ID :
183093
Thu, 05/19/2011 - 10:47
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/183093
The shortlink copeid
Controversy erupts over design of ion accelerator
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's planned rare isotope accelerator is embroiled in controversy over design plagiarism, an episode that could affect overall plans to build the country's new science belt, the local science community said Thursday.
Seoul plans to build the Korea Rare Isotope Accelerator (KoRIA) by 2017 at a cost of 410 billion won (US$377 million) and without outside help, a key part of a state program to help boost cutting-edge technologies.
The controversy flared up after the vernacular daily Donga llbo reported Thursday that KoRIA had copied key design features of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) being built in the United States.
"Of the four types of superconducting cavities in the linear accelerator, three seem to have been copied from FRIB," the newspaper said, citing that the acceleration rate of KoRIA's three superconducting cavities is identical to that of FRIB.
It added that in the conceptual design released by local designers, there were no attributes related to KoRIA's superconducting cavities' design, fueling suspicions of plagiarism.
The cavities are part of the linear accelerator that can allow scientists to accelerate particles from very light hydrogen to heavy uranium that may lead to discoveries of rare isotopes that are not normally found in nature. This can advance research and development in nuclear fusion, energy, astrophysics, material and bio sciences, and medical areas.
Dismissing the report, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said that despite similarities, KoRIA is based on an "original" concept.
The ministry stressed that KoRIA will make use of two different acceleration systems that can result in more exotic beams being produced for experiments, compared to a single system that will be implemented in FRIB. KoRIA was designed from the outset to use both linear and circular accelerators that have never been tried in the past, it said.
"In addition, FRIB's conceptual design has already been released as an open source and may not cause any problems in terms of intellectual property rights issues," it said.
Saying there have been talks of carrying out joint research on the design for KoRIA and FRIB to reduce costs, officials hinted that there was a considerable degree of technology sharing in the basic science field.
The officials, however, said they will look into if local developers properly attributed information they used from outside sources.
Seoul plans to build the Korea Rare Isotope Accelerator (KoRIA) by 2017 at a cost of 410 billion won (US$377 million) and without outside help, a key part of a state program to help boost cutting-edge technologies.
The controversy flared up after the vernacular daily Donga llbo reported Thursday that KoRIA had copied key design features of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) being built in the United States.
"Of the four types of superconducting cavities in the linear accelerator, three seem to have been copied from FRIB," the newspaper said, citing that the acceleration rate of KoRIA's three superconducting cavities is identical to that of FRIB.
It added that in the conceptual design released by local designers, there were no attributes related to KoRIA's superconducting cavities' design, fueling suspicions of plagiarism.
The cavities are part of the linear accelerator that can allow scientists to accelerate particles from very light hydrogen to heavy uranium that may lead to discoveries of rare isotopes that are not normally found in nature. This can advance research and development in nuclear fusion, energy, astrophysics, material and bio sciences, and medical areas.
Dismissing the report, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said that despite similarities, KoRIA is based on an "original" concept.
The ministry stressed that KoRIA will make use of two different acceleration systems that can result in more exotic beams being produced for experiments, compared to a single system that will be implemented in FRIB. KoRIA was designed from the outset to use both linear and circular accelerators that have never been tried in the past, it said.
"In addition, FRIB's conceptual design has already been released as an open source and may not cause any problems in terms of intellectual property rights issues," it said.
Saying there have been talks of carrying out joint research on the design for KoRIA and FRIB to reduce costs, officials hinted that there was a considerable degree of technology sharing in the basic science field.
The officials, however, said they will look into if local developers properly attributed information they used from outside sources.
