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Embargoed until Friday 15th October, 1993

AUSTRAUAN MINISTER OPENS SCIENCE SYNCHROTRON FACIUTY

The Australian Federal Minister for Science and Small Business, and  Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Science, Senator Chris Schacht,  today advanced Australia's science collaboration efforts with Japan by  opening the $3.3 million Australian National Beamline Facility.

The Beamline, a joint national and international venture, is installed at the  Photon Factory, in Tsukuba, near Tokyo, Japan.

Senator Schacht said the project is one of the largest scientific  collaborations funded by Australia in Japan and has been achieved on  schedule and within budget.

The Photon Factory is a synchrotron accelerator -the most intense  source of X-rays -about 10,000 times brighter than a conventional  medical X-ray. The Beamline occupies port number 208 of the  synchrotron ring and has as its heart a complex two-tonne ultra sensitive

multipurpose high resolution X-ray diffractometer, called  "The BigDiff ".

Constructed in Melbourne for an Australian Nuclear Science and  Technology Organisation (ANSTO} led consortium of Australian science  agencies, the state-of-the art BigDiff will provide a national facility for  studying the atomic structure and composition of matter and will have an  influence on virtually every branch of science in Australia.

Senator Schacht said the utilisation of synchrotron radiation is one of the  most rapidly expanding areas in scientific research.

"The synchrotron produces a beam of electromagnetic radiation which is  effectively a high intensity microwave transmitter, infra-red lamp, visible  light bulb, ultra violet light and X-ray machine in one.

" Already the CSIRO have used the Tsukuba synchrotron facility to  determine the structure of a protein found in the outer coat of the flu  virus to develop a promising vaccine, which is now under test,  " Senator  Schacht said.

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"other applications include seeing where drugs go when they enter a  living cell, the development of semiconductors, complex materials and  chemicals, the study of bonding in toughened ceramics and the design of  new chemical and polymer catalysts ...

The Minister said the opening today is the culmination of the big Ã¢Â‘s ..  science projects of the late 1980s and early Ã¢Â‘sos. Other major ANSTO  coordinated agreements have been the involvement by Australia in the  European supercollider project at CERN near Geneva and in the  Rutherford Appleton high energy physics laboratory in the UK.

"science is by nature an international endeavour and for a country like  Australia, we must take maximum advantage of international  collaboration if we are to stay abreast of world developments and if we  are to play our part in improving the human condition," Senator Schacht  said.

Under the terms of the offer by the Japanese, Australia has built the  facility and Japanese scientists will gain access to the Australian facility  for 50 percent of its time.

"The marriage of Japanese and Australian technology that is now  embodied in the facility will provide some unique capabilities to science  and industry in both countries, .. the Minister said.

The Australian National Beamline project is headed by ANSTO which  includes CSIRO, University College of UNSW, Australian Research  Council, the Australian Academy of Science and the Department of  Industry, Technology and Regional Development.

TSUKUBA

For information contact:

Carol Sutherland  Minister "s Office  c/-Australian Embassy  Tokyo ph 5232 4086  or Canberra Office 06 277 7080

Chris Tweedie  ANSTO  02 717 3770

