7 :I. b “7 9 -7 RELEASE: Saturday afternoon, June 30, 1962

The end of an era embracing the birth of the Atomic Age was marked

today at the University of Californials Lawrence Radiation Laboratory

with the shutdown of the 60-inch cyclotron, most famous and productive

atom-smasher in history.. The master key on the machine was thrown at 4 p.m., and the humming generators in the William H. Crocker Laboratory were suddenly silent.

Twenty three full years of almost continuous operation, regularly

punctuated by discoveries that have helped change the world, were ended

as the last atomic projectiles thrown by the ‘‘old” cyclotron set

target nuclei spinning in an experiment that could not have been imagined

a quarter of a century ago.

Projectiles of the machine were first directed at a target on

June 30, 1939 under the watchful supervision of the late Ernest 0. Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron, Nobel Laureate and founder of the * laboratory that now bears his name. The target that first day was iron ,phosphate -- to make radioactive % isotopes phosphorus (P-32) and iron (Fe-859) for some of the pioneering

atomic research in biology and medicine.

The youthful scientists who helped him on that day are only n9w in

middle age. In many cases their work and their names are legendary, they

wear Nobel laurels, and they are leaders in atomic science and industry.

The 60-inch cyclotron was a marvel for its time. Weighing 220-tons

(mor e) -2-

and originally accelerated deuterons (the nuclei of heavy hydrogen atoms)

to 16 million electron volts (Mev) and alpha particles to 32 MeV, it was

by far the biggest and most powerful atom-smasher in the world, It dwarfed its immediate and previously "most powerful" predecessor -- Lawrcnccfs 8S-ton, 8 MeV. (for deuterons) 37-inch cyclotron -- even as

it later was dwarfed by descendants like the 184-inch synchrocyclotron

and the Bevatron on "The Hill" in Berkeley. The machine has been modified twice, and now produces deuterons of 24 Mev and alpha particles

of 48 MeV. -F i na nc i ng The 60-inch cyclotron installation was financed by contributions from private sources. The late William H. Crocker, San Francisco banker,

Philanthropist, and a Regent of the University for 29 years, contributed

$75,000 for thc building, and the laboratory was named in his honor.

Contributions for the machine itself included: Rockefeller Found-

ation, $32,000; Chemical Foundation, $20,000; Research Corporation,

$10,000; Josiah Macy Foundation, $7,000; and miscellaneous contributions

from the University and others the total fDr the machine being an esti-

mated $125,000.

In accordance with Mr. Crocker 1s interests, which coincided with those of the Lawrence brothers, it yas agreed that the machine would be

exploited to the maxirnum for medical purposes.

Since !!lorld War 11, work with thc machine has been supported

primarily by the Atomic Energy Commission, _. - Ne p tun i um D i s coverz 0 &= One of the early experiments in 1939 was started by young Dr. Edwin J - Me McMillan, now Director of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, who had designed the control circuits of the machine. (more) Dr. McMillan simply wanted to know how far the fragments of fission

-- discovered some six months before in Germany -.I traveled after leaving the shattered uranium-235 nucleus.

He encountered a mystery, and by the following year he had de- monstrated that he and P. H. Abelson had created element 93, neptunium,

the discovery of which had eluded thc best minds of nuclear science for

several years. --Plutonium and Other Eleme nts Neptunium suggested an even heavier clement. In less than a year Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, now Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, thc

late Joseph Kennedy, A. C. Wahl, and McMillan had accomplished the

historic discovery of plutonium, the major fuel of atomic bombs. Soon

plutonium-239 was shown to be fissionable to slow neutrons, speeding the

development of nuclear reactors to make this element in quantity and

enormously cxpanding the base of the dawning atomic age.

There followed the months of the "long bombardment." Night and day

the cyclotron labored to create plutonium. The quantities, too small

to see, were taken by Seaborg to Chicago. In 1942 there was enough to

see under a microscope, to weigh with sensitive new instruments, and

to use in *significant experimentation. With such quantities from this

cyclotron and others, Seaborg and his colleagues worked out the

chemical separation processes to obtain pure plutonium in quantity from

the giant reactors later built at Hanford, Washington, Eventually other elements -- 7 in all -- were discovered with the e 60-inch cyclotron: element 87 (astatine), 96 (curium), 97 (berlj,lium), - 98 (californiun), and 101, (mendeleevium), discovered in 1955. A whole c

r-. new body of scicntific knowledge and technology -- the transuranium -I.-

c element field -- was founded. Other transuranium elements, all diSC3vCrcd ro (mor c) -4- by University of California scicntists, are: 95, discovered in reactor

research; 99, (einsteinium) and 100 (fermium), , discovcrzd in the first

thermonuclear explosion in thc Pacific in 1952; and 102 and 103

(lawrencium), discovered by m3ais of ttic HILAC in thc Lawrcnce Radiation Laboratory in 1956 and 1961. Carbon 14 Neptunium was not thc only discovery of epic proportions made during the first year of operati3n of thc 60-inch machine. Evidence confirming the discovery of carb9n 14, was obtained by thc late Dr. Samuel Rubin and by Dr. Martin Karncn, now a professor on thc: San Diego

campus of the University.

Carbon 14 has been onc of the most uscful atomic tools, used as a tracer, for expansion of knowledge in biology, in chemistry and

physics, and in knowledge of the earthls past.

At Berkeley, Dr. Melvin Calvin, director of Lawrencc Radiation Laboratory's Bio-Organic Division, used carbon 14 to clarify the once- mysterious chemistry of photosynthesis, for which he was awarded the Nobel Pr ize last fa1 1.

Dr. Willard F. Libby, now on the Los Angeles campus of the University, used carbon 14 to work out his accurate system for determining the age of fossils and artifacts -- helping paleontologists and anthropologists learn more about the history of animals and man on earth. Libby re- ceived thc Nobel Prize for the work.

Tritium, Other Isotope Discover ies

As thc years passed the discoveries piled up. Tritium (hydrogen 31,

now a key ingredient of thermonuclear reactions, and helium 3, important in low-temperature studies, were discovered by Dr. Luis Alvarez, who

9 continucs to lead a grou,p in dramatic explorations in the Berlcclcy

W laboratory, and Dr. Robert Cornog. (more) -5-

In 1944 Scaborg and his collcagucs trznsmutcd thorium intn uranium-233, a f issignable analogue 3f plutonium-239 -- and expanded

again the potential o€ the at9mic age with the addition of thorium tr?

nuclear resourccs.

Bioloav and Mcdicinc

To the delight of Lawrznce and his cgllcagucs, the higher cncrgy

and larger number of particles accelcratcd in the 60-inch cyclotron

produced radioisotopes in evcn larger quantities than they had hoped.

Dr. John Lawrence, now Dircctor cf Donncr Laboratory, thz medical- biDlogica1 section of Lawrcncc: Radiation Laboratory, and others used

these isotopes to ex,ploit and expand the p3tcntial shown by smallcr

quantities of the materials made earlicr with the 37-inch machine.

Dr. Lawrence under took radiophosphorus treatment of polycythemia vera and some forms of Leukemia on a significant sc~le. His wwk since

has established polycythemia vera as the first disease controlled by

radioisotopes. Some leukemias are helped by the isotopes.

The late Joseph Hamilton and May Soley pioneered the use of Drs, - radioiodine in diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease in 1940 -- and this use has now become common in selectcd cases all Bver the nati9n and abroad.

The radi9isotopes were made in suff icicnt quantity for distribution

to scientists eager f'gr the new exploratioqs the materials permitted.

For some years the 60-inch cyclotron was virtually the sole source of

radioisotQpes for the scientists of the world. The Lawrcnces sent isot3pes to several hundred doctors and 40 universities, medical school commercial companies and g9vernmcnt laborator ies. Isotopcs were sent

to Argentina, Belgium, Italy, Paraguay, Pcru and other foreign

countr ies. (mor F ) 1104114 Tracer studies, expanded sinco those days, havc hclpcd rev3lutionizc

knowledge in bislDgy, medicinc, argriculturc, industrial prgccsses and other fields.

Thz man whc dirccted thc first bombardment with the machinc in

1939 of the ir3n phosphate targct is Dr. Paul AebcrsQld, who for several years was in charge sf the cyclstr2nls qpcratign and who n3w heads the

Atomic Energy Commissicnrs huge w3r Id-wide radioisgtnpcs distr ibutign

industry. Most clf isotopes the AEC distributers are made in reactors.

Soon after the 60-inch cycl3trgn started gperating in 1939, Dr.

Robert S, Stone, n3w chairman gf thz department c,f Racliolggy at thc

Univcrsityfs Medical Center in San Franciscc), initiated studies of the

treatment of deepseated cancer with the fast ncutrgns pr3duced by the

60-inch machine.

Neutrons did not prove superi3r tc) other methods, but the experience

provided the foundation fgr latcr use of higher energy beams, For

example, 900 MeV alpha particles from the 184-inch cyclotron are used in promising experimental treatment of some cancers by radiation

destruction of the pituitary gland, --The Last Expcr-- imcnt The final experiments with the 60-inch machine will be perfgrmcd

in a low energy research field to which the machine has been making important contributigns in recent years, In such experiments, particles

from the cyclotron are used to excite targst nuclei to different cncrgy

levels. It has been found that there is a regular pattern of energy

levels among nuclei, and studizs qf thcse patterns has given scientists

new insight into the structures and other properties Qf complcx nuclei.

Such studies, for example, dcm~nstratedthat uranium and other heavy

nuclei are shapcd like a football rather than a sphere.

I I OlIl I5 ( rno r c ) -7-

Thc final experiments, which began on June 20 and continucd until shutdnwn tims, were cDnductcd by Dr . Ber nard Harvey, c hem1 s t and c3-

discgvcrer gf clement 101, Hc cxposed nuclei 3f calcium, strontium, argon and others to 46 Mcv alpha particles. IVhen for cxamplc, an alpha pzrticle struck a calcium 40 target scandium the calcium was transmittcd into a nucleus gf scandium 42, and at the same time a deuteron emerged. By analyzing data he gathered 3n

the emerging deutcr3ns, Dr, Harvey will determine the encrgy levels 3f

the scend ope. Disposition

Several years ago it became apparent that a more modern, flexiblz,

and higher energy machine was needed for the Laboratory's research program, The new 88-inch spiral ridge cyclotron, financed by the Atgmic

Encr gy Commi ss icn, was f inishcd on "The Hill" earlier this year. It

covers thc energy range of the 60-inch, as well as higher ranges (60 Mev fDr deuterons compared with 24 MeV), and has gther features that permit new cxpcr ime n ts ,

In addition, thc campus development prDgran2 rquires razing o?

the Cr ocker Labor aCo ry, Bef Dr c his death in 1958, thc late Ernest Lawrence arranged for the

6Chinch machine to bl: transferrzd to the Davis compus Df the University

to Stlmulatc dcvclgpmcnt ?f a nuclear science program there.

In July, the machine will bc dismantled, The magnetwill be

transpsrted to DaviS whcrc, rcm~delcdwith funds from the AEC, it will

be the heart of a ncW 72-inch spiral ridge cyclotrgn, e The high-bay section of thc Labgratory, containing the cyclotron, c 0 will be rated in thc Fall to make way fgr thc Physical Scicnces Lecturc 4= J Hall, The remainclef of thc building will bc used for research work for ODE TO THE 60 INCH JU~Y7, 1962

It seems like yesterday that you gave birth Instead it's 23 years that you've shown your worth. It seems so sad that you must go Away from your campus, that you do love so. You've been a task master of this I'm sure But the things you created will always endure. The men who designed you great credit we give, And the ones who experimented, to make you live For mej- did discover the most exciting things For medicine, for physics, your praise still rings From Berkeley to Geneva your fame has spread And of all of the marvels you accomplished it's said No7d there's a cyclotron, it's one of the best. 'de're so glad that it will go on, with its quest When you are moved to Davis so soon You'll create for that campus a new physics boom, For xherever you are you inspire great men You work them, you intrigue them, you're atom again, They hate you, they love you, they try something new You help them, you slow them, sometimes they all stew, For machines are like people, not easy to guide But when you got started you had the right stride. So everyone here, plus your Director and his wife Wish you God Speed and a continued good life.

Ed and I are here in spirit if not in person and wish to thank all the 60-inchers for their marvelous achievements for the 23 years of the cyclotron's life. May we in Geneva drink to all of you with thanks and best wishes and great sorrow that we cannot be in two places at once.

Elsie B. McMillan Aebersold, Paul C. Durbin, Pat Heavey 2 MacKenzie, Kenneth R.

2 Baker, William R. Elliott, Jack H. Marshall, L.

2 Bell, Joseph W. Ellis, Robert E. McWalters, Peter F.

2 Benedict, Roy Epps, Richard C . Moyer, Burton

2 Birge, Raymond T . Farley, William W. Murphy, Eugene C.

2 Birge, Robert W. Fiddler, Harold O'Dea, Ray

2 Bloom, George H. Foster, John 2 Patten, C. E.

2 Brobeck, William M. Francis, John G. R. 2 Pepperell, Donald E.

2 Brown, Harold E. Garrison, Warren M. Petersen, Susan

2 Brunn, John Ghiorso, Albert Powell, Harry S

2 Burger, Ronald N. Glasgow, Qle E. Raymond, Richard

2 Burton, Roy F. Harvey, Jack Reynolds, Wallace

2 Butler, Barbara HeImholz, A. C. Rogers, Ward F.

2 Close, Elon R. Hotz, David F. Rossi, Mrs. G. B.

2 Clark, Arnold Hunt, Charles D. A. Russell, Eugene H.

2 Coleman, Ernest E. Jenkins, Kenneth D. Salisbury, Winfield W.

Condit, Richard L. Jones, Helen B. Scardigno, H. Mike

2 Cooksey, Don 2 Jones, William B. Schuert, Edward A.

2 Cornog, R 2 Jungerman, John Selsted, Walter T.

2 Corson, Dale R. 2 Kelly, Elmer L. Sewell, Duane C.

2 Corn, Charles A. 2 Kro11, Jack Sloan, Dave

2 Conzett, Homer E. 2 Lapsley, Lucille Thomas, Marie

2 Cox, Robert J. 2 Lawrence, John H. Thornton, Robert L.

2 Cumins, Allan D. 2 Layman, Robert Tobias, Cornelius A

2 Dagenais, Ferdinand 2 Lewis, Abraham A. Vale, James T.

2 DeHaven, Gary D. 2 Lofgren, Edward J. Vogel, John M.

2 Druet, Robert R. 2 MacDonald, Mary N, Weeks, Boyd M.