Diamond breaks new ground

15 March 2003

Construction work has begun on the site of the UK's new synchrotron, Diamond. On 12 March, Dr John Taylor, Director-General of the Research Councils, had the honour of 'turning the first sod' at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory campus near Didcot, Oxfordshire. The ceremony marked the opening of the construction phase of the Diamond project, which is due to end in the summer of 2005. First use of the facility is scheduled for 2007. Diamond, a collaboration between the Wellcome Trust and the UK Government, will create an internationally competitive national resource for scientists across many disciplines, including biomedical researchers exploring the structure of large biological molecules.

External links

• Diamond synchrotron: Further details about the facility