Cries of “mine’s bigger than yours” will surely have been flying from US neutron physicists to their UK counterparts at the end of last week. For America has smashed the previous record for neutron source beam power. Basically this means that they have a more powerful device to smash neutrons out of a target and use these neutron to study materials. More importantly they have bragging rights (press release).

“If this is your field, if this is what you want to do, then this is where you want to be. There is no place in the world that can do what we can do with high performance computing, neutron, and with nano-science,” said Tom Mason, director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where the new-record holding neutron source is located (WATE).

The lab’s $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source works by throwing negatively charged hydrogen through foil, stripping the hydrogen electrons and thereby turning it into protons. Bunches of these protons are then hurled at liquid mercury, where they free up neutrons which can be guided in beam lines and used in experiments. Nature looked at the machine in detail back in 2005 (subscription required).

As AP points out, there is something of an arms race going on. The Oak Ridge neutron beam has reached 183 kilowatts, beating the UK record of 160. However the UK is going to double its capacity. But wait! The Oak Ridge machine isn’t even out of second gear yet and will eventually produce 10 times more neutrons than it is now.

“I like to be first. Tennesseans like to be first. … My grandfather used to say aim for the top—there is more room there. What we see are some firsts,” said local senator Lamar Alexander (WBIR). The Great Beyond thinks a verse of one of the state songs is in order: “TENNE-, TENNE-, TENNES–SEE! Oh, how proud we are of thee!”