Future

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Future

Given that there are relatively few places in the world now where neutrons are produced for research use (in marked contrast to the number of places where synchrotron X-ray sources have been built), is the future bleak for powder neutron diffraction? The answer in the short term is clearly no since reactor sources such as the ILL have been rebuilt with another 20 years lifetime in mind. Also, it is unlikely that new reactor sources will be built in the future given the current political climate and public opinion concerning nuclear reactors.

On the other hand, the future is very bright for pulsed sources. The pulsed source at ISIS in the UK has been an outstanding success, as have similar spallation sources in the USA. As a result, there are now plans for a new European Pulsed Spallation Source (ESS) whose peak flux will match that of the current time-averaged flux of the ILL, Grenoble.

Powder neutron diffraction is always likely to remain a rather non-routine technique, but the additional information that it can deliver over and above that of PXRD will always make this technique a rather useful and worthwhile one.

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