Physics of accelerator neutron production

It is now practical with present-day linac technology to produce accelerators with average currents above 100 mA for energies in the giga-electron-volt region. Average beam powers as large as 400 MW have been proposed for tritium production, although the needs for accelerator-driven systems for nuclear energy production or transmutation of commercial spent fuel may be substantially smaller. The authors believe that for these high beam powers, practical systems will require flowing liquid targets. Some of the important features that must be considered in target design are as follows: (1) high beam-to-neutron conversion efficiency; (2) minimal long-lived spallation product; (3) minimal production of long-lived isotopes that are different from those found in commercial spent fuel; (4) maximum target lifetime; (5) compact size with physical dimensions matching the dimensions of the surrounding blanket; (6) integration of target cooling with heat removal from the blanket; (7) minimization of the number of fluid flow loops required to operate the system; and (8) strong integration of the target and blanket chemistry facilities