[Federal Register: August 6, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 151)]
[Notices]
[Page 46591-46593]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06au03-59]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice DE-FG01-
03ER03-23; Research and Development for the Rare Isotope Accelerator
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Nuclear Physics (NP), Office of Science (SC),
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces interest in receiving
applications for Research and Development (R&D) projects directed at
the proposed Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA). RIA is proposed as a new
accelerator facility to address emerging research opportunities in low
energy nuclear physics, and DOE is sponsoring pre-conceptual R&D
activities on the facility.
DATES: The deadline for receipt of formal applications is 4:30 p.m.,
E.D.T., Wednesday, October 15, 2003, to be accepted for merit review
and to permit timely consideration for award in early Fiscal Year 2004.
ADDRESSES: Formal applications in response to this solicitation are to
be electronically submitted by an authorized institutional business
official through DOE's Industry Interactive Procurement System (IIPS)
at: http://e-center.doe.gov/. IIPS provides for the posting of
solicitations and receipt of applications in a paperless environment
via the Internet. In order to submit applications through IIPS your
business official will need to register at the IIPS website. The Office
of Science will include attachments as part of this notice that provide
the appropriate forms in PDF fillable format that are to be submitted
through IIPS. IIPS offers the option of submitting multiple files--
please limit submissions to only one file within the volume if
possible, with a maximum of no more than four files. Color images
should be submitted in IIPS as a separate file in PDF format and
identified as such. These images should be kept to a minimum due to the
limitations of reproducing them. They should be numbered and referred
to in the body of the technical scientific application as Color image
1, Color image 2, etc. Questions regarding the operation of IIPS may be
e-mailed to the IIPS Help Desk at: HelpDesk@pr.doe.gov, or you may call
the help desk at: (800) 683-0751. Further information on the use of
IIPS by the Office of Science is available at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/
production/grants /grants.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Eugene A. Henry, Office Nuclear
Physics, SC-23/Germantown, Office of Science, U.S. Department of
Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290;
telephone: (301) 903-6093; facsimile: (301) 903-3833; e-mail:
gene.henry@science.doe.gov. The full text of Program Notice DE-FG01-
03ER03-23 is available via the World Wide Web using the following Web
site address: http://www.sc.doe. gov/production /grants/grants.html.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The nuclear science community has proposed
the Rare Isotope Accelerator as a new accelerator facility to address
emerging research opportunities in nuclear structure, nuclear
astrophysics, and fundamental interactions and symmetries. See the DOE/
NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee's 2002 Long Range Plan available
at the
[[Page 46592]]
following Web site address: http://www.sc.doe. gov/production/henp/np/
nsac/nsac.html.
The Department of Energy is sponsoring pre-conceptual research and
development for the Rare Isotope Accelerator. Community sponsored
studies and workshops have identified a number of areas where focused
R&D and prototyping could enhance performance, reduce costs, and impact
the engineering and construction schedule. Among these areas are:
[sbull] Gas stopper for fast fragments. A key feature of the RIA
concept is the use of intense high-energy heavy-ion beams with
projectile fragmentation as the production mechanism. The gas stopper
will slow the projectile fragments and deliver them for subsequent re-
acceleration.
[sbull] Fragment momentum compression preceding the gas stopper. To
stop fragments efficiently in a finite gas stopper volume, there must
be compensation of the large fragment momentum spread.
[sbull] Fragment separators that handle beam spray and allow beam
sharing. Development work on the front end of the fragment separator is
required to minimize radiation damage to the magnetic elements.
[sbull] Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources producing
high intensity, high-charge-state uranium, and the low energy beam
transport (LEBT). The driver linear accelerator requires ECR ion source
performance for uranium greater than the current state of the art by a
factor of 2 to 8.
[sbull] Driver technologies, especially superconducting radio-
frequency (SRF) structures. The driver linear accelerator will require
a number of distinct radio-frequency (RF) structures, likely
superconducting, but possibly room temperature. Among the issues to be
addressed are beam loss, SRF structure cavity cleanliness, and overall
cost.
[sbull] Beam stripping. The high power of the heavy ion beams
requires innovative solutions to beam strippers such as liquid lithium
films, or rotating carbon foil strippers that do not degrade beam
emittance.
[sbull] High-power targets including liquid lithium for
fragmentation and isotope separator on-line (ISOL-type) sources with
good diffusion and effusion properties. The development of ISOL-type
targets with long lifetimes and fast extraction times at high beam
powers are essential for the success of RIA. For in-flight
fragmentation and fission, development of a liquid-lithium target, or
other new high power fragmentation target concepts, is imperative.
[sbull] Other RIA accelerator and experimental facility components
will also require focused effort. These include post-acceleration
including radio frequency quadrupoles (RFQs) and very low velocity
accelerating structures, charge-multiplying ECRs, radiation hardened
magnetic equipment, innovative detector instrumentation, beam
diagnostics optimized for a broad range of beam intensities, beam
dumps, radio-frequency equipment, and controls.
The concept, elements and R&D issues of RIA are outlined in the
Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) ISOL Taskforce Report that
can be found at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/henp/np/nsac/nsac.html
.
Updated opportunities for RIA R&D can be found at the following Web
site after September 15, 2003: http://www.sc.doe.gov/henp/np/program/riard.htm
.
Applications requesting support for research and development in the
areas outlined above should indicate a separate task for each area.
Applications may include more than one task. For each task the
application should address the goal of the effort; the method or
approach to be taken; the cost and schedule of the effort; the
deliverable result of the work; and the performance, cost, or schedule
benefit for RIA. Institutional contributions to the effort should be
clearly indicated.
Program Funding
It is anticipated that up to $3,500,000 will be available for
multiple awards to be made in early Fiscal Year 2004, in the areas
described above, contingent on the availability of appropriated funds.
Applications should be for one year, with a continuation of up to two
additional years for those tasks requiring a multi-year effort. For
continuation of multi-year effort, out-year support is contingent on
the availability of funds, progress of the research and programmatic
needs. For multi-year tasks, intermediate milestones should be
indicated.
Collaboration
Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with researchers in other
institutions, such as: universities, industry, non-profit
organizations, federal laboratories and Federally Funded Research and
Development Centers (FFRDCs), including the DOE National Laboratories,
where appropriate, and to include cost sharing and/or consortia
wherever feasible. Additional information on collaboration is available
in the Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance
Program that is available via the World Wide Web at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/Colab.html
.
Formal Applications
Information about the development and submission of applications,
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other
policies and procedures are contained in 10 CFR part 605, and in the
Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance
Program. Electronic access to the latest version of the Office of
Science's Financial Assistance Guide and required forms is made
available via the World Wide Web at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.
DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs
associated with the preparation or submission of applications if an
award is not made.
The research project description must be five pages per task or
less, exclusive of attachments, and must contain an abstract or summary
of the proposed research. Projects reporting results or progress on
work conducted with DOE funding under the previous RIA R&D program may
include two additional pages per task. All collaborators should be
listed with the abstract or summary. On the grant face page, form DOE F
4650.2, in block 15, also provide the Principal Investigator's phone
number, fax number, and e-mail address. Attachments should include
curriculum vitae, a listing of all current and pending federal support,
and letters of intent when collaborations are part of the proposed
research. Curriculum vitae should be limited to no more than two pages
per individual.
Merit Review
Applications will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer
review) and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria
listed in descending order of importance as codified at 10 CFR
605.10(d):
1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project,
2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach,
3. Competency of Applicant's Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed
Resources,
4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.
The evaluation will include program policy factors, such as the
relevance of the proposed research to the terms of the announcement and
agency's programmatic needs. Please note that external peer reviewers
are selected with regard to both their scientific
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expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues. Non-federal
reviewers may be used, and submission of an application constitutes
agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the
submitting institution.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this program
is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR part
605.
Issued in Washington, DC, on July 30, 2003.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 03-20009 Filed 8-5-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P