The intense neutron generator of 14 MeV neutrons

Abstract

An innovative intense neutron generator of 14 MeV neutrons for the irradiation of future reactor materials is presented. Negative pions are produced inside a 5–10 T magnetic field by an intense deuteron beam interacting with a carbon target. The pions and the muons from pion decay in flight are collected in the backward direction and stopped in a deuterium-tritium-hydrogen target of high density. Using an 18 MW deuteron beam at 1.5 GeV (12 mA=7.5 × 1016d/s), circa 1016gt− /s can be generated, decaying to muons of which up to 1015 µ−/s stop in the D/T/H mixture. Assuming Xc=100 fusions per muon, the µCF source produces 14 MeV neutrons with a source strength of up to 1017 n/s, i.e. a neutron power of 200 kW. The environment of the second target, the neutron source itself, can be made to resemble part of the Tokamak ring to be simulated for irradiation test samples.