Implementation of an LBE spallation target in an accelerator-driven molten salt subcritical reactor

An accelerator-driven system (ADS) combined with a subcritical molten salt reactor (MSR) is a type of hybrid reactor originally designed to use Th/U (or U/Pu ) fuel cycles. In most accelerator-driven molten salt reactor (AD-MSR) concepts, the salt material is also used as a target for inducing spallation neutrons. Although a neutron source is an important component in the design of ADS, only a few studies have addressed the effects of the neutron spallation source in the AD-MSR. Incidentally, there is no quantitative study on how much the beam power can be reduced by installing a spallation target in a sodium chloride-based fast reactor. We studied the proton and the neutron source efficiencies of an AD-MSR with chloride fuels by considering an Lead Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) spallation target. This LBE target is found to increase the proton source efficiency significantly. The required beam power for an AD-MSR can be reduced by 33 % and 16 % for NaCl-Th/²³³U and NaCl-U/Pu fuels, respectively, relative to the AD-MSR without the LBE spallation target by keeping the same k_eff. The energy gain can be increased up to 1.5 times and 1.2 times for NaCl-Th/²³³U and NaCl-U/Pu fuels, respectively. Thus, incorporating a spallation target module in an AD-MSR can significantly reduce the burden on the accelerator.     

用DCE/CEM和LAHET软件计算ADS标准散裂靶的比较

利用蒙卡程序DCM／CEM和LAHET对加速器驱动的次临界系统ADS标准散裂中子靶进行了计算。长为0．6m、直径为0．2m的圆柱形^208Pb靶在0．15—1．6GeV的高能质子轰击的情况下,利用两软件对质子在靶内的能量沉积、Pb靶发生散裂反应产生的中子及靶内和表面的中子注量、中子能谱分布等进行了比较计算。结果表明：两者模拟结果在中能区(0．8—1．0GeV)符合很好,但在质子能量较高或较低时,两者略有差别。     

Impact of PHITS spallation models on the neutronics design of an accelerator-driven system

The impact of different spallation models and parametrisation of nucleon–nucleus interactions in the particle transport code PHITS on the nuclear characteristics of an accelerator-driven system (ADS) is investigated. Cut-off neutrons below 20 MeV calculated using the default option of the current spallation model (i.e. Liège intranuclear cascade (INC) model version 4.6, INCL4.6) are found to be 14% less than those calculated by the old spallation model (i.e. Bertini INC model). This decrease increases the proton beam current that drives the 800-MW thermal power and impacts various ADS parameters, including material damage, nuclear heating of the proton beam window and the inventory of spallation products. To validate these options based on the ADS neutronics design, we conduct benchmark calculations of the total and non-elastic cross sections, thick target neutron yields and activation reaction rate distributions. The results suggest that Pearlstein–Niita systematics, which is a default option of the nucleon–nucleus interaction parametrisation, would be the best option and that Bertini INC is better suited for cut-off neutrons than INCL4.6. However, because of the difficulty in making a definite conclusion on the spallation models, we conclude that relatively large uncertainty in the cut-off neutrons, which is the difference between the two spallation models (i.e. 14%), should be considered.     

Neutronic performance of the MEGAPIE spallation target under high power proton beam

The MEGAPIE project, aiming at the construction and operation of a megawatt liquid lead-bismuth spallation target, constitutes the first step in demonstrating the feasibility of liquid heavy metal target technologies as spallation neutron sources. In particular, MEGAPIE is meant to assess the coupling of a high power proton beam with a window-concept heavy liquid metal target. The experiment has been set at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland and, after a 4-month long irradiation, has provided unique data for a better understanding of the behavior of such a target under realistic irradiation conditions. A complex neutron detector has been developed to provide an on-line measurement of the neutron fluency inside the target and close to the proton beam. The detector is based on micrometric fission chambers and activation foils. These two complementary detection techniques have provided a characterization of the neutron flux inside the target for different positions along its axis. Measurements and simulation results presented in this paper aim to provide important recommendations for future accelerator driven systems (ADS) and neutron source developments.     

散裂中子源靶站和中子散射谱仪的概念设计

本文介绍了可应用于多学科应用的散裂中子源(CSNS)靶站和中子散射谱仪概念设计的进展。CSNS靶站将由重水冷却多片钨靶,铍/铁反射体和铁/重混凝土生物屏蔽体组成。采用三个WING型慢化器:水(室温),液体甲烷(100K)和液体氢(20K),设有18个水平中子孔道。MonteCarlo模拟显示优化的靶截面高宽比为1:2.5左右。额定的100kW核功率的质子束轰击后,慢化器处钨靶溢出的脉冲中子通量约为2.4×1016cm?2·s?1。有限元方法计算表明,钨靶体内的总发热量是47kJ/s。即使使用截面较小的钨靶,在通常的水冷速率下,靶体温度也仅略高于90°C。靶体的热应力形变最大不超过0.2mm。根据经济实用原则选择建造粉末衍射仪、小角散射仪、反射仪及直接几何非弹性散射仪等四类有代表性的中子散射谱仪,就能覆盖>80%的中子散射研究领域。     

Investigation of neutronic parameters of natU spallation target irradiated by low-energy protons

Accelerator-based neutron sources could outstandingly compete with the reactor-based ones, which are widely used for research aims and radioisotope production.Spallation neutron sources are used by many research centers. In this work, the potential of natural uranium spallation target irradiated by low-energy protons for production of an external neutron source was investigated.MCNPX code was used to model the spallation target. The results showed using 30-Me V protons of 100 μA current a neutron flux in order of 10~7n/s cm~2 leaks from an optimized-dimension target. Different physical models available in the computational code do not result in significant relative discrepancies for neutron yield and deposited heat calculations. Water with a velocity of 0.6 m/s can be used as coolant for the spallation target to keep the surface temperature under 100 °C at atmospheric pressure.     

Computational fluid dynamics analysis of spallation target for experimental accelerator-driven transmutation system

One of the key milestones in the roadmap of the European accelerator-driven transmutation system (ADS) is the design and construction of the European experimental ADS (XADS). The window spallation target unit in the lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) cooled reactor system is one of the basic options considered in the preliminary design study of XADS (PDS-XADS). This paper presents the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and the main results achieved for this option focusing on the coolability of the window. Steady-state as well as transient behavior, including beam interrupts and three major accident scenarios, has been analyzed using the CFD code CFX 5.6 with an advanced turbulence model. The required boundary conditions were provided by a one-dimensional system code. Based on the CFD analysis, the window geometry was modified in order to achieve sufficient cooling capability of the window under normal operating conditions. The transient behavior of the window temperature under beam trip conditions shows the importance of the beam interrupt duration to the thermal stress load of the window structural material. Further transient analysis of three major accidental scenarios, i.e., beam focusing, loss of heat sink, and beam intensity jump, indicates that the beam focusing accident gives the most serious safety concern. In this case, window failure occurs in less than 1 s after the start of the beam focusing.     

Preliminary design of inner radius of spallation target of an accelerator driven subcritical reactor for waste transmutation (ADS-NWT)

This paper presented preliminary design studies of inner radius of spallation target for lead-bismuth cooled accelerator driven sub-critical reactor, aimed at reducing proton beam current while simultaneously maintaining high Minor Actinides transmutation performance. Lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) and uranium-free metallic dispersion fuel were used as the coolant and the fuel for this 1000 MWt reactor. By taking Proton Transmutation Support Ratio (PTSR) as an evaluation index, the inner radius of the spallation target was designed for this reference reactor and the optimized design proposal could obtain the higher transmutation performance. The preliminary study found that when the inner radius of the spallation target ran up to a certain value, the spallation neutron yield would have greater influence on the transmutation performance.     

Effects of neutron spectrum and external neutron source on neutron multiplication parameters in accelerator-driven system

The neutron multiplication parameters: neutron multiplication M, subcritical multiplication factor k_s, external source efficiency φ^*, play an important role for numerical assessment and reactor power evaluation of an accelerator-driven system (ADS). Those parameters can be evaluated by using the measured reaction rate distribution in the subcritical system. In this study, the experimental verification of this methodology is performed in various ADS cores; with high-energy (100 MeV) proton–tungsten source in hard and soft neutron spectra cores and 14 MeV D–T neutron source in soft spectrum core. The comparison between measured and calculated multiplication parameters reveals a maximum relative difference in the range of 6.6–13.7% that is attributed to the calculation nuclear libraries uncertainty and accuracy for energies higher than 20 MeV and also dependent on the reaction rate distribution position and count rates. The effects of different core neutron spectra and external neutron sources on the neutron multiplication parameters are discussed.     

Research activities for accelerator-driven transmutation system at JAERI

Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) performs Research and Development (R&D) for accelerator-driven systems (ADS) for transmutation of long-lived nuclides. To study the basic characteristics of ADS, Transmutation Experimental Facility is proposed within the framework of the J-PARC project. The facility consists of two buildings, Transmutation Physics Experimental Facility to research the neutronics and the controllability of ADS and ADS Target Test Facility for material irradiation and partial mockup of beam window. A comprehensive R&D program for future ADS plant is also underway in three technical fields, 1) accelerator, 2) lead-bismuth target/coolant and 3) subcritical core.     

Radiological hazard of long-lived spallation products in accelerator-driven system

The present paper focuses on analysis of radiological hazard of spallation products that appears to be an important factor that might affect the choice of beam/target performance in designing the accelerator-driven systems. The analysis is done in terms of toxicity expressed in units of Annual Limit on Intake (ALI). It reveals the significant contribution of alpha emitting rare earths (¹⁴⁶Sm, ¹⁴⁸Gd, ¹⁵⁰Gd, ¹⁵⁴Dy) into overall toxicity of spallation targets.     

Improved modelling of helium and tritium production for spallation targets

Reliable predictions of light charged particle production in spallation reactions are important to correctly assess gas production in spallation targets. In particular, the helium production yield is important for assessing damage in the window separating the accelerator vacuum from a spallation target, and tritium is a major contributor to the target radioactivity. Up to now, the models available in the MCNPX transport code, including the widely used default option Bertini-Dresner and the INCL4.2-ABLA combination of models, were not able to correctly predict light charged particle yields. The work done recently on both the intranuclear cascade model INCL4, in which cluster emission through a coalescence process has been introduced, and on the de-excitation model ABLA allows correcting these deficiencies. This paper shows that the coalescence emission plays an important role in the tritium and ³He production and that the combination of the newly developed versions of the codes, INCL4.5-ABLA07, now lead to good predictions of both helium and tritium cross-sections over a wide incident energy range. Comparisons with other available models are also presented.     

Multiplicity of particles per primary reaction at 1500 MeV for the nuclei used on the accelerator-driven systems

Multiplicities of neutron and other particles per incident proton in collision of 1500 MeV energetic proton beam with Bi, Au, Pb, W, Th, Hg, U, Fe and Cu thin targets have been estimated with the Cascade-Exciton Model (CEM), intranuclear cascade (INC) and Evaporation model. The calculations have been made using simulation codes based on specific models which describe elementary production of particles in nuclear reactions. The obtained results have been compared with the available data.     

Numerical design of a 20 MW lead–bismuth spallation target for an accelerator-driven system

A spallation target system is a key component to be developed for an accelerator-driven system (ADS). It is known that a 15–25 MW spallation target is required for the practical size of an ADS. Although there have been some design studies for small power spallation targets, that is, less than 10 MW, designs of high power target systems for ADS are relatively rare. The design of a 20 MW spallation target is very challenging because more than 60% of the beam power is deposited as heat in a small volume of the target system. In the present work, a numerical design study was performed to get optimal design parameters for a 20 MW spallation target for a 1000 MW ADS. The cylindrical beam tube and the hemispherical beam window were adopted in the basic target design concept with 1 GeV proton energy, and the thermal-hydraulic and the structural analyses were performed with the CFX and ANSYS codes. The beam window diameter and thickness were varied to find the optimal parameter set based on the design criteria: maximum lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) temperature <500 °C, maximum beam window temperature <600 °C, maximum LBE velocity <2 m/s, and the maximum beam window stress <160 MPa. The results of the present study show that a 40 cm wide proton beam with a uniform beam profile should be adopted for the spallation target of 20 MW power. It was found that a 2.5 mm thick beam window is needed to sustain the mechanical load.     

高速旋转氚钛靶系统设计和靶温度的数值模拟

给出了用于强流中子发生器的高速旋转氚钛靶系统的设计方案,并对靶的温度变化进行了数值模拟,给出了强流中子发生器的运行参数。     

铅散裂中子靶物理特性研究

利用蒙卡程序DCM/CEM对ADS标准散裂中子靶进行了计算。计算了长0.6 m,直径0.2 m的圆柱形208Pb靶,在0.1～1.6 GeV的质子轰击下,Pb靶发生散裂反应产生的中子产额及表面的中子注量、能谱分布以及靶内能量沉积分布,解释了以前的实验结果。计算结果与文献数据、实验数据进行了比较,符合良好,对进一步进行ADS堆芯设计具有较好的理论指导意义。     

Design and corrosion study of a closed spallation target module of an accelerator-driven system (ADS)

At the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) the characteristics of an accelerator-driven subcritical reactor system (ADS) are critically evaluated, mainly with respect to the potential of transmutation of minor actinides and long-lived fission products, to the feasibility and to safety aspects. The work is concentrating on system design, neutronics, thermalhydraulics, safety, materials and corrosion. This article describes the FZK approach to design a closed 4 MW(th) spallation target module with a solid beam window and eutectic lead–bismuth (Pb–Bi) as spallation material and cooling fluid, which is going to be implemented in the FZK three-beam concept of an ADS. This multi-beam concept shows significant improvements towards single-beam concepts from the literature with respect to power distribution in the subcritical blanket and thermal loads of heat removal from the beam window and the spallation region. For some selected martensitic and austenitic steels, corrosion tests in static lead are performed to examine their suitability as structural or window materials. Alloying aluminum into the surface layer by high-power electron beam treatment, corrosion can be reduced to nearly zero. One prerequisite to minimize corrosion is a proper oxygen control system (OCS) via the gas-phase to set the oxygen concentration in the liquid Pb–Bi. The dynamic behaviour of this oxygen control system is described. Finally, the KArlsruhe Lead LAboratory (KALLA) is introduced, the objectives of which are technological, thermal-hydraulic and corrosion investigations into the beam window, the spallation target module and the primary system of an ADS.     

Preparation of uranium targets by electro-deposition method

<正>In this paper,uranium targets are prepared by electro-deposition.Hydrated uranium dioxide films are electrodeposited into stainless steel plates using uranyl nitrate in ammonium oxalate solution.The results show that the deposition efficiency of the uranium depends on many parameters,such as pH value,supporting electrolyte, current density,and cell design.The uranium films were characterized by infrared spectrum,scanning electron microscope,and X-ray spectrum.The uranium films,with a yield of 98%,are in the thickness of about 6 mg·cm~(-2).     

散裂中子源(3.7GeV p+Pb)靶散裂研究中Lavsan探测器的应用

利用Lavsan探测器探测了直径8cm，厚20cm的铅靶中散裂反应的分布规律，并利用理论对实验结果进行了模拟解析，同时利用实测的散裂产物在靶区的分布验证了Lavsan探测结果及理论模拟结果。     

Development of three-dimensional reactor analysis code system for accelerator-driven system,ADS3D and its application with subcriticality adjustment mechanism

In order to perform the parametric survey for an accelerator-driven system (ADS) core with the subcriticality adjustment mechanism, a new calculation code system, ADS3D, was developed on MARBLE which is a comprehensive and versatile framework for reactor analysis. The application of ADS3D was also demonstrated on the neutronics design of ADS operated by control rod (CR) movement. Through the neutronics calculation, it was shown that the maximum proton beam current was decreased from 20.5 to 11.6 mA due to the switch from beam-operated to CR-operated core.