1887

Utilisation and Reliability of High Power Proton Accelerators

Workshop Proceedings, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 16-19 May 2004

image of Utilisation and Reliability of High Power Proton Accelerators

Accelerator-driven systems (ADS) are being considered for their potential use in the transmutation of radioactive waste. The performance of such hybrid nuclear systems depends to a large extent on the specification and reliability of high power accelerators, as well as the integration of the accelerator with spallation targets and sub-critical systems. At present, much R&D work is still required in order to demonstrate the desired capability of the system as a whole.

Accelerator scientists and reactor physicists from around the world gathered at an NEA workshop to discuss issues of common interest and to present the most recent achievements in their research. Discussions focused on accelerator reliability; target, window and coolant technology; sub-critical system design and ADS simulations; safety and control of ADS; and ADS experiments and test facilities. These proceedings contain the technical papers presented at the workshop as well as summaries of the working group discussions held. They will be of particular interest to scientists working on ADS development as well as on radioactive waste management issues in general.

English

Vacuum Gas Dynamics Investigation and Experimental Results on the Trasco ADS Windowless Interface

Nuclear Energy Agency

TRASCO ADS is a programme aiming at the design of an accelerator-driven subcritical system in which INFN, ENEA and Italian firms work on the preliminary study and design of the high-intensity proton linac accelerator and on the windowless interface between the accelerator and the reactor. The accelerator UHV and the spallation target vacuum are divided only by a suitable pumping and trapping system for the gases and the vapours emerging from the molten LBE. In order to design a pumping system for the accelerator-reactor interface region, vacuum gas dynamics theoretical considerations and experimental evaluations are needed to understand the behaviour of the vapours and gases in the target region. For the same purpose the literature data and experimental results on the radioactive gases and vapours, produced by the spallation process, must be investigated. From the vacuum gas dynamics point of view, a numerical method based on angular coefficients has been validated to estimate the net flux of the LBE vapours and the gases coming from the spallation process, the oxidation control and the tube outgassing. From the safety point of view, preliminary experiments are under way for an estimation of the net flux of high-activity gases such as mercury and polonium (using tellurium as a polonium simulator) with the purpose to evaluate the radioactivity in the beam tube. All these data, compared with those from literature and the experimental results, give an improvement towards a suitable design of the pumping system for an  DS windowless interface according to technological and nuclear safety constrains.

English

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