Deliverable D1: Engineering study of the Hg converter

The development of high-power converter targets otherwise known as neutron sources is today the focus of much attention, driven by the need for ever greater densities of neutron fluxes which are required in the fundamental sciences such as neutron imagery, isotope production and also for the more long-term goal of realising a hybrid sub-critical nuclear reactor. The neutrons in a converter target are produced by a process known in physics as spallation whereby a heavy Z atom releases neutrons below 20 [MeV] when hit by an incoming proton.The Eurisol initiative seeks to develop such an isotope production facility to provide the scientific community with the means to achieving high yields of isotopes and extending the variety of isotopes thus produced towards more exotic types rarely seen in existing facilities.The proposed ISOL facility would use both (a) several 100 kW proton beams on a thick solid target to produce RIBs directly, and (b) a liquid metal 1–5 MW ‘converter’ target to release high fluxes of spallation neutrons which would then produce RIBs by fission in a secondary uranium carbide (UCx) target. An alternative windowless liquid mercury-jet ‘converter’ target to generate the neutrons has also been proposed for this Multi-MW target station.The Multi-MW converter target at the heart of the projected facility is designed to create isotopes by fissioning uranium carbide (UC) target arranged coaxially around a 4 MW converter target. It is therefore essential that the target be as compact as possible to avoid losing neutrons to capture whilst maximising the neutron flux to enhance the number of fissions per second in the UC targets.