The Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory (SAL) was a linear accelerator facility on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The facility was constructed in 1962 at a cost of $1.7M under the direction of Leon Katz. SAL was identified by the OECD as a National Large-Scale Facility. SAL provided support for radiology, chemistry and sub-atomic physics research. Beginnings: 1947–1961 Around 1947 members of the Department of Physics at the University of Saskatchewan decided to obtain a 25 MeV Betatron. The principal interest was in nuclear physics, but they were also interested In the possible therapeutic uses for the treatment of cancer, and they obtained support from then-Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas. Funding was obtained from the Atomic Energy Control Board , the National Research Council (NRC), the National Cancer Institute, local cancer societies and the University. The machine was installed in summer 1948 in a new building built in one angle of the existing Physics department, connected to the main building. It was manufactured by the Allis-Chalmers Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was very similar to the one being used at the time by Donald Kerst at the University of Illinois. The first cancer patient was treated on Mar. 29, 1949 starting the really first concerted clinical investigation of the usefulness of the betatron as a radiotherapeutic tool, with over 300 patients treated in 17 years of operation. The success of the program led to the installation of the world's first cobalt-60 source for radiotherapy at the University in 1951. Linear Accelerator: 1962–1983 The construction of the Linear Accelerator (LINAC) was announced in September 1961, and was portrayed as the next logical step on the University's research path. The 80-foot electron accelerator tube was to create energy six times that of the betatron. The cost of the $1,750,000 facility was split between NRC and the University, with the NRC meeting the cost of the equipment and the University assuming the costs of the new building required to house the machine. Construction officially began on May 10, 1962, when Sir John Cockcroft, Nobel laureate in Physics, ceremonially turned the first sod. The Laboratory officially opened in early November 1964 with 75 visiting scientists from around the world in attendance, presenting papers and giving lectures over a period of several days, and hundreds of people showed up for the public open house. The first experiment was performed by a group from MIT