Basic concept for an accelerator-driven subcritical system to be used as a long-pulse neutron source for Condensed Matter research

A model for an accelerator-driven subcritical system to be operated as a source of cold neutrons for Condensed Matter research is developed at the conceptual level. Its baseline layout relies upon proven accelerator, spalattion target and fuel array technologies, and consists in a proton accelerator able to deliver some 67.5 mA of proton beam with kinetic energy 0.6 GeV, a pulse length of 2.86 ms, and repetition rate of 14 Hz. The particle beam hits a target of conventional design that is surrounded by a multiplicative core made of fissile/fertile material, composed by a subcritical array of fuel bars made of aluminium Cermet cooled by light water poisoned with boric acid. Relatively low enriched uranium is chosen as fissile material. An optimisation of several parameters is carried out, using as components of the objective function several characteristics pertaining the cold neutron pulse. The results show that the optimal device will deliver up to 80% of the cold neutron flux expected for some of the ongoing projects using a significantly lower proton beam power than that managed in such projects. The total power developed within the core rises up to 22.8 MW, and the criticality range shifts to a final keff value of around 0.9 after the 50 days cycle.