The series of Shielding Aspects of Accelerators, Targets and Irradiation Facilities (SATIF) workshops started as a two-day specialists' meeting in 1994 in Arlington (Texas), United States, jointly organised by the NEA, the Reactor Physics Committee of Japan and the US Radiation Shielding Information Center with forty-five participants from seven countries. Since then, SATIF has evolved into a bustling, four-day workshop addressing the state-of-the-art of a continuously growing field with rotating venues in Asia (four workshops), Europe (six workshops), and North America (six workshops).
This year, the SATIF community celebrated the 30th anniversary during the 16th SATIF workshop hosted on 28-31 May 2024 by the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) at the National Laboratory of Frascati, Italy. Co-organised with the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR), Germany, this was the second workshop to be held in a semi-hybrid format, attracting 118 in-person and 25 remote participants.
At the heart of all SATIF workshops is the exchange on latest accelerator project developments, updates on the different simulation tools, and related benchmarking. Dedicated sessions on shielding and dosimetry provided an overview of the current state-of-the-art in shielding simulations and detector technologies. Presentations on induced reactivity stressed the importance of preserving the operational history and material catalogue of a given facility, and showcased how detailed simulations of induced reactivity can inform and optimise outage planning and decommissioning. A session on hadron therapy highlighted the challenges in implementing radiation protection (RP) measures for accelerators in hospitals and urban areas, featuring also various contributions from the private sector. SATIF-16 also included a session dedicated to novel laser-driven accelerators, discussing advances and challenges in simulating the laser-matter interaction which yield the source terms for RP considerations, including shielding designs. A session on radiation damage addressed degradation mechanisms, showcased comprehensive radiation damage simulations, and provided results obtained from radiation testing at the Frascati Neutron Generator.
Even though SATIF format has expanded over the past three decades owning to the increased interest and the growing number of participants, the tradition of the workshop format will continue in order to offer participants the opportunity to discuss common issues in RP assessments, simulation codes, and related benchmarks, and build their vital networks within the rather small expert community.
The next, SATIF-17, workshop will be hosted in 2026 by the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in Korea.
