Beam and target optimization for energy production in accelerator driven systems

Mihaela Paraipan,Elina G Baldina,Anton A Baldin,Serguey I Tyutyunikov,S Bondarenko,A Malakhov,V Burov

doi:10.1051/epjconf/201920404001

Mihaela Paraipan, Elina G Baldina + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201920404001

Copy DOI

Abstract

The new concept of light nuclear beams instead of proton beams for ADS is substantiated. The influence of the target structure on the energy efficiency of 0.5-4 GeV proton beams and 0.25 – 0.5 AGeV light ion beams is studied. The target consists of rods with different composition (metal, oxide, carbide) and different levels of enrichment in order to implement the target with a criticality coefficient of 0.96 -0.97, which ensures safe operation. The cooling with different metals (lead, lead-bismuth eutectic - LBE, and sodium) is compared. The use of converters from very light materials (lithium, beryllium, carbon) and their influence on the neutron spectrum and energy released are analysed.

Highlights

An accelerator driven system (ADS) presents some advantages in comparison with a classical nuclear reactor such as safer exploitation, higher level of burning of minor actinides, and the transmutation of long lived isotopes
The variations in the target geometry and fuel composition do not modify the shape of the neutron spectrum and preserve the ratio between the energy deposited by different ions
The energy released obtained with 0.35 AGeV 7Li and 1.5 GeV proton beams in U target cooled with Pb, LBE, and Na are given in Tab. 2

Summary

Introduction

An accelerator driven system (ADS) presents some advantages in comparison with a classical nuclear reactor such as safer exploitation, higher level of burning of minor actinides, and the transmutation of long lived isotopes. The design of an ADS must retain these advantages and maximize the energy efficiency. In the previous works the authors demonstrated that light ion beams have a superior energy efficiency for ADS as compared to protons [1, 2]. These conclusions were obtained in quasi-infinite natural and enriched uranium targets. In the present paper targets with more realistic structure are analysed

Methods

Results

Conclusion