ESRF puts its shining light in standby mode, to return brighter in 2020
(PHYSorg.com Physics)

`No beam for a while. Restart in about 20 months.` Early this morning, operators of the ESRF Control room turned off the beam, ending 26 years of successful operation of the European Synchrotron, the world`s most powerful synchrotron light source. 2018 is a key year in the history of the ESRF. Thirty years after the signature of the ESRF Convention, the ESRF`s shining light has been put in standby mode. The ESRF now enters a 20-month shutdown and will dismantle its flagship storage ring to make way for a revolutionary X-ray source, an Extremely Brilliant Source (EBS), open for users in 2020.