotherapy machines, to shrink-wrapping cable bundles and curing ink. This month, VELA's first beam of electrons was successfully accelerated and captured, meaning that it is now expected to be ready for commercial and research use this summer, with the first commercial users already booked. Professor Susan Smith, director of the Accelerator Science and Technology Centre (ASTeC), said VELA had "huge potential" for the development of novel technologies across manufacturing. Technological advances which made accelerators more compact and cheaper to operate, she said, would increase opportunities for high-value manufacturing and have a significant economic impact across many sectors. VELA development has been backed by three major commercial partners – Siemens , Rapiscan and e2v –and over 80 companies ranging from blue chips to SMEs have supported its construction.