APT accelerator. Topical report

Abstract

The Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT) project, sponsored by Department of Energy Defense Programs (DOE/DP), involves the preconceptual design of an accelerator system to produce tritium for the nation`s stockpile of nuclear weapons. Tritium is an isotope of hydrogen used in nuclear weapons, and must be replenished because of radioactive decay (its half-life is approximately 12 years). Because the annual production requirements for tritium has greatly decreased since the end of the Cold War, an alternative approach to reactors for tritium production, based on a linear accelerator, is now being seriously considered. The annual tritium requirement at the time this study was undertaken (1992-1993) was 3/8 that of the 1988 goal, usually stated as 3/8-Goal. Continued reduction in the number of weapons in the stockpile has led to a revised (lower) production requirement today (March, 1995). The production requirement needed to maintain the reduced stockpile, as stated in the recent Nuclear Posture Review (summer 1994) is approximately 3/16-Goal, half the previous level. The Nuclear Posture Review also requires that the production plant be designed to accomodate a production increase (surge) to 3/8-Goal capability within five years, to allow recovery from a possible extended outage of the tritium plant. A multi-laboratory team, collaborating with several industrial partners, has developed a preconceptual APT design for the 3/8-Goal, operating at 75% capacity. The team has presented APT as a promising alternative to the reactor concepts proposed for Complex-21. Given the requirements of a reduced weapons stockpile, APT offers both significant safety, environmental, and production-fexibility advantages in comparison with reactor systems, and the prospect of successful development in time to meet the US defense requirements of the 21st Century.