Radioactive Ion Beam Production by Fast-Neutron-Induced Fission in Actinide Targets at EURISOL

The European Isotope Separation On-Line Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (EURISOL) is set to be the 'next-generation' European Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facility. It will extend and amplify current research on nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics and fundamental interactions beyond the year 2010. In EURISOL, the production of high-intensity RIBs of specific neutron-rich isotopes is obtained by inducing fission in large-mass actinide targets. In our contribution, the use of uranium targets is shown to be advantageous to other materials, such as thorium. Therefore, in order to produce fissions in U-238 and reduce the plutonium inventory, a fast neutron energy spectrum is necessary. The large beam power required to achieve these RIB levels requires the use of a liquid proton-to-neutron converter. This article details the design parameters of the converter, with special attention to the coupled neutronics of the liquid converter and fission target. Calculations performed with the Monte Carlo code FLUKA, suggest the use of a 1 − 2 GeV proton beam and a compact mercury converter, surrounded by the fission target for efficient use of the spallation neutrons.