In the coming decades, numerous designs for new accelerator-based facilities, or potential upgrades to current facilities, have been proposed to support the next generation of scientific advancement. While these facilities have significant scientific, economic, and societal benefits, they also require considerable resources to operate effectively. Amid the ongoing climate crisis, these facilities face the challenge of balancing the need for increased scientific output, size, and/or power with the global need to reduce resource consumption. This challenge presents a unique opportunity to integrate innovative environmental impact reduction techniques into their design. The presented living document offers high-level guidelines to enhance environmental sustainability across the planning, construction, operation, and decommissioning stages of large accelerator facilities. It consolidates various resources and highlights both existing and proposed practices to inspire more sustainable approaches.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), known for their versatility as 2D materials, are key to advancing quantum technologies such as qubit fabrication and magnetic data storage. In this study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) doped with magnetic impurities (Fe and Co) were exposed to swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation to explore induced structural modifications. SHI beams transfer energy to the carbon matrix via electronic energy loss and thermal spikes, causing Fe and Co ions to agglomerate within interstitial regions and defect sites of the CNT matrix. Structural changes were analyzed using high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), Raman spectroscopy, and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). HRXRD revealed peak dissolution, reduced crystallinity, and increased lattice strain, while Raman spectra showed partial annealing of damaged CNTs with disorder parameter reduction (FeCNT: 0.65→0.57; CoCNT: 0.55→0.52). NEXAFS confirmed non-destructive processing. These findings link ion fluence with defect engineering, paving the way for magnetic CNTs in spintronics and data storage.

The South African Isotope Facility (SAIF) is a radioisotope production facility based around a 70 MeV Cyclotron from IBA. SAIF was commissioned at the end of 2023 and commenced commercial isotope production in 2024. The facility is located in three vaults at iThemba LABS in Cape Town. The vault design, radiation modelling, and an overview of construction are presented. The designs and commissioning of the cyclotron, beam lines, wobbler magnet, dedicated target stations and target transport system are described and discussed, along with their current performance.