Why do we need the Australian Synchrotron?

The intangible social and economic benefits to Australia that will be enhanced by the Australian Synchrotron Sciences Network

International Reviews

There have been many economic assessments of the benefits that flow to a community following the exploitation of a national synchrotron. Clearly, there would not be as many synchrotron facilities in the world were this not the case. Extracts from several reviews are presented below:

BESAC report (1997, USA)

The BESAC report (1997) evaluated the impact of the advent of synchrotron radiation on technology in the United States with a view to determining the appropriate level of funding support that the Department of Energy should give to the four DOE National facilities in the US. This report concluded that:

"Synchrotron radiation research has evolved from an esoteric endeavour practised by a small number of scientists primarily from the fields of solid state physics and surface science to a mainstream activity that provides essential information in the materials and chemical sciences, the life sciences, molecular environmental science, the geosciences, nascent technology and defence related research among many fields".

Canadian Light Source proposal

The proposal prepared for the Canadian Government supporting the installation of the Canadian Light Source concluded that:

"Countries are not building synchrotrons solely to support basic research, significant as that research has been and doubtless will be. They are building them because of the diversity, importance and potential of high-technology, industrial applications."

Business case for Diamond (UK)

The business case for the installation of Diamond in the United Kingdom claimed that:

[failure to install Diamond] would be an erosion of the UK's international presence in key areas of research, notably structural biology and materials research. This would lead to a significant loss of capability to carry out research in these and related areas and migration of funds and expertise to non-UK research institutions. This would have a severe negative impact on the UK's science base. There is also the risk that industrial users requiring synchrotron radiation, such as pharmaceutical companies, would relocate their activities overseas.

National Synchrotron Light Source (USA)

Suffolk County in the USA, which had the National Synchrotron Light Source within its boundaries, evaluated the impact the NSLS had on the local economy. Their assessment was that the NSLS had contributed between $US1b and $US2b over the life of the project.

Assessments to Potential Economic Benefits to Australia

Boomerang Proposal

• biotechnology and, in particular, structure based drug design
• micromachining -nanostructured particles
• environmental management
• scientific instrumentation
• diagnostic medical services
• mineral and oil assays
• high technology materials

The Boomerang proposal suggested:

"The installation of Boomerang would provide the opportunity for Australia to compete on a level playing field as a pharmaceutical supplier in the 21^st century. It could be expected that products based on the generation of IP by Australian researchers at Boomerang could generate annual revenue of as much as $2b."

Of course as stated previously, to cpature the fiull benefit of the IP would require major investment in development and drug trials.

With respect to micromachining, the assessment predicted possible reveue of $60-120m per annum.

Centre for Strategic Economic Studies

The Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES) also carried out an evaluation in 1999 of a national synchrotron light source on the Australian economy. They also used a scenario-based analysis but were unable to introduce the data into a well-respected economic model. Their summary analysis of the impact of the facility concluded:

"The establishment of a national synchrotron light source facility in Australia will provide a key link in emerging product and process developments that will be critical to the very industries that are now at the core of the local economy and those industries likely to form the engine for growth in the 21^st century".

"Input-output analysis of the direct, indirect and induced effects of the synchrotron reveals that it will generate a total of $687 million in additional output and $367 million additional value added, create a total of 441 additional jobs and generate tax revenue of almost $83 million over the 25 year life of the project".

"Those industries that are direct and potential users of synchrotron light-based research in Australia currently account for 2.7 million jobs of 32% of total employment: more than $187b or 28% of total industry gross product; more than $61b or fully 76% of our industry attributable merchandise exports and more than $3b or 77% of industry attributable R&D expenditure."

A possible pharmaceutical inductry development scenario could see the introduction of an Australian synchrotron facility contribute towards $1.3b per annum in additional industry revenue by 2010 and 3200 additional jobs."

"If each extraction, processing and remediation benefited from synchrotron-based research as much as assays analysis, then up to $1b of mining production over the next 20 years would be directly atributable to synchrotron research".

"A possible induced investment scenario could see cluster development involving additional investments of $170m per annum by 2010, rising to $355m per annum by 2020, creating 850 new jobs by 2010 rising to 2000 new jobs by 2020; and a potential $1.8b per annum in additional exports by 2010 rising to $4b per annum by 2020."

The delay in installing the facility relative to the assumptions in the CSES report means, of course, that all these analyses are delayed by three years.

Centre for International Economics

A separate report from the Centre for International Economics focussed more on the user demand and did not adopt any scenario analyses. Some comments from this report are listed below:

"Royalties from a successful drug delivery have been demonstrated to vastly exceed the threshold benefits (i.e. the total cost over the life of the facility) required for synchrotron investment."

"Synchrotron applications in microtechnology are likely to be at the very top end of the value adding spectrum."

In the impotrant mining and minerals sector, even very small unit cost savings that might be derived through synchrotron applications will translate into large dollar boosts to sectorial output value."

PricewaterhouseCoopers Feasibility Study

The National Synchrotron Steering Group established by the Federal Government as a consequence of the Boomerang Proposal commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct a feasibility study and strategic business plan for a national synchrotron facility. Their evaluation of the potential economic benefits arising from the the establishment of the facility include:

"Net national benefits-the core quantitative contribution of this investment cost to the Australian economy is the improvement in productivity that research can create. It is known that the synchrotron will be relevant to key sectors of the Australian economy, such as biotechnology and mining. From foreign experience, synchrotron technology plays a critical role in R&D in some of these sectors. As a result, quantitative estimates can be provided below to show how reasonable the expectations of a net natinal benefit might be.

• The synchrotron neen only contribute to output improvements of 0.03% for the mining, chemical and agricultural sectors to recoup its costs.
• Indicative scenario modelling using the MONASH model showed improvements in GDP of $640m per year after ten years when minor productivity improvements were applied to just a few key parts of the mining, chemicals, and agricultural sectors of the economy. The improvement is permanent as it places the economy on a higher investment and growth path overall."

Such an improvement would normally be associated with a corresponding boost in tax receipts to the Commonwealth and State Governments of up to $450m per annum."