A novel facility for cancer therapy and biomedical research with heavy ions for the South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies

The South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies (SEEIIST) proposes the construction of a major joint Research Infrastructure in the region, to rebuild cooperation after the recent wars and overcome lasting consequences like technology deficits and brain drain, having at its core a facility for cancer therapy and biomedical research with heavy ions. Beams of ions like Carbon are an advanced way to irradiate tumours, but more research is needed, while the higher investment costs than for other radiation treatments have so far limited the European facilities to only four. This initiative aims at being strongly innovative, beyond the existing European designs. While the initial baseline relies on a conservative warm-magnet synchrotron, superconducting magnets for an advanced version of the synchrotron and for the gantry are being developed, with a potential for reductions in size, cost, and power consumption. Both warm and superconducting designs feature high beam intensity for faster treatment, and flexible extraction for novel treatment methods. A novel injector linac has the potential for producing radioisotopes in parallel with synchrotron injection.