TVB Associates Inc.

TVB Associates was pleased to support the Canadian Neutron Initiative (CNI) working group by writing its national neutron strategy. This strategy has emerged from consultative processes over the past several years as reported earlier. The final strategy was released in March 2022.

This strategy is a basis for the national CFI 2023 Innovation Fund proposal led by the University of Windsor for neutron beam infrastructure, while early versions of the strategy supported the national CFI 2020 Innovation Fund award to McMaster University. Presently, 15 universities are founding Neutrons Canada as the central feature of strategic objective 4.

This strategy also serves as a basis for CINS to develop the Neutron Long-Range Plan (LRP). The Neutron LRP will be a realistic plan for the infrastructure investments needed to implement the national neutron strategy over the next decade and beyond.

Summary of the Strategy

Canada’s social, environmental and economic challenges require a complete twenty-first century scientific toolkit for research and innovation in materials. Because everything is made of materials, innovation in materials underpins nearly all technology advances for national priorities, including:

The strategy identifies four key objectives that are essential to put into place the required infrastructure and governance framework to enable Canadians to use neutron beams:

1. Forge partnerships with high-brightness neutron sources in other countries;
2. Build on existing domestic capabilities, including full exploitation of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR), a medium-brightness neutron source;
3. Explore and invest in developing new neutron sources for the long term; and
4. Create a new, national governance and management framework for these activities.

The full strategy is available below.

The national neutron strategy (prepared by TVB Associates)

In January, 15 Canadian universities met as the Founding Members of a new organization, “Neutrons Canada.” The creation of Neutrons Canada is part of a cohesive, multidisciplinary, national strategy to rebuild Canada’s capabilities for research using neutron beams following the closure of Canada’s primary neutron source, the NRU Reactor in Chalk River, in 2018.

Neutrons Canada will govern, manage, and represent Canada’s infrastructure program for research and development with neutron beams. At the scale required to meet the Canadian demand for neutron
beams, an such infrastructure program is estimated to cost $20M per year. On behalf of its Member institutions, Neutrons Canada will play an essential role in facilitating community activities to secure capital and operating funds for the infrastructure program. It will deliver or support major neutron projects and related initiatives as appropriate.

Neutrons Canada will represent the program as a credible institutional voice to government, as Canada’s agent for contracts with foreign neutron sources, and as a consensus builder among the communities that rely on neutron beams. Coordinating such efforts nationally will be the most effective means to deliver a truly pan-Canadian program that enables the community to speak with one voice.

Applying best practices for the governance and management of Major Research Facilities in
Canada, Neutrons Canada is expected to be launched before the end of 2022 as a not-for-profit corporation with an independent Board of Directors elected by Member institutions that conduct research with neutron beams.

Neutrons Canada arises from the consultative processes of the Canadian Neutron Initiative (CNI) working group over the past several years, including the January 2020 Roundtable on Neutrons Canada.

TVB Associates is pleased to have a strategic supporting role in the creation of Neutrons Canada.

More information about Neutrons Canada is available in the prospectus prepared by TVB Associates.

TVB Associates was pleased to have a central strategic role supporting McMaster University in a national proposal for a $47M project for infrastructure for neutron beams. This project, entitled “Building a Future for Canadian Neutron Scattering”, was supported by 17 universities across Canada, and has been fully funded.

As reported earlier, the Canada Foundation for Innovation awarded its contribution to the project, $14.25M, in March 2021 through its 2020 Innovation Fund competition.

This federal contribution was recently matched by a further $14.05M in provincial funds from the Governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. As the host province, Ontario contributed the largest share at $10.35M. TVB Associates played a critical role in the request to Ontario.

This project will also benefit from $19M in in-kind contributions from McMaster University, Canadian partners such as AECL and the Fedoruk Centre, and foreign partners such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the NIST Center for Neutron Research in the United States, bringing the total project value to $47.3M.

Project Summary

“Building a Future for Canadian Neutron Scattering” is a national project that will enable research and innovation in areas such as materials for clean energy technology, materials for structural integrity of reliability-critical components of vehicles or nuclear power plants, biomaterials for understanding and combating disease, and materials for information technology.

Neutron beams are versatile and irreplaceable 21st century tools for studying materials and are needed by a Canadian research community that includes about 100 principal investigators from over 30 universities. Access to neutron beams is urgently needed following the recent closure of the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre and the expiry of Canada’s only agreement for access to a foreign neutron beam facility. Now, the McMaster Nuclear Reactor is Canada’s only major neutron source, and this project will complete its neutron beam lab by adding three neutron beamlines. To enable experiments that require high neutron brightness, the project will build partnerships with two world leading neutron beam facilities in the US.

Potential benefits of the research include technologies to reduced greenhouse gas emissions; enhanced reliability and competitiveness of Canadian nuclear power and auto parts manufacturing industries; knowledge to aid the fight against cancer, Alzheimer’s, and antibiotic resistance; and knowledge of quantum materials that could enable breakthroughs in information technology devices.

Author: Daniel Banks, President, TVB Associates Inc.
Photo: Celebration Cake for funding of “Building a Future for Canadian Neutron Scattering” (Photo by TVB Associates)

TVB Associates was pleased to have a strategic role supporting McMaster University in a national proposal for a $47M project for infrastructure for neutron beams. This project, entitled “Building a Future for Canadian Neutron Scattering”, was supported by 17 universities across Canada. The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) awarded its contribution to the project, $14.25M, in March 2021 through its 2020 Innovation Fund competition.

This $14.25M award was the largest in the 2020 competition.

Project initiation awaits decisions for matching contributions from provincial governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.

Project Summary

“Building a Future for Canadian Neutron Scattering” is a national project that will enable research and innovation in areas such as materials for clean energy technology, materials for structural integrity of reliability-critical components of vehicles or nuclear power plants, biomaterials for understanding and combating disease, and materials for information technology.

Neutron beams are versatile and irreplaceable 21st century tools for studying materials and are needed by a Canadian research community that includes about 100 principal investigators from over 30 universities. Access to neutron beams is urgently needed following the recent closure of the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre and the expiry of Canada’s only agreement for access to a foreign neutron beam facility. Now, the McMaster Nuclear Reactor is Canada’s only major neutron source, and this project will complete its neutron beam lab by adding three neutron beamlines. To enable experiments that require high neutron brightness, the project will build partnerships with two world leading neutron beam facilities in the US.

Potential benefits of the research include technologies to reduced greenhouse gas emissions; enhanced reliability and competitiveness of Canadian nuclear power and auto parts manufacturing industries; knowledge to aid the fight against cancer, Alzheimer’s, and antibiotic resistance; and knowledge of quantum materials that could enable breakthroughs in information technology devices.

Author: Daniel Banks, President, TVB Associates Inc.
McMaster’s announcement: Five McMaster projects get $35M in federal funding (March 2021)
Photo: McMaster Nuclear Reactor (Photo by Georgia Kirkos, McMaster University)

TVB Associates was pleased to support the Canadian Neutron Initiative (CNI) working group by writing its national neutron strategy discussion paper. The consultation draft was released publicly following the CNI-CIFAR Roundtable on a National Neutron Strategy. This strategy has emerged from consultative processes over the past several years.

Canada’s social, environmental and economic challenges require a complete twenty-first century scientific toolkit for research and innovation in materials. Because everything is made of materials, innovation in materials underpins nearly all technology advances for national priorities, including:

The strategy identifies four key objectives that are essential to put into place the required infrastructure and governance framework to enable Canadians to use neutron beams:

1. Forge partnerships with high-brightness neutron sources in other countries;
2. Build on existing domestic capabilities, including full exploitation of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR), a medium-brightness neutron source;
3. Explore and invest in developing new neutron sources for the long term; and
4. Create a new, national governance and management framework for these activities.

The full discussion paper is available below.

Official release of the consultation draft of the national neutron strategy (prepared by TVB Associates)

TVB Associates was pleased to have a strategic role supporting the Canadian Neutron Initiative (CNI) working group and CIFAR to hold a national roundtable event entitled, “Towards a National Neutron Strategy.”

Author: Daniel Banks (TVB Associates) and Anne Ballantyne (Fedoruk Centre)
Originally published: Fedoruk Centre (Jan 20, 2021)
Summary of the roundtable by CIFAR (March 17, 2021)

The Canadian neutron beam community is aligning around an emerging strategy to rebuild Canadian capacity for materials research and development with neutron beams.

On December 15 and 16, 2020, leading scientists from across Canada gathered virtually to shape this “national neutron strategy” at a roundtable organized by the Canadian Neutron Initiative (CNI) and CIFAR, with support from the European Spallation Source and the Fedoruk Centre.

The roundtable was a culmination of extensive consultation since 2015, when it became clear that Canada’s only neutron source, the NRU reactor, would close permanently in 2018, jeopardizing the future for research with neutron beams by Canadians. Ideas and feedback were invited on key elements of the strategy, including the needed infrastructure and associated programs, domestic and foreign, spanning the near-term to the long-term.

Neutron beams are irreplaceable tools to generate knowledge and advance materials for 21st century challenges such as ensuring a clean and sustainable environment, and protecting the health and safety of our communities. (See http://cins.ca/discover/.)

The national neutron strategy encompasses infrastructure and a governance framework enabling Canadians to address these challenges with world-class tools. Roundtable participants were optimistic about prospects for partnership with foreign neutron facilities, for developing the neutron beam lab at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, and for exploring our options for neutron sources, each of which are elements of the strategy.

The meeting confirmed that there is broad support for the proposed national neutron strategy and specifically for the creation of a national coordinating organization, Neutrons Canada, which would be charged with governing and managing the strategy’s major activities as a coherent program.

Official report from the roundtable on a national neutron strategy (prepared by TVB Associates)

TVB Associates is pleased to have provided strategic support to the Canadian Neutron Initiative (CNI) working group, comprised of university executives. The CNI seeks to enable research with neutron beams to continue following the 2018 closure of Canada’s primary neutron source, the NRU reactor, in Chalk River.

On 2020 January 29, VPs of Research or their designates from 16 universities met in Ottawa to discuss a proposed new pan-Canadian, university-led framework to manage Canada’s infrastructure, international partnerships, projects, and programs for materials research with neutron beams. The gathering discussed the creation of “Neutrons Canada” as a central feature of the new framework.

“The roundtable meeting of university executives from 16 institutions across Canada was an historic moment, topping off five years of work to establish a new, pan-Canadian, university-led framework to govern, manage, and represent Canada’s programme and capacity for materials research with neutron beams.”

Dr. Karen Chad, Vice-President of Research, University of Saskatchewan and Chair of the CNI working group.

The university executive participants formed a consensus around three propositions:

1. Canada should maintain its leadership role in materials research with neutron beams;
2. Canadian universities need to establish a pan-Canadian, university-led framework to govern, manage, and represent Canada’s program for materials research with neutron beams; and
3. Canadian university Vice-Presidents of Research should devote their own time and attention to help shape this new framework and to ensure ongoing engagement of their universities as Institutional Members.

The CNI working group will invite additional university executives to join the current group and act as a steering committee for the establishment of Neutrons Canada.

Official report on the roundtable meeting towards the establishment of “Neutrons Canada” (prepared by TVB Associates)