Fermilab Today Monday, Jan. 11, 2010
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Have a safe day!

Monday, Jan. 11
2:30 p.m.
Particle Astrophysics Seminar - One West
Speaker: Hugh Lippincott, Yale University
Title: DEAP/CLEAN: Detecting Dark Matter with Liquid Argon (and Neon)
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
All Experimenters' Meeting - Curia II

Tuesday, Jan. 12
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd floor crossover
THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY

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WeatherChance of snow
24°/8°

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Current Security Status

Secon Level 3

Wilson Hall Cafe

Monday, Jan. 11
- Breakfast: Croissant sandwich
- French Quarter gumbo soup
- French dip w/ horseradish cream
- Santa Fe pork stew
- Country baked chicken
- Popcorn shrimp wrap
- Assorted sliced pizza
- Sweet and sour chicken w/egg roll

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, Jan. 13
Lunch
- Spicy black bean & sausage calzone
- Confetti corn salad
- Pineapple flan

Thursday, Jan. 14
Dinner
- Closed

Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

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Feature

Watch out for wide loads

Crews are moving MINERvA planes. Pull over or be patient when encountering trucks with wide loads moving through the site.

Some of you may have seen the flatbed truck that transports MINERvA detector planes from PB7 (old Wideband Lab) to the MINOS building.

With a "strong back" moving support attached, the planes are 15 feet by 20 feet and weigh 13,400 pounds. The load poses a traffic hazard as it extends nearly 3 feet beyond the sides of the truck. Orange flags warn other drivers of the wide load. A lead vehicle with yellow flashing lights escorts the flatbed truck during each transport as the truck moves across the Fermilab site.

In the past few weeks, some drivers chose to pass the truck even though there was insufficient road width to do so safely. Given the prolonged duration of this operation as well as the large number of trips, the chance of an accident is very real. If you are in the oncoming lane, please pull off the road to the right. If you are behind the delivery, please do not pass.

You can minimize your travel inconvenience by avoiding the delivery route as much as possible. The truck travels from PB7 southeast on Eola Road, enters Ring Road at CZero, passes CDF and then exits Ring Road at AZero. From there, the truck proceeds westward along the Booster Road, goes south on Kautz Road, west on Giese Road and finally heads north to MINOS.

The daily 15-minute delivery trips usually are made once in the morning around 9 a.m. and once in the afternoon around 1 p.m. The two return trips (above route in reverse at about 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.) are also wide loads. The wide-load traffic will last through the beginning of April.

Special Announcement

Be aware of changes when traveling abroad

Changes in visa requirements
In light of rapidly changing visa procedures, the Travel Office asks travelers departing for foreign destinations to carefully review the visa requirements, even when traveling to a country that they have visited in the past. Recently some countries like India and Argentina have introduced new visa rules and entry requirements.

The Travel Office will make every effort to update visa information on the Travel Web site in addition to sending visa update emails to all travel preparers. Travelers will also receive e-mails via the DOE foreign Travel System on any new entry requirements pertaining to the country of travel.

Visa application
To avoid processing delays, download the most current paperwork from the country's Consulate Web site or from www.cibt.com

  • Provide all information that is required when applying for visas. Incomplete visa applications will cause delays.
  • Be sure that you obtain all appropriate visas, including transit visas where required.
  • Read your visa carefully when you receive it to ensure that it was issued according to your application and that you understand the dates and any restrictions that might apply. Please verify that your visa will be valid for the dates and the number of times that you plan to visit your destination.

Compliance
Travelers who do not comply with visa laws can be subject to arrest, fines and deportation.

Travelers without an entry visa will not be permitted to enter the country and face immediate return to the point of embarkation at their own expense.

Failure to depart the country by the due date may result in a fine and future problems with authorities.

Passport validity
Many countries require travelers to have at least six months validity remaining on their passports. Immigration authorities may refuse entry if you arrive with less than this.

  • Renew your passport well in advance of the intended travel date.
  • If you hold an expired or damaged passport you may be refused entry.

Useful links
Americans Traveling Abroad
Foreign Entry Requirements
Country Specific Travel Information
CIBT International Travel Services

Special Announcement

After hours phone service outage 1-2 a.m. on Jan. 14

The laboratory will briefly experience a dialing outage from 1-2 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14. AT&T maintenance activity will affect the ability to dial and connect to off-site numbers, as well as to receive calls from off-site numbers, including cell phones. These services will be unavailable for up to 30 minutes between the hours of 1 and 2 a.m. Thursday. This activity will have no impact, however, on our internal campus (extension to extension) dialing -- you may continue to dial other 4-digit extensions including the laboratory's emergency number, x3131, but only calls originating from a another laboratory extension will be connected.

In the News

Hunting oscillation of muon to electron: neutrino data to flow in 2010; NOvA scientists tune design

From Science Daily, Jan. 11, 2010

Physicists may see data as soon as late summer from the prototype for a $278 million science experiment in northern Minnesota that is being designed to find clues to some fundamental mysteries of the universe.

But it could take years before the nation's largest "neutrino" detector answers the profound questions that matter to scientists.

Read more

ES&H Tips of the Week - Health health

Medical test changes require more notification at work

Talk to the Medical Office if you have a medical scan with radioisotopes.

With an aging workforce, the Medical Office sees more people getting medical scans that use radioisotopes. Many people incorrectly think that these off-hour procedures won't affect their work life.

The United States received a large portion of its medical isotopes from Canada's Chalk River Reactor. When that facility shut down in May, it created a national shortage of the most common short-lived radioisotope used in medical tests, Technetium 99m. As a result, many doctors have reverted to using, at least in part, the former test radioisotope Thallium 201, which has a longer life span in the body. That change makes the typical time period between the scan and wearing a dosimeter inadequate.

Recently some employees have gone for scans assuming that the same materials were in use and that a weekend between their procedure and work was enough to permit them to wear or be near dosimetry badges. These employees were surprised when they set off radiation monitoring devices.

Employees need to keep in mind that their medical tests can have an impact on the radiation monitoring for both themselves and their colleagues and our waste stream.

The best procedure is to inform the safety officers in your department about your medical radiotracer tests so that they aren't taken by surprise. Often the tracer has stopped emitting on schedule with your doctor's prediction, yet radiation safety officers want assurance that is indeed the case by checking with a handheld meter.

Those new to receiving such medical tests often do not think of the radioisotope's "tracer" element as something that pervades body fluids, urine, nasal discharge, etc., potentially entering Fermilab's waste stream for some time. Also since the test is completed, people may assume incorrectly that there can't be anything detectable.

So, if you have a test planned that will involve a radioisotope, discuss with your safety officer the steps necessary when you return to Fermilab. If the test is unplanned, please stop by the Medical Office when you return to work before you are around dosimeters so that we can help you sort out what needs to be done.

You may also want to tell your doctor your work duties before undergoing the test. One employee received a short-lived isotope once he explained his work.

-- Brian Svazas, MD

Safety Tip of the Week Archive

Photo of the Day

New employees - Jan. 4

Row one from left: Meiyu Chen, TD; Jason Greskoviak, TD; Joyce Drzal, Viviana Cavaliere, PPD; and Karin Kemp, WDRS. Row two from left: Mark Lebrun, AD; Debra Jones, WDRS; Jason Broccardo, AD; David Johnston, PPD; Diane Reitzner, ES&H; Dmitri Sergatskov, TD; and Rick Gallegos, CD.
In the News

Fermilab program for teens too good to pass up

From Beacon News, Jan. 8, 2010

Tomorrow a new session begins for the Saturday Morning Physics program at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) on Kirk Road in Batavia. If you have children and have never heard of this program before, take note, because this is one of the coolest things your kids can do with nine Saturdays while they're in high school.

Read more

Announcements

Latest Announcements

Applications accepted for awards in URA Visiting Scholars Program

Argentine Tango at Fermilab through Jan. 25

Atrium events - book through Office of Communication

Free Tai Chi for Health open house - Jan. 14

2010 standard mileage reimbursement rate

Fermilab Natural Areas Newsletter

Fermilab Management Practices Seminar beginning Feb. 11

Yoga class begins Jan. 12

Elder Care: Where do I begin? Interactive seminar

Fermilab Family Open House Feb. 21

Python Programming class offered Feb. 24-26

FRA Scholarship 2010

East gate began closing 1-5 a.m. Jan 5

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