Description
Beginning in 2013 when the shut-down of the Berlin Experimental Reactor (BER II) was announced for December 2019, the management of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) was offering HZB’s highly competitive, in part unique neutron scattering instrumentation and sample environment to neutron scattering facilities all over the world. A large number of collaborating institutions concluded contracts with HZB, so that hopefully all BER II instruments (but eventually 1) plus a substantial part of the neutron guides and shielding find new homes at collaborating neutron science centers in Germany, in Europe and overseas. Until now, 20 instruments have been delivered out of
which 6 instruments have already taken up user service again at their new destinations. A team of scientists, units of the administration and the technicians that once guaranteed for the continuous successful operation of the instruments at BER II reoriented to the necessary processes that ensure successful transfer of the experimental stations to their new locations. We describe these processes and the status of the transfer project which is an enormously important activity for keeping the valuable BER II experimental facilities available to the international user community.