• M. Benedikt, J. Gutleber, M. Palm, W. Pirkl
  CERN, Geneva
• U. Dorda, A. Fabich
  EBG MedAustron, Wr. Neustadt

MedAustron is a synchrotron based accelerator facility for cancer treatment in Austria currently in the development phase. The design is based on the PIMMS study* and CNAO** synchrotron. In addition to the clinical application, the accelerator will also provide beams for nonclinical research in the fields of medical radiation physics, radiation biology and experimental physics with an extended proton energy range beyond medical requirements to 800 MeV. The differences to others medical accelerator-based facilities will be elaborated, specifically the used source technologies and configuration (starting up with protons (p) and carbon ions (C⁶⁺) allowing a later upgrade to ion species up to neon) and the online verification of all relevant beam parameters. The current project status is presented.

* PIMMS Proton-ion medical machine study, Bryant, Philip J (ed.) et al., CERN, 2000.
** CNAO, www.cnao.it

• K.T. McDonald
  PU, Princeton, New Jersey
• J.R.J. Bennett
  STFC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• O. Caretta, P. Loveridge
  STFC/RAL, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon
• A.J. Carroll, V.B. Graves, P.T. Spampinato
  ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
• I. Efthymiopoulos, F. Haug, J. Lettry, M. Palm, H. Pereira
  CERN, Geneva
• A. Fabich
  EBG MedAustron, Wr. Neustadt
• H.G. Kirk, H. Park, T. Tsang
  BNL, Upton, Long Island, New York
• N.V. Mokhov, S.I. Striganov
  Fermilab, Batavia
• P.H. Titus
  PPPL, Princeton, New Jersey

We report on the analysis of data collected in the MERIT experiment at CERN during the Fall of 2007. These results validate the concept of a free mercury jet inside a high-field solenoid magnet as a target for a pulsed proton beam of 4-MW power, as needed for a future Muon Collider and/or Neutrino Factory.