  A new experimental area, the NEAR station, has recently been built at the
CERN n TOF facility, at a short distance from the spallation target (1.5 m).
The new area, characterized by a neutron beam of very high flux, has been
designed with the purpose of performing activation measurements of interest for
astrophysics and various applications. The beam is transported from the
spallation target to the NEAR station through a hole in the shielding wall of
the target, inside which a collimator is inserted. The new area is complemented
with a {\gamma}-ray spectroscopy laboratory, the GEAR station, equipped with a
high efficiency HPGe detector, for the measurement of the activity resulting
from irradiation of a sample in the NEAR station. The use of a moderator/filter
assembly is envisaged, in order to produce a neutron beam of Maxwellian shape
at different thermal energies, necessary for the measurement of Maxwellian
Averaged Cross Sections of astrophysical interest. A new fast-cycling
activation technique is also being investigated, for measurements of reactions
leading to isotopes of very short half life.
