MEMORANDUM

December 13, 1965

TO: Dr. Paul S. Russell, Oncology Committee

FROM: R. N. Kjellberg

SUBJECT: Cyclotron for Biomedical Use

An opportunity exists for taking over the Harvard Cyclotron primarily for biomedical uses. A few weeks ago, the High Energy Physics Committee of the Harvard Physics Department decided tentatively to close down the Cyclotron January, 1968. At a meeting today the same committee approved a letter to Dean Ford suggesting that the University consider the advisability of continuing the Cyclotron's operation under other than Physics Department auspices. This action reflects the committee's concern for other users of the Cyclotron, especially in the biological and clinical area. The principal condition for its continued existence in the present location

is that the University provide comparable space (3,500 square feet) with an overhead crane for the Physics Department.

Thus, the alternatives for the Cyclotron include:

1) Scrapping it.

2) Transferring it to Northeastern University for relocation. (Professor Weinstein and other members of the Northeastern Physics Department are seriously exploring the possibility of taking over the Cyclotron and relocating it. They would depend heavily on the biomedical users to justify such a plan. )

3) Transferring it to some other Harvard Department (e.g. Medical School) for relocation.

4) Keep it in present location under administration of the Medical School (above).

The Cyclotron produces 10¹¹ protons/sec at 160 million electron volts - capable of penetrating 17 cm. in soft tissue. Dose-rates up to 100,000 rads/min are attainable in small targets (less than 1.0 cm) and up to 200 rads/min for uniform fields as large as 50 cm in diameter.

The Cyclotron currently occupies a building of about 5,000 square feet. The machine, 20' x 10' X 14' in size, weighs a bit over 700 tons.

. Our colleagues in the Physics Department have estimated that the machine could be kept in operation with annual support of about $120, 000. The following is a rough cost breakdown.

-2-

In considering alternatives 2 and 3 above other costs would need reckoning. A new building would cost an estimated $300,000 to which equipment would be added. The estimated cost of moving the machine is in the range of $150,000 - $175,000 and would require 6 months to accomplish.

The potential users of the machine and their estimated participa­tion are as follows:

The above is submitted as a basis of estimating the feasibility of a Cyclotron for biomedical use.

RNK

September 19, 1967

Memorandum to: Dean Franklin Ford

From: Richard Wilson, Chairman, High Energy and Nuclear Physic Committee

We wish to confirm the recommendation made to you by Professor J.C. Street in a memorandum dated January 4, 1966, that operation of cyclotron cease as of December 31,1967, and that the machine be removed from its present location as soon thereafter as practical. We understand that the Office of Naval Research has the financial responsibility for this removal and the decision as to the disposition of the machine.

The Physics Department has urgent need for space for the assembly and testing of heavy experimental equipment to be used at the CEA or other accelerators such as the Brookhaven AGS. The Cyclotron Building is very suitable for this purpose; it is conveniently located and it is served by a heavy overhead crane.

There is no possibility known to us of obtaining similar space, short of constructing a new building with an attendant delay of several years.

Richard Wilson

CC:

J.C. Street

W.M. Preston

A.N. Koehler, Cyclotron Laboratory

J.G. Mahoney, Office of Naval Research (Harvard)

September 25, 1967

Mr. Donald Holmes

Office of University Affairs

Code Y

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, D. C. 20546

Dear Mr. Holmes:

Enclosed is a copy of a recent memorandum which reaffirms the decision of the Physics Department to close down the Harvard 160 Mev cyclotron at the end of this year because of our great need for additional space for testing heavy experimental equipment in this area. The need was already evident six years ago when at the request of the Biomedical Project assurance was given that nothing would be done to impede use of the cyclotron before January 1, 1967.

The cyclotron will continue at its present level of operation, an average of about 20 hours/day throughout the year, up to the very end. This gives evidence of the continued interest in research and development problems requiring medium energy protons. Except at Berkeley, there is no other group using the proton beam for medical therapy and it is sad indeed when, as recently, we commenced refusing treatment to patients, some of whom have no alternative.

Unfortunately, no one or the various diverse, interests seems great enough to carry through the proposal of Northeastern University to move the cyclotron a few miles from here to their Route 128 campus. As a regional facility, its varied usefulness to education, physic research, space-related R & D, biological research and medical therapy appeal to different agencies which cannot readily get together.

Sincerely yours,

W. M. Preston

Director, Physics Laboratories

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Enc.

October 9, 1967

Assistant Dean A. D. Trottenberg 20 University Hall

Dear Art:

Two points concerning the Medical Annex to the Cyclotron building,

First: Dr. William H. Sweet was the Principal Investigator on the original NASA grant for construction of the Medical Annex as well as for, the, NASA research grant NsG-262. The latter was not renewed after June 30, 1967, although we were authorized to spend from a small remaining balance up to the end of this year. For the past three years the NASA research grant supported work in physics and biology only; the medical work, under the direction of Dr. Raymond N. Kjellberg, has of late been financed by small grants from the M.G.H. and the Medical School and by charges to the patients.

I do not feel that Dr. Sweet or NASA have any claim on the Medical Annex building, once the cyclotron has been shut down. However, I do believe that it would be courteous for you or Franklin Ford to write Dr. Sweet (White Bldg., Mass. General Hospital) that, since it will no longer be possible to use the Medical Annex for the purposes for which it was constructed, after December 31, 1967, the University expects to put it to other use.

Second: The Physics Department urgently needs the Cyclotron building for the assembly of large experimental equipment under the overhead crane. Quite separately, we need the Medical Annex to relieve the present serious overcrowding in the Cyclotron laboratory building. With the addition of both buildings, we can get along reasonably well until the new DEAP - Physics unit near Cruft is completed.

It however in the interim we should be forced by the construction of the cooling Unit-Computer "sandwich" building to give up Dunbar, it would be possible to move the displaced activities into the Medical Annex and cyclotron area, but it would be extremely crowded once again.

Sincerely,

W. M. Preston

Director, Physics Laboratories.

P.S. I enclose a copy of an unsolicited letter from a grateful patient

CC: Professor R. Wilson

16 December 1967

Dear Fellow-Sponsor

It is time for me to report in more detail the plans for the cyclotron closing party on December 27. Invitations have been sent to those currently working on the cyclotron and also to a number of “alumni” who contributed substantially to the research program or to the initial construction. There are about 75 names on the list. Adding wives, and deducting a few people who will probably not attend, I estimate that there will be 120 guests. The menu -- without all the mouth-watering details -- will be as follows:

Cocktails and appetizers

Hot buffet dishes and salads

Coffee

Estimated cost is itemized below:

I would welcome contributions towards this budget. After making allowances for the impecuniousness of graduate; students and for the enormous contribution of time and effort by Marguerite Holbrook in getting things done, I make the following suggestions for contributions

Dean Franklin L. Ford

5 University Hall

Dear Franklin

The Department’s cyclotron is continuing in operation on a very limited scale through June 30, 1968. On that date it will be shut down, irrevocably. The reasons for extending operations for six months from the first of this year were two: first, Dr. Kjellberg of the M.G.H. was most anxious to continue treating patients with the proton beam as long as possible; second, the engin­eering study of the cost of removing the cyclotron was not scheduled for com­pletion until the end of February and it was evident that the Navy would not be able to start removal for some months after that date.

Financially, the cyclotron is "on its own" during these six months; operating time is sold to the M.GH. or other users at a rate of $916 per day, including overhead. We are now asking your approval of a proposal to sell up to 20 days’ time to NASA, in response to a request from the Manned Spacecraft Center, as outlined in the enclosed letter from Mr. Koehler.

The work to be done for NASA is of some technical interest to us, and it can be performed better and cheaper on our cyclotron than anywhere else. In addition, it will bring in a small but I am sure not unwelcome sum in overhead to the G.S.A.S. and will help us to maintain the cyclotron during its last days.

Sincerely,

W. M. Preston

Director, Physics. Laboratories

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Encl.

Dr. Börge Larsson

Gustaf Werner Institute for Nuclear Chemistry

Uppsala, Sweden

Dear Dr. Larsson:

The Harvard cyclotron has been operating since January 1, 1968, on a severely limited schedule, mostly for medical irradiations. It is scheduled to shut down for good at the end of June and we are urging the Office of Naval research to commence its removal as soon thereafter as possible.

The Office of Naval Research is extremely short of funds and is anxious to recover from the disposition of the cyclotron as much as possible of the estimated cost, about $200,000, of removing the cyclotron and its reinforced concrete shielding from the building and “restoring the premise,” in accordance with its contractual obligation to Harvard.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Brookhaven laboratories are both interested in acquiring the magnet, the former merely to use the steel for shielding, the latter to use the frame, with new coils, to construct a large beam control magnet. Neither has made a firm offer yet, but both are expected to do so soon. It is my personal guess that neither will be able to pay as much as $100,000.

I have been asked to inquire of you informally whether or not the Research Institute for Physics or any other Swedish group is still interested in obtaining the cyclotron. As I understand it U. S. government regulations require that the Office of Naval Research transfer the cyclotron preferentially to a U. S. organization, but that if a substantially larger financial offer is received from a foreign source, there is a good chance that a way might be found to accept it.

It is important that we have an answer promptly. If there is definitely no Swedish interest in acquiring the cyclotron at a cost in this neighborhood, we would appreciate a reply by cable. If on the other hand you still are interested, additional time can certainly be allowed for further discussion.

Beat regards to your family.

Sincerely

W. M. Preston

Director, Physics Laboratories

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5 University Hall

Dear Franklin;

On at least two occasions I have announced an irrevocable decision to terminate operation of the Harvard cyclotron. The first date was December 31, 1961, and a wistful Goodbye Party was held at about that time to mark the end of its 20-odd years of service.

All support of cyclotron operation by the Office of Naval Research ceased at the end of 1967, but that agency was committed by its contract (wisely negotiated by Mr. Pratt!) to "restore the premises." It turns out that this will be an expensive business; an estimate by C. T. Main in February came to about $200,000, much of which would go to breaking up the large re-enforced concrete shielding blocks, too big to remove in one piece.

You will recall that for over five years the cyclotron's proton beam has been used to treat patients, with various conditions which hopefully may be arrested or improved following destruction of the pituitary gland, in a joint venture with Dr. Raymond N. Kjellberg of the Massachusetts General Hospital. It became clear early this year that the O. N. R. lacked the funds necessary to remove the cyclotron and thus that much of the space in the Cyclotron Building was not likely soon to become available for use by the Physics Department. Meanwhile, Dr. Kjellberg urged that some way be worked out so that treatment of his patients could continue. An informal arrangement was made under which we agreed to operate the cyclotron on a daily fee basis until June 30, 1968. The M.G.H. paid us from charges made to their patients. Some use of the machine was also made by NASA and by Professor Bainbridge of this Department. A special account set up for the purpose with the Comptroller was comfortably in the black on June 30, when once again I announced an irrevocable closing.

The O. N. R., in an attempt to finance removal of the cyclotron, cast about for possible buyers. No one wanted it; the best possibility seemed to be the sale to a laboratory like Brookhaven of the magnet steel at a price below the cost of scrap and insufficient to help materially. By early summer it appeared likely that our machine will be around for a long time, while the government agencies' budgets remain tight.

In July a significant change occurred in the official position of the M. G. H. which previously, while blessing the cyclotron medical work, refused to assume any financial responsibility for it. Partly this came about because of more widespread agreement that the proton beam irradiations were helping patients, some of whom could not other­wise be offered efficacious treatment. Negotiations were reopened and, after rather lengthy bargaining, a tentative agreement was reached on October 7. In anticipation of an agreement at an earlier date, patients had already arrived from distant parts of the country, so treatments commenced on October 8.

The Fourteen Points of agreement are enumerated under the date October 4, 1968; with them I enclose the latest pertinent correspondence between myself and Mr. Henry J. Murphy, Associate Director of the M. G. H. I enclose also copies of an exchange of letters with Dr. Padgett of the Washington O.N. R. giving permission for continued use of the cyclotron and reaffirming the Navy's responsibility ultimately to restore the premises.

On the basis of our experience in the first six months of this year, we estimate that all operating costs of the cyclotron will be recovered if we sell 40 days "time" in 12 months. Whatever slight financial risks, are involved are assumed by the M.G.H.; they are slight because they are free to close down operations if it is found we are running in the red. Mr. Andreas M. Koehler, Engineer and Assistant Director of the Cyclotron, and a Corporation appointee, will spend about half his effort on the project, with the M.G.H. guaranteeing a corresponding fraction of his salary. We are also offered a "credit" so as to be enabled to get started, in advance of collecting income, without our account being forced into the red.

We have budgeted for indirect costs to be collected by Harvard on sums spent here. With your permission, I will ask Mr. Janke to work this out with Mr. Murphy. I believe Harvard should recover thus at least $5,000.

We have also a provision for the payment to the Physics Department of $100 per day of operation. Even without the removal of the cyclotron and its shielding, the Harvard group working on experiments at the CEA can use several thousand square feet around the machine and in the Medical Annex. Due to the hazard of radiation, much of this space must be vacated when the machine is actually running. These payments are in partial compensation. We propose to use the money for the benefit of the CEA groups, either for renovation or remodeling of existing space or for rental of storage space in the vicinity (should this prove possible.)

I welcome your comments and hope that you will approve this agreement with the M. G. H.

Sincerely,

W. M. Preston

Director, Physics Laboratories

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Encs.

P.S. If agreeable to you, will you be so good as to inform Mr. Donald Porter (office for Research Contracts, Holyoke center) that you approve his requesting a no-cost extension of contract NAS - 9 - 800S for one year from July 1, 1968?

This contract was written for $18,320 by the Manned Space­craft Center in Houston, to buy time on the cyclotron for calibration of equipment for the Apollo mission. It was for some reason dated 05/22/68 - 06/30/68, but only $4,580 was spent in that period. The NASA people are anxious to do some more work on the cyclotron as soon as it can be arranged.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

March 19, 1969

Mr. R. E. Gentry, Director

Office for Research Contracts

Holyoke Center 458

1350 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Dear Bob:

I am writing concerning the termination of use and the subsequent removal of the Harvard Cyclotron.

The cyclotron was built and operated under a contract with the Office of Naval Research. It w as built in a Harvard University building and one of the agreements made at the time of construction was that when its use was terminated, the Office of Naval Research would remove the cyclotron and re­store the building.

The Harvard Physics Department needs the building now occupied by the cyclotron for the continuing program in high energy physics. At present the only physics use of the cyclotron is occasional bombardments to prepare radioactive sources for Professor Bainbridge. This use will be terminated on or before December 31, 1969. It is the decision of the Harvard Physics Department that the cyclotron be remove and the building restored as soon as possible.

The cyclotron is, however, being used several times a month by a group from the Massachusetts General Hospital which is lead by Dr. R. N. Kjellberg. They are using the proton beam to do surgery deep inside the skull, to treat certain kinds of tumors and to develop techniques for treating dis­eases which cannot be cured by present methods. Professor Wilson, Dr. Preston, and I met with Dr. Kjellberg last January and discussed their continuing need for the cyc1otron and the desire of the Physics Department to free this space.

It was concluded at the meeting that unless some additional source of funds can be provided by the medical group for supporting the cyclotron and for providing the equivalent useful research space for the high energy physic group elsewhere, the present mode of operation of the cyclotron be terminated on or before June 30, 1970. Those present at the meeting were not optimistic that a sufficient sum of money could be found.

As a result, I request on behalf of the Harvard Physics Department that you proceed to ask the Navy to start removing the cyclotron and restoring the building on July 1, 1970. This should be sufficient notice that firm plant can be made to start removal operations at that time.

Sincerely,

F. M. Pipkin, Chairman

High Energy Physic Committee

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cc: Dr. W. M. Preston

Prof. J. C. Street

Dean Franklin Ford

Dr. R. N. Kjellberg

Prof. R. Wilson

Prof. R. V. Pound