Analysis of the main nuclear-physical characteristics of the interaction of proton beams with heavy metal targets

Abstract

It is shown that the concept of relativistic heavy-nuclear energy is untenable. Using a large group of different experiments in the proton energy range 0.25–70 GeV, it is demonstrated that the high-energy hadron transport program SHIELD, which is based on modern nuclear models, has predictive power. The interaction of protons with energy ranging from 0.1 to 100 GeV with a simple model system target + blanket, containing heavy elements (lead, thorium, depleted and enriched uranium), is examined. The energy release, neutron production, and production of fissile isotopes in the system are calculated. It is found that for all values of the proton energy which are considered the useful yield of energy in weakly fissile media is inadequate (thorium, depleted uranium) and is completely absent in non-fissile media (lead). A blanket containing enriched uranium will be necessary in order to use the scheme for useful production of energy. In this variant, the optimal proton energy is 1–3 GeV, which corresponds to the conventional concept of electronuclear facilities whose main purpose is to transmute nuclear wastes and produce electricity at the same time.