Status of the MedAustron Project

Full text: MedAustron is a planned centre for hadron therapy and diagnosis in Austria. The centre is based on a synchrotron which will deliver beams of protons up to 800 MeV/c and carbon ions up to 400 MeV/c per nucleon with intensities of 1010 protons/s and 4x108 ions/s, respectively. Although the accelerator layout is primarily dedicated to clinical application, dedicated beam time for research applications in the domain of medical radiation physics, radiation biology and experimental physics is also foreseen. Layout requirements for the medical and research applications are established. Civil engineering design is conducted in Austria, where the accelerator complex is designed in collaboration with CERN. A mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (Umweltvertraeglichkeitspruefung) is currently for review with the Austrian Authorities. Following the EIA approval expected at the end 2010, groundbreaking is scheduled for early 2011. First beams for application are scheduled for 2014. This presentation will summarize the up-to-date layout of the MedAustron facility, status of the project and outlook on usability for the different applications with emphasize on research activities for experimental physics. (author)