The Middle East´s first synchrotron is in peril

Three years ago, Amor Nadji and three young engineers piled into a van in Amman, Jordan, and drove 30 kilometers northeast to the city of Zarqa. The engineers´ mission was to salvage the then-25-year-old particle accelerator and turn it into a first-rate machine. This supermicroscope, called SESAME (for Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) would enable scientists from Jordan and nearby countries to investigate the atomic structure of different materials. The engineers´ hope was that SESAME would revitalize Middle Eastern science and encourage friendly encounters between otherwise factious neighbors. This article presents the redevelopment of Middle East´s first synchrotron.