Turkey opens first particle accelerator

Turkey's first particle accelerator facility which will serve the health sector and aims to diminish dependence on external markets opened near Ankara by the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK) as daily Hurriyet reported. "This facility will serve as the hub of nuclear technology as we are preparing to generate nuclear energy," Prime Ministyer Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during the facility's opening ceremony. Research on nuclear physics, electronics and even space studies will be carried out in the facility, according to Erdogan. Turkey is committed to build two nuclear plants by 2023, in a move to lessen its dependence on carbon fuels and generate cheaper electricity, he said. "In 10 years, the consumption of electricity will be doubled. Unfortunately, parallel to the increase of our energy consumption, energy prices are rising. That's why we prefer nuclear plants." The proton accelerator facility will mainly serve in producing equipment needed in nuclear medicine, such as magnetic resonance imaging and tomography, which Turkey spends 10 million USD annually to import. The accelerator technology is one of the significant generic technologies and has a leading role in scientific studies ranging from biology to metallurgy.(ANSAmed).