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New boost for Yorkshire bid to host the £1 billion European Spallation Source

June 22, 2004

The Yorkshire bid to host the £1 billion European Spallation Source (ESS), the most powerful neutron scattering facility in the world, was today given fresh impetus by the official report of the scrutiny session which examines the workings of the CCLRC - the research council charged with advising the Government on large scale research facilities in the UK.

The report, published today by the House of Commons Select Committee, stated:
"The UK has a strong track record and much experience in providing neutron sources. It should look to build on this. The UK scientific community and the Government should be fully behind any competitive and viable bid to bring a European Spallation Source to the UK."

The publication of the report has been welcomed by the White Rose University Consortium (White Rose) which in partnership with regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, submitted a formal bid to host the ESS in Bonn in 2002 and has since been campaigning for the Government to support the ESS as the best option for a 'next-generation' neutron source for the UK. Yorkshire Forward has purchased a site in Selby, North Yorkshire and hopes to submit a planning application later this year.

However, the progress of the ESS project had been hampered by the difficulty in navigating the official path to secure a scientific assessment of the ESS - the first step towards a funding decision - and a process overseen by the strategic arm of the CCLRC, which also operates its own neutron facilities in the UK, at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.

In 2003, a Yorkshire delegation, led by John Grogan, MP for Selby, met with Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science and Technology to discuss the bid, resulting in Lord Sainsbury instigating a review of current and future neutron use in the UK, which would inform the Government's decision to back the ESS or not.

The scrutiny report urges "that the Government should be prepared to provide the political will and the funding necessary for the UK to host large scale facilities. We believe that there are substantial direct benefits beyond the calculable economic ones from hosting large scale facilities, for the UK research community and, less tangibly, for the reputation of UK science as a whole."

It concludes:
"we recommend that the CCLRC works closely with the White Rose Consortium, European and other UK partners to help develop a viable UK proposal for hosting a European Spallation Source."

There are currently 3 'green field' site bids: the Yorkshire bid, one from Germany and another from a Scandinavian consortium. A further bid from Hungary is expected to be formalised and the scientific community is waiting to see if a rumoured bid from Switzerland transpires.

Leeds University's Professor Bob Cywinski, the technical advisor to the White Rose team commented on today's report:
"We are extremely pleased with the report's recommendations. To have the European Spallation Source in the UK would be a major coup and would ensure that Europe maintains its lead in this important area of science. The ESS would be visited each year by thousands of leading scientists to conduct their research. To have the opportunity of potentially hosting it in Yorkshire is incredibly prestigious for the region and would be a wonderful boost to our region's economy. We are very much looking forward to working with the CCLRC in promoting the UK as the strongest bidder for this prestigious facility."

White Rose University Consortium