  A novel type of particle "cooling", called Ionization Cooling, is applicable
to slow (v of the order of 0.1c) ions stored in a small ring. The many
traversals through a thin foil enhance the nuclear reaction probability, in a
steady configuration in which ionisation losses are recovered at each turn by a
RF-cavity. For a uniform target "foil" the longitudinal momentum spread
diverges exponentially since faster (slower) particles ionise less (more) than
the average. In order to "cool" also longitudinally, a chromaticity has to be
introduced with a wedge shaped "foil". Multiple scattering and straggling are
then "cooled" in all three dimensions, with a method similar to the one of
synchrotron cooling, but valid for low energy ions. Particles then stably
circulate in the beam indefinitely, until they undergo for instance nuclear
processes in the thin target foil. This new method is under consideration for
the nuclear production of a few MeV/A ion beams. Simple reactions, for instance
Li 7 + D Li 8 + p, are more favourably exploited with the heavier ion colliding
against a gas-jet D2 target. Kinematics is generally very favourable, with
emission angles in a narrow angular cone and a relatively concentrated outgoing
energy spectrum which allows an efficient collection as a neutral gas in a tiny
volume with a technology at high temperatures perfected at ISOLDE. It is
however of a much more general applicability. The method appears capable of
producing a "table top" storage ring with an accumulation rate in excess of
10**14 Li-8 radioactive ion/s for possible use for radioactive beams for
physics studies (for example for beta-beams) or for therapy.
