1. The Scientific Council takes note of the report presented by JINR Director V. Kadyshevsky on the implementation of the Scientific Council’s recommendations concerning the reform programme of JINR.

The Scientific Council reiterates its strong support of this important initiative and acknowledges the significant progress made within the reform programme in the areas of basic facilities, infrastructure and personnel policy, also in the centralized management of financing JINR research projects as a new element of the reform programme.

The Scientific Council looks forward to being informed at the next sessions about the progress of the reform programme and about the Directorate's new scientific research proposals.

2. The Scientific Council applauds the actions twice undertaken by the Directorate in 1999 to secure salary increases for the staff.

3. The Scientific Council is pleased to learn about the ratification of the “Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research on the Location and Terms of Activity of JINR in Russia” as a Federal Law of the Russian Federation, signed by the Acting President of the Russian Federation V. Putin on 2 January 2000, which came into force on 6 January 2000.

The Scientific Council considers that this Federal Law, as a document of key importance, will play a positive role in the future development of JINR as an international research centre.

4. The Scientific Council appeals again to all Member States to fulfil their financial obligations to the Institute. Timely payments would benefit the scientific mission of the Institute, including its ambitious reform programme.

1. The Scientific Council thanks the representatives of Russian research centres, universities and industrial enterprises for taking part in the round-table discussion.

2. The Scientific Council acknowledges the continued efforts made by the JINR Directorate to develop international co-operation. In particular, it appreciates the extensive and fruitful co-operation of JINR with Russian research centres, universities and industry, highlighted by the round-table discussion at this session and by the dedicated photo exhibition.

The Scientific Council looks forward to further successful development of co-operation between JINR and its Member States using the facilities of JINR and of Russian research centres.

3. The Scientific Council wishes that similar discussions concerning co-operation with research centres of the Member States be included in the agenda of future sessions.

1. The Scientific Council takes note of the report “Progress of development of the JINR basic facilities” presented by Chief Engineer I. Meshkov.

The Scientific Council highly appreciates that despite the present financial difficulties the JINR Directorate has managed to ensure the stable operation of the basic facilities according to schedule in 1999 and their further development.

2. The Scientific Council congratulates JINR on the successful test in December 1999 of the Nuclotron slow beam extraction system and on the start-up of the cryogenic moderator for the IBR-2 reactor. The Scientific Council looks forward to the commissioning of the beam extraction system and of the cold source for experiments, and recommends that the JINR Directorate provide the necessary support of these priority activities.

3. The Scientific Council takes note of the information presented by the Chief Engineer on the outcome of the International Workshop “JINR Synchrotron Radiation Source: Prospects of Research” held on 1-3 November 1999 according to the joint recommendations of the three PACs.

The Scientific Council asks the JINR Directorate to prepare a detailed proposal for the DELSY project, including the technical design of machine and experimental equipment, cost evaluation for realization and future operation, research programme, needs of the users’ community, and indication of all financial sources outlined within the framework of the JINR research programme implementation. The DELSY proposal should be discussed at a Scientific Council session after the panel’s referee report.

Upon proposal by the JINR Directorate, the Scientific Council appoints a panel to referee the DELSY project: A. Budzanowski, H. Schopper and A. Skrinsky.

1. The Scientific Council, considering its role in the definition and evaluation of the broad lines of JINR's scientific programme, takes note, with satisfaction, of the progress in the implementation of the 1999-2001 Scientific Programme based on a rolling three-year plan of activities.

2. The Scientific Council approves the general lines of the proposed “JINR Scientific Programme for the years 2000-2002” and reiterates its standing recommendation that the highest emphasis should be put on the reliable operation of the Institute's present basic facilities.

3. Taking into account the proposals of the Directorate and the recommendations of the PACs, the Scientific Council endorses the following priority activities in 2000:

– completion of the Nuclotron beam extraction system and of external beam lines; operation and development of the Nuclotron; experimental studies of quark and gluon degrees of freedom in nuclei and of spin effects at the LHE accelerator complex, also at the accelerators of other centres: SPS and LHC (CERN), RHIC (BNL), SIS (Darmstadt), COSY (Jülich) and CELSIUS (Uppsala);

– construction of IREN, with a realistic schedule and an agreed financial envelope, with a view to its completion in 2002;

– upgrade of the IBR-2 reactor, with a view to securing the long-term future of this facility; development of instrumentation and data acquisition equipment for spectrometers at the reactor; continuation of the spectrometers’ exploitation and of experiments with the cold neutron beam for studying complex structures in biology, pharmacology, material science, etc.;

– physical and chemical studies of heavy nuclei in the vicinity of the "stability island" Z=114-116 using the Gas-Filled Recoil separator and the upgraded VASSILISSA set-up, study of the fusion-fission reaction for weakly excited superheavy nuclei, study of the structure of light exotic nuclei and neutron correlations in them, research with beams of stable and radioactive ions using the FOBOS and MULTI detectors and the High-Resolution Beam Line;

– realization in 2000-2002 of the Dubna Radioactive Ion Beams (DRIBs) project;

– continued participation in frontier particle physics experiments, amongst others at accelerators of IHEP (Protvino), CERN, DESY, BNL and FNAL; accelerator system R&D for the LHC (CERN) and linear colliders (TESLA);

– theoretical studies in particle physics and quantum field theory, nuclear physics, and condensed matter physics, also with a view to supporting experimental work in these fields;

– further development of JINR’s telecommunication links and of JINR’s computing and networking infrastructure;

– implementation of the JINR Educational Programme, including special-purpose training of specialists for the Member States.

The Scientific Council takes note of and concurs with the recommendations made by the PACs at their November 1999 meetings and presented by their Chairpersons.

Particle Physics Issues

The Scientific Council appreciates the efforts undertaken by the JINR Directorate to provide the necessary financing of the work to construct the Nuclotron beam slow extraction system and congratulates the staff of the Laboratory of High Energies on the first successful test of this system.

The Scientific Council endorses the long-term plan of physics research at the Nuclotron and recommends that the JINR Directorate give adequate support to its implementation.

The Scientific Council takes note of the new recommendations of the PAC for optimizing the JINR research programme in particle and relativistic nuclear physics. It agrees with the list of activities proposed for execution with first priority in 2000 and with the closure of a number of projects, as outlined in the minutes of the PAC meeting.

Nuclear Physics Issues

The Scientific Council endorses the nuclear physics programme for the years 2000-2002 presented at the PAC meeting by the Laboratories.

The Scientific Council congratulates the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions on the synthesis of the new isotope of element 114 with A=288 in addition to the two isotopes with A=287 and 289, earlier observed at this Laboratory. The Scientific Council strongly recommends the continuation of this programme with high priority.

The Scientific Council agrees with the PAC for Nuclear Physics that the highest priority should be given to the completion of the IREN facility and to the development of the DRIBs project.

The Scientific Council learned with satisfaction about the efforts made by the JINR Directorate to ensure the basic financing of the IREN project in 1999 and about the progress in the construction and testing of the accelerator section that are vitally important for implementation of this project in 2002. The Scientific Council recommends its funding as spelled out in the financial plan presented by the PAC’s Chairperson.

The Scientific Council emphasizes the scientific merit of the DRIBs project. Impressed by the rapid progress of the project, the Council strongly supports this programme and looks forward to its funding in accordance with the accelerated project schedule.

The following experiments at the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, highly ranked by the PAC, should be continued with the best financing and beam time allocation: m -catalysis, DUBTO, LESI.

Condensed Matter Physics Issues

The Scientific Council repeats its recommendations for adequate funding, including refurbishment, of the IBR-2 reactor to ensure its continuing operation.

- Due to the support of Minatom, the financing and the time schedule of the refurbishment programme has to be revised.

- In particular, the decisions about the reduced power of the reactor from 2 to 1.5 MW and reduced number of cycles from 10 to 8 should be re-examined.

The Scientific Council appreciates the successful tests of the new cryogenic moderator at the IBR-2 reactor and supports the demand for a cryogenic system to cool the cryogenic moderator.

New areas in research using cold neutrons can only be achieved with an adequate instrumentation programme that should be urgently established and be supported with high priority.

On a general note, it was supported that, due to its specific nature, accelerator R&D should be in the competence of the JINR Directorate. If deemed appropriate, on a case by case basis, the advice of external accelerator experts should be seeked.

1. The Scientific Council congratulates Professor R. Davis on the awarding of the 1999 B. Pontecorvo Prize, in recognition of his outstanding achievements in developing the chlorine-argon method for solar neutrino detection.

2. The Scientific Council approves the Jury's recommendations on the JINR prizes for 1999 (Appendix).

The Scientific Council congratulates Professors C. Détraz, V. Dmitrievsky, S. Jullian, G. Münzenberg, H. Oeschler, D. Shirkov, A. Tavkhelidze and V. Zrelov on their being awarded the title “Honorary Doctor of JINR”, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the advancement of science and education of young scientists.

The Scientific Council followed with interest the scientific reports presented at this session and thanks the speakers: A. Artyukh, R. Davis, M. Itkis, A. Malakhov, E. Shabalin and A. Sorin.

The Scientific Council congratulates the scientific and engineering staff of JINR, particularly those associated with the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, on the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of JINR’s first basic facility - the Synchrocyclotron, which opened, in 1949, the era of high-energy physics research.

The Scientific Council welcomes the decision of the JINR Directorate to name the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems after Professor V. Dzhelepov, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the activities of this Laboratory and of the whole Institute.

The 88th session of the Scientific Council will be held on 8-9 June 2000.

V. Kadyshevsky
Chairman of the JINR Scientific Council

©  Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. Dubna, 2000