- The baseline cost,
- The baseline schedule, and
- All environmental, safety and health requirements for commissioning and
operation.
"Accelerator Readiness Reviews have been completed, and all necessary safety, management, and equipment systems are in place," wrote Kovar in his recommendation. "As of August 8, both collider rings have been cooled to 4.6 K. Capture, storage, and acceleration of gold nuclei have been achieved in one ring and the other ring is being prepared for beam injection. All four detectors are ready to observe beam collisions when both rings have circulating beam."
This is a very significant event for the Laboratory and for the RHIC Project, since this approval signals the formal completion of the RHIC construction project. In practice, however, there is a lot of work that still needs to be done in order to complete punch-listed items, to fully commission the overall system, to optimize the performances and to begin the experimental program.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank all staff members who have participated in this project, from both the RHIC Project and other organizations at the Laboratory. Without their expertise, commitment and dedication we could not have achieved this success. Also, I sincerely would like to thank the Laboratory Management, present and past, and all others at BNL for their support in this project over the last decade and their efforts in making RHIC a centerpiece of the Laboratory. Thanks are also due to members of the DOE Program Office and DOE/Brookhaven Group, for their understanding and support of the project. I also acknowledge with thanks the strong and continued support of the U.S. nuclear physics community, which was vital for the project to have come this far.
Satoshi Ozaki
RHIC Project Director