The National Science and Technology Council is considering shuttering the three-decades-old Taiwan Light Source (TLS) program and expanding the Taiwan Photon Source (TPS) project from 14 storage rings to 25 to facilitate the government’s tech diplomacy policy, an official said on Saturday.
The council is tasked with operating the TLS and TPS programs, which are responsible for producing synchrotron radiation that is often used by the semiconductor, materials science, pharmaceutical, astronomy and green energy sectors, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center Deputy Director Wei Te-hsin (魏德新) said.
Scientists can use the range of synchrotron radiation wavelengths, which include infrared, visible light, ultraviolet rays and X-rays to atomic and nano-scale, to conduct research, Wei added.
Photo courtesy of the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
When initiated 30 years ago, the light source program was a third-generation synchrotron accelerator, while the TPS system, activated in 2016, is still considered one of the more powerful synchrotron accelerators in the world.
The council is considering decommissioning the TLS program as it is dated, and would be gradually expanding the TPS program until it has 25 storage rings, Wei said.
There are about 70 synchrotron accelerators across different countries, which is a clear indicator of a country’s technological development, he said, adding the open interaction between synchrotron accelerator centers would benefit researchers worldwide.
Taiwan has a special division at Japan’s synchrotron accelerator SPring-8 and at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, granting Taiwan priority access to the facilities for experiments, he said.
The Max Planck Institutes in Germany have been working with Taiwan to build an end station, and in light of Japan’s SPring-8 producing one of the highest brightness sources of X-rays worldwide, Taiwan’s centers are also considering upgrades, the council said.
Former National Science and Technology Council deputy minister Chen Tzong-chyuan (陳宗權) said the number of Science Citation Index articles published in international journals using the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center’s synchrotron accelerator increased to 602 last year, up from 413 in 2019.
The average influence index of these articles has also increased by 11.51 last year, up from 7.39 in 2019, he added.
Upgrades to the synchrotron accelerator would help develop Taiwan’s five “trusted industries,” namely semiconductors, next-generation communication, artificial intelligence, military engineering and surveillance technologies, he said.
The upgrade would also benefit other policies, such as improving Taiwan’s general health and reducing carbon emissions, while promoting the application of synchrotron technology in semiconductors, biomedicine and next-generation green power generation, he added.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS