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Our funding agency in the UK, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), have recently
announced their science programme for the
next 5 years. For the JAC telescopes, it includes:
- a commitment to continue operating the JCMT until at least 2012; and
- a "managed withdrawal" from UKIRT on a timescale to be defined.
Although the public announcement does not explicitly state this, continuation of the JCMT beyond 2012 is envisaged and
is contingent, inter alia, on the astronomical performance of the SCUBA-2 instrument.
The UKIRT decision is a profound disappointment for everyone associated with the observatory. We are working with STFC to
define the timescale and the implementation details, and we are also looking at alternative modes of operation. We emphasise
that no decision has yet been taken to close the facility.
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