NIB signs loan with ESS for materials science research
The Nordic Investment Bank and the European Spallation Source ERIC have signed an eight-year loan agreement of SEK507.5 million (€50 million) for the initial operation of the neutron research facility ESS in Lund, Sweden.
The European Spallation Source is a multilateral and multidisciplinary research facility based on the world's most powerful neutron source. ESS is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) with Sweden and Denmark as host countries and a total of 13 member countries. The research facility itself is being built in Lund and its data centre in Copenhagen.
At the facility, researchers will be able to use neutrons to study materials and in the long run gain knowledge that can be used to develop new materials in, among other things, aerospace technology, engines, plastics, energy, telecommunications, transport, information technology, life science and biotechnology.
The construction and operations of the ESS are divided into three overlapping phases: 1) construction, 2) initial operation, which includes instrumentation, installation, and commissioning, and 3) steady state operations. Operations are scheduled to start in 2025.
