A 100-megaelectronvolt (MeV)-class linear proton accelerator operated by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, has reached 40,000 cumulative operating hours over 13 years since its first run in 2013 without a single safety accident.

A proton accelerator is a large research facility that accelerates protons to near the speed of light and irradiates materials. It can quickly verify the effects semiconductors may face in space and atmospheric radiation environments. The Proton Science Research Division at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute expanded its existing eight-hour operating system to a 24-hour operation and service support system from September 2024. Last year, it supported 353 people and 210 experiments.

The proton accelerator has produced concrete results across advanced industries. A domestic memory semiconductor company used proton-accelerator tests while developing high-bandwidth memory for graphics processing units (GPUs) for artificial intelligence (AI) data center servers. It supplemented server chip design defects through the tests. This improved the probability of errors by more than three times compared with previous levels.

In the space and aviation sector, a domestic company pre-verified a semiconductor device it developed using the proton accelerator before it was applied to a satellite carried by the Nuri launch vehicle, securing operational stability in the space environment. An official at the Ministry of Science and ICT explained, "The proton accelerator is essential infrastructure that supports radiation impact assessments and reliability verification for domestic companies related to the semiconductor and space industries."

The ministry will pursue upgrades to the proton accelerator's performance to respond to rising demand from industry and changes in the technology environment. It is pushing forward preliminary research and development (R&D) to raise the performance of the proton accelerator now operated at the 100 MeV class to the 200 MeV class in the future.

Eun-young Lee (이은영), director general for research outcomes and innovation at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "Reaching 40,000 cumulative operating hours without an accident is an achievement that shows the technological capability and stable operational capacity of a national large-scale research facility." She added, "We will continue to strengthen support so that domestic companies and researchers can reliably use the testing and verification infrastructure they need in national strategic technology fields."