(Image: CNEA)
The transfer of the instrument came within the framework of the 2021 equipment transfer and collaboration agreement between the institute and Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA).
The commission said: "With the arrival of this instrument, the initial suite of neutron techniques that will be available after the RA-10 reactor is put into operation is complete. Thus, the Argentine Neutron Beam Laboratory will position itself as a reference centre in neutron techniques for science and industry in Argentina and the region, expanding the frontiers of knowledge."
The instrument has the capacity to study things at a scale of between 2 and 150 nanometres (a nanometre is one millionth of a millimetre). CNEA says it will be useful for material science research and polymers and biological samples.
The aim of the Argentine Neutron Beam Laboratory is to provide the "scientific and industrial community with full access to neutron techniques and auxiliary services and to be able to carry out experiments that, by their nature, are beyond the reach of conventional laboratories".
The laboratory is based in the Ezeiza Atomic Centre and its instruments will use high-flux neutron beams produced in the RA-10 multipurpose reactor, which is currently under construction. The RA-10 will be a 30 MWt open pool type reactor which is currently looking at commissioning to begin during 2026, with full operation in 2027.
