The nautilus-like main building of Shanghai Light Source.
Sponsored by CAS and Shanghai municipal government with support from the State Council, the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (dubbed Shanghai Light Source or SSRF) is under smooth construction. When completed in 2009, it will be comparable to the best similar facilities in the world, serving as a state-of-the-art research platform for various disciplines, ranging from life sciences, new materials, environment to pharmaceutics.
Located in the Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park in the southwest suburb of Shanghai, the first-stage of the project will cover an area of about 200 thousand square meters. The nautilus-like main building will have 36 thousand square meters in floor space.
With an investment of more than 1.2 billion yuan (or US$144.5 million), the facility is the largest mega-science installation ever built up so far by China for the purpose of scientific research. After facility is put in operation, the third-generation synchrotron light source with more than 60 beamlines and about 100 experimental stations will enable tens of hundred researchers from different disciplines to carry their studies in the facility.
