I. General considerations

1. The Scientific Council takes note of the comprehensive report presented by JINR Director V. Kadyshevsky on the implementation of the recommendations taken at the 89th and 90th sessions of the Scientific Council.

   The Scientific Council is pleased to note that its recommendations to the JINR Directorate concerning the Scientific Programme of JINR, the operation and upgrade of the basic facilities, and the construction of new facilities are being successfully implemented.

2. The Scientific Council recognizes the significant scientific accomplishments of JINR's international staff of researchers in 2001 in the fields of particle physics, nuclear physics, and condensed matter physics, and wishes them new achievements in the future.

3. The Scientific Council notes with satisfaction that negotiations with the Government of the Russian Federation on JINR's finances have led to an increase of the rouble payment with good perspectives for another raise in 2002.

4. The Scientific Council welcomes the decision of the JINR Directorate to name the Laboratory of High Energies after Academicians V. Veksler and A. Baldin, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the activities of this Laboratory and of the Joint Institute as a whole.

5. The Scientific Council recognizes JINR's efforts in establishing a truly international atmosphere which contributes to bringing nations together.

The Republic of Belarus has been a Member State of this Institute for many years, playing an important role in the formation of the scientific policy of JINR, in the implementation of its research programme, and in the construction of unique equipment and physics instrumentation for experiments at Dubna and, through JINR, at CERN and FNAL.

The Scientific Council thanks the representatives of Belarusian research centres, universities and other institutions for presenting their contributions.

The Scientific Council acknowledges the continuing efforts made by the JINR Directorate to develop further international cooperation. In particular, it appreciates the extensive and fruitful collaboration of JINR with Belarusian research centres and industry, highlighted by the contributions and by the dedicated exhibitions at the session. The Scientific Council notes that there are also new opportunities for strengthening this collaboration, in particular in the fields of condensed matter physics and materials science.

The Scientific Council looks forward to further successful development of the cooperation between JINR and its member-state institutions.

The Scientific Council wishes that similar presentations concerning scientific and technical cooperation with research centres of the Member States be included in the agenda of future sessions. It stipulates that more room for discussion be given.

1. The Scientific Council takes note of the "Status report on the operation of the JINR basic facilities and on the construction of the IREN facility" presented by JINR Chief Engineer I. Meshkov.

The Scientific Council is pleased to note that the operation of the JINR basic facilities in 2001 was according to schedule and that significant progress was achieved in the development and upgrade of the facilities, in particular:

Nuclotron. Three runs of the accelerator were carried out with the total duration of 1,330 hours. The intensity and quality of the extracted beams were improved and the range of accelerated particles was increased. This is a significant achievement in developing the Nuclotron into a routinely operating user machine. The Scientific Council also supports the VBLHE efforts in the commissioning of the accelerator to meet its full design specifications. The main objectives for the Nuclotron in 2002 should be injection and acceleration of polarized deuterons and further development of the diagnostic systems and beam control at this facility.

IBR-2. The modernization work at the reactor is under way in accordance with the adopted schedule. Some concern was expressed about possible delays; the Scientific Council urges JINR to keep the refurbishment to schedule.

U400 and U400M. The Scientific Council notes the reliable operation of both cyclotrons, which ensures the implementation of the rich scientific programme on the synthesis of superheavy elements, production of exotic nuclear states, and other studies.

IREN. The progress achieved in the realization of the IREN project in 2001 allows for the possibility of the completion of its first stage in 2003, including commissioning of the linear accelerator with beam transport to the target hall. At the same time the Scientific Council notes that there has been a substantial delay of one year in the planned project implementation resulting from continued financial problems.

Phasotron. The Scientific Council is pleased to note the growing interest of users in carrying out experiments with the Phasotron beam, and the widening of the experimental programme. It welcomes further DLNP efforts in this direction.

Synchrophasotron. The Scientific Council notes the importance of the ongoing programme of research with polarized deuterons and looks forward to the transition of these experimental studies from the Synchrophasotron to the Nuclotron in 2003 in view of the planned phase-out of the Synchrophasotron.

2. The Scientific Council takes note of the report "Status of the DRIBs project" presented by FLNR Scientific Leader Yu. Oganessian.

 The Scientific Council congratulates the Flerov Laboratory on the timely and successful launching of the first part of the RIB accelerator complex, resulting in the production of the ⁶He beam.

1. The Scientific Council takes note of the reports presented in written form by the Directors of the JINR Laboratories concerning the JINR Scientific Programme based on a three-year plan of activities and endorses "The JINR Topical Plan for Research and International Cooperation in 2002". It asks that a list of publications (refereed journals, conferences, PhD theses) should be associated to these reports in the future.

2. Taking into account these proposals and the recommendations of the PACs, the Scientific Council endorses the following priority activities in 2002:

– improvement of the Nuclotron beam extraction system and of external beam lines, further improvement of the accelerated and extracted beam parameters, achievement of a wider range of accelerated particles and nuclei for the users, operation and development of the Nuclotron, and further reduction of electric power consumption for its operation;

– modernization of the IBR-2 reactor according to the schedule of activities approved by the Agreement between JINR and the Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy: construction of the new movable reflector, replacement of the reactor core, manufacturing of the reactor's new fuel loading, and replacement of the cryogenic facility;

– start of physics experiments with radioactive ion beams, completion of Phase I of the Dubna Radioactive Ion Beams (DRIBs) project, implementation of work on the realization of Phase II of the project;

– decommissioning of the IBR-30 reactor and construction of the IREN facility according to the revised schedule of January 2002 and dedicated funding with a view to completion of its first stage in 2003;

– further development of JINR's telecommunication links and computing and networking infrastructure;

– theoretical studies in particle physics and quantum field theory, nuclear physics, and condensed matter physics, also with a view to supporting experimental work in these fields;

– continued participation in frontier experiments aimed at studying the fundamental properties of elementary particles and their interactions, amongst others at accelerator facilities at IHEP (Protvino), CERN, DESY, BNL and FNAL;

– experiments on the synthesis of superheavy nuclei with Z=115 and 118 using the upgraded Gas-Filled Recoil and VASSILISSA separators, experiments on the chemical isolation and identification of superheavy elements with Z=112 and 114, study of the fusion-fission reactions with ⁴⁸Ca, ⁵⁸Fe, ⁶⁴Ni ions using the CORSET+DEMON facility, study of the structure of light exotic nuclei and of the mechanism of nuclear reactions with radioactive and stable ion beams using the ACCULINNA, COMBAS, MSP-144 and ISTRA set-ups, construction of the MASHA separator;

– continuation of relativistic nuclear interaction studies focused on the search for manifestations of quark and gluon degrees of freedom in nuclei and asymptotic laws for nuclear matter at high energies, as well as studies of the spin structure of the lightest nuclei; in-house experiments mainly at the Nuclotron, as well as experiments at accelerators of other centres: CERN (SPS, LHC), BNL (RHIC), GSI (SIS), Uppsala University (CELSIUS), RIKEN, and DESY (HERA);

– development of instrumentation and data acquisition equipment for spectrometers at the IBR-2 reactor to make possible a cold neutron programme such as given in Section VI under the heading “Condensed Matter Issues”; improvement of detectors for research with IREN.

Other items that deserve attention are:

– development of the JINR Educational Programme, including special-purpose training of specialists for the Member States;

– further R&D of accelerator subsystems for the LHC and linear colliders TESLA and CLIC as well as development of promising accelerator technologies;

– investigation of genetic effects induced in biological objects by ionizing radiation with different linear energy transfers, continuation of the development of new radiopharmaceuticals for cancer diagnostics and treatment.

 In response to its previous recommendation, the Scientific Council was informed at this session on the Institute's first preliminary long-range plans of scientific research in the fields of high-energy physics and condensed matter physics. The Scientific Council takes note of this information and encourages the JINR Directorate to continue its work on the development of the perspective scientific programme.

The Scientific Council invites the JINR Directorate to present at its 93rd session a Draft Scientific Programme of JINR for the next 7 years, followed by discussions at meetings of the PACs and sessions of the Scientific Council. In addition, the Scientific Council would like to receive a proposal, including a long-term scientific programme for planned developments of the in-house facilities.

The Scientific Council takes note of and concurs with the recommendations made by the PACs at their November 2001 meetings and presented by their Chairpersons.

Particle Physics Issues

The Scientific Council notes with satisfaction the fundamental results on CP violation of the NA48 experiment at CERN, which have considerably contributed to particle physics progress. These results were obtained with active participation of LPP physicists at all stages of the experiment.

The Scientific Council welcomes the participation of BLTP physicists in theoretical studies relevant to the CDF, D0 and STAR research programmes. It recommends that the JINR Directorate support these high-quality studies.

The Scientific Council takes note of the list of the activities suggested for implementation with first priority in 2002-2004 and with the closure of a number of research projects, as detailed in the minutes of the meeting of the PAC for Particle Physics. It expresses, however, concern about the thinly spread participation in many experiments and the tendency to diversify too much. Other institutions, e.g. universities, are well fit to take over some programmes.

The Scientific Council notes with satisfaction the continued progress towards making the Nuclotron a user facility which will add significantly to the suite of accelerator facilities available to the world community for the study of QCD and strong interaction physics. The Scientific Council concurs with the PAC's invitation to the VBLHE Directorate to develop a strategic coordinated plan for the scientific and technical programme for the Nuclotron up to the end of 2005. The Scientific Council considers the full development of the Nuclotron as a user facility a priority task, and requests that continued strong support be given to this initiative by the JINR Directorate to ensure its success.

The Scientific Council shares the concern of the PAC about the potential impact on the JINR programme in particle physics due to the difficult financial situation at CERN regarding the completion of LHC construction. The Scientific Council looks forward to the assessment of this potential impact planned for discussion at the next PAC meeting.

The Scientific Council applauds the recent results on the synthesis of element 116 at FLNR. The observation of three events of the element Z=116 and the consistent detection of the sequential decays (-chain and spontaneous fission) convincingly confirm the earlier identification of elements with Z=114, 112 and 110. The Scientific Council strongly recommends the continuation of efforts focused on the Z=118 element, whose observation should help to locate the proton closed shell for the island of stability. The Scientific Council also supports further efforts to investigate chemical properties of the superheavy elements. It also strongly encourages the development of the MASHA mass separator, which will allow precise mass identification (A 0.3) for superheavy isotopes.

The Scientific Council notes with satisfaction that the assembly of Phase I of the DRIBs project has been completed within the planned period of time. Although this opens excellent prospects for launching physics experiments in 2002, the Scientific Council looks forward to similar rapid progress in the development of Phase II. Appropriate financing in 2002 is requested for the timely realization of this second phase of the DRIBs project in 2003, consisting in the production of low-energy separated fission fragments. The preparation of experimental equipment for work with accelerated radioactive ion beams should be achieved quickly.

The Scientific Council appreciates the progress made in the implementation of the IREN project. It supports the proposal of the project management to ensure the realization of different parts of the project by carrying them out in parallel. This concerns the decommissioning of IBR-30, the licensing of IREN, and the start-up of the first stage of the linac LUE-200 by mid 2003. Regular financing and continuous support from the JINR technical services are needed to complete these projects on the revised schedule and to ensure that the IREN project enters into its decisive final stage on time. Therefore the Scientific Council strongly recommends that every possible effort be made to keep the project on schedule leading to operational start-up by the end of 2003.

The Scientific Council considers the exploitation of cold neutrons to be of great interest for JINR. It requests the JINR Directorate to follow up this issue as a priority matter:

The shortfall in modernization funding for the IBR-2 reactor, which may delay the project, should be fully recovered. The apparent over-aging of the reactor staff should be taken seriously as a danger to the completion of the reactor refurbishment programme, and a time schedule should be established for the actions to be taken.

The run-time of 600 h/year up to 2007 of the actual cold source (BBS - broad-band source) is too short to guarantee sufficient scientific output. The BBS should be rebuilt or an advanced BBS, based on experience of the collaboration with the European Spallation Source project, should be developed.

The BBS development programme, which should result in the supply of an optimized neutron spectrum for nearly each of the spectrometers at the IBR-2 reactor, should be launched.

The shortfall in general funding also affects the schedule of the cryogenic supply device of the BBS which must be urgently replaced.

A "realistic programme" of instrumentation on the cold source is in the following state:

• The HRFD diffractometer can already take advantage from the BBS in the present configuration.

• The performance of the small-angle spectrometer YuMo can be improved with cold neutrons if the position-sensitive detector can be realized in 2002.

• A discussion of further instrument development is requested by the Scientific Council.

The Scientific Council again points out that the JINR local area network (LAN) and external networking are important basic facilities, and stresses the importance of proper funding for these essential activities. Considering the present critical situation, urgent recovery of the LAN with adequate financing is of utmost importance. The steps proposed to improve LAN security are also recommended.

The Scientific Council appreciates the measures undertaken by LIT to bring its activities into closer contact with those of the other JINR Laboratories.

It also recognizes the importance of theoretical research done at BLTP and recommends a better funding for travel and international exchange.

Upon proposal by the JINR Directorate, the Scientific Council appoints the following new members of the PAC for Condensed Matter Physics: P. Alexeev (ISSP, RRC "Kurchatov Institute", Moscow, Russia), R. Cywinski (University, Leeds, UK), S. Kozubek (IB, Brno, Czech Republic).

The Scientific Council thanks Professors J.B. Forsyth, M. Kovalchuk, A. Lesnikovich, and V. Somenkov for their highly efficient and successful work as members of the PAC for Condensed Matter Physics.

1. The Scientific Council elected by ballot:

- M. Itkis as Director of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions for a term of five years,
- V. Kekelidze as Director of the Laboratory of Particle Physics for a term of five years,
- A. Malakhov as Director of the Laboratory of High Energies for a term of five years,
- V. Shvetsov as Deputy Director of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics until the completion of the term of office of the FLNP Director.

2. According to the JINR Regulations, the Scientific Council announces the vacancies of Deputy Directors at VBLHE, LPP, FLNR, and FLNP.

The election for these positions will be held at the 92nd session of the Scientific Council.

1. The Scientific Council congratulates Dr N. Samios (BNL, Brookhaven, USA) on being awarded the 2001 B. Pontecorvo Prize, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to particle physics.

2. The Scientific Council approves the Jury's recommendations on the JINR prizes for 2001 (Appendix).

The Scientific Council congratulates Professors Ch. Brianзon, V. Khalkin, S. Korenchenko, and V. Zinov on being awarded the title "Honorary Doctor of JINR", in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the advancement of science and the education of young scientists.

The Scientific Council followed with interest the scientific reports presented by A. Sissakian, H. Lauter, and A. Belushkin, and thanks the speakers.

The 92nd session of the Scientific Council will be held on 6–7 June 2002.