Development of High Power Electrostatic Accelerators for Nuclear and Medical Purposes in Argentina

Abstract

We highlight some of the results of an ongoing program at the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) in Argentina to develop low energy (0.2 to 2.5 MeV), high current (30-100mA) proton and deuteron electrostatic accelerators for nuclear and medical applications. This activity aims at developing: 1) Low-energy (200 keV) high-current (100mA) deuteron accelerators for D(d,n) and T(d,n) for neutron production for various nuclear applications, among them the injection of a subcritical reactor. 2) The development of a 700kV folded tandem for neutron production using the 9Be(d,n) reaction. 3) The development of a folded 1.2-1.4 MV tandem for epithermal neutron production through the 7Li(p, n) reaction. At the same time this machine can be operated as single-ended with a positive ion source at the terminal to produce 1.4 MeV deuteron beams for the 9Be(d, n) reaction. Development and progress have been made in the areas of mechanical, electromechanical and electronics components (structures, alternators,HV supplies, control systems, etc), ion sources, accelerator tubes, 3D electrostatic and selfconsistent beam transport simulations, high power neutron production targets.