VZCZCXRO8256
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0783/01 3450018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110018Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6516
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1567
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0990
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0960
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 1118
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0990
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0809
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0146
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 0099
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0235
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 7035

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000783 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EMBASSY BEIJING FOR NSF, ESTH, DOE 
STATE FOR OES AND EAP/CM 
USDOE FOR MIZROCH/CHIANG/GINSBERG 
USDOE FOR INTERNATIONAL/PUMPHREY AND GEBERT 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC DAS KASOFF, MELCHER AND MCQUEEN 
STATE PASS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION CHAN/KAFAFI/HUBER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG TRGY TPHY ETTC CH
SUBJECT: MAKING LIGHT: SHANGHAI SYNCHROTRON RADIATION FACILITY FULLY 
OPERATIONAL BY APRIL 2009 
 
 
(U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified and for official 
use only.  Not for distribution outside of USG channels or via 
the internet. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: A National Science Foundation (NSF) delegation 
led by NSF Assistant Director Tony Chan visited Shanghai 
Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) on October 26, 2007. 
Approximately USD 200 million has been spent building the SSRF's 
light source.  The Central Government, the Shanghai Municipal 
Government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have each 
contributed one third of the project's funding.  Getting 
approval from the Central Government to build the light source 
took the SSRF 10 years and it has been under construction for 
the past five years.  It is expected to be fully operational by 
April 2009.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) National Science Foundation (NSF) Assistant Director 
Tony Chan visited the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility 
(SSRF) on October 26.  He was accompanied by NSF Division 
Director for Material Sciences Dr. Zakya Kafafi, Program 
Director for Materials Science Dr. Carmen Huber, NSF Beijing 
Office Program Specialist Sun Bo, Econoff and ConGen Shanghai 
FSN ESTH Specialist. 
 
¶3. (SBU) NSF's visit was hosted by the Shanghai Institute of 
Applied Physics (SINAP), a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of 
Sciences (CAS).  Director of SINAP and SSRF Dr. Xu Hongjie 
briefed the delegation on SINAP's history and the SSRF's 
development.  Following the briefing, Deputy Director of SINAP 
and SSRF Dr. Zhao Zhentang led the delegation through the 
not-yet fully constructed SSRF site. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
SINAP Brief History and Major Achievements 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) SINAP was founded in 1960, originally named the Chinese 
Academy of Sciences Physics and Chemistry Institute.  The name 
was changed to Chinese Academy of Sciences Nuclear Institute in 
the mid 1960s, and again changed to the Shanghai Nuclear 
Institute in the early 1970s.  Xu was quick to point out that 
the Shanghai Nuclear Institute had never engaged in any nuclear 
weapons research, but had focused on civilian applications only. 
 The current name, SINAP, was chosen in 2003, to reflect the 
interdisciplinary research undertaken in the institute in 
addition to nuclear research.  Xu cited among SINAP's 
achievements:  the building of a 1.4 m cyclotron on which the 
isotope platinum 202 was synthesized in a breakthrough for China 
in the field of new nuclide synthesis and identification; the 
first mini cyclotron mass spectroscope in the world; and, 
Gallium 67-labeled citrate, the first radiopharmaceutical 
developed in Chinese pharmacopoeia. 
 
------------------------------------ 
SSRF Development and Characteristics 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to Xu, CAS first proposed building a 
Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Beijing in 1993.  However, the 
Central Government lacked sufficient funding for such a major 
project at that time.  CAS turned to the Shanghai Municipal 
Government in 1995, who agreed to share part of the project's 
cost.  It then took CAS nearly 10 years to get final approval 
from the Central Government to build the facility in Shanghai. 
Construction started at the end of 2004.  The facility will be 
completely operational by April of 2009. 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to Xu, who claimed to have visited all light 
source facilities around the world, the SSRF is one of the best 
light sources either existing or under construction in the 
world.  It is also the largest user facility in China.  Zhao 
said that the SSRF is a high performance 3rd generation 
 
SHANGHAI 00000783  002 OF 002 
 
 
synchrotron radiation source.  According to Zhao, the original 
renminbi investment at design was USD 150 million, which is 
closer to USD 200 million now because of due to inflation and 
renminbi appreciation.   One third of the cost is covered by 
CAS, one third by the Shanghai Municipal Government and the rest 
by the Central Government.  Some of the parts used in SSRF are 
designed and manufactured by SINAP, while others are imported 
from Europe, the United States, Japan and Korea. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The SSRF is composed of a 100 MeV Electron Linear 
Accelerator (LINAC), a 3.5 GeV Booster, a 3.5 GeV Storage Ring, 
and Beam Line and Experimental Stations.  When an electron beam 
is emitted into the German-built LINAC, it is then accelerated 
to 100 MeV.  The Booster further accelerates the beam to 3.5 GeV 
while it is fired into the Storage Ring.  The Storage Ring, 
designed and manufactured by SINAP in China, can maintain the 
beam at its original strength and speed for up to 10 hours.  The 
beam can then be released into Beam Line and Experimental 
Stations when needed for scientific study.  The circumferences 
of the Booster and the Storage Ring are 130 meters and 432 
meters respectively.  Currently there are 8 Beam Lines under 
construction, and SSRF plans to expand to 40 to 50 Beam Lines 
within 10 years. 
 
¶8. (U) The SSRF is located opposite General Electric's new 
research and development facility in Shanghai's Pudong district 
at 239 Zhang Heng Road in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.  The 
building housing the light source is a large and modern-looking 
aluminum covered building designed to look like the whorls of a 
mollusk shell's cross-section.  More information can be found at 
http://ssrf.sinap.ac.cn in Chinese, or 
http://ssrf.sinap.ac.cn/english/ in English. 
 
¶9. (U) This report has been coordinated with Embassy Beijing NSF 
office. 
JARRETT