E0042

The neutron scattering facility and user program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory' High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) are undergoing major overhauls. Recently, a reactor upgrade project was completed during which bigger beam tubes were installed in the reactor. A new cold-source and cold instrument guide hall are currently under construction as part of this project and will include two world class SANS machines one of which will be dedicated to biological studies. The first of the upgraded thermal beam instruments (three triple-axis spectrometers) are back in place. Each of these three instruments exhibit higher neutron flux as a result the upgrades. They also feature all new LabView instrument control and data acquisition systems. The next year will see a new instrument being installed every few months. In addition to the facility and hardware upgrades, the HFIR Center for Neutron Scattering has instituted a formal user program. Calls for proposals will be issued on a regular schedule for the neutron scattering instruments in the user program. At the heart of the user program is an external, peer-reviewed, proposal system for determining beam time allocations. The three triple axis spectrometers are already available for users and other instruments will be included as they are installed.