High intensity proton accelerator program

Industrial applications of proton accelerators to the incineration of the long-lived nuclides contained in the spent fuels have long been investigated. Department of Reactor Engineering of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) has formulated the Accelerator Program through the investigations on the required performances of the accelerator and its development strategies and also the research plan using the accelerator. Outline of the Program is described in the present report. The target of the Program is the construction of the Engineering Test Accelerators (ETA) of the type of a linear accelerator with the energy 1.5 GeV and the proton current ∼10 mA. It is decided that the construction of the Basic Technology Accelerator (BTA) is necessary as an intermediate step, aiming at obtaining the required technical basis and human resources. The Basic Technology Accelerator with the energy of 10 MeV and with the current of ∼10 mA is composed of the ion source, RFQ and DTL, of which system forms the mock-up of the injector of ETA. Development of the high-β structure which constitutes the main acceleration part of ETA is also scheduled. This report covers the basic parameters of the Basic Technology Accelerator (BTA), development steps of the element and system technologies of the high current accelerators and rough sketch of ETA which can be prospected at present. (J.P.N.)