10.1 A Big Step Forward for Basic Science and Nuclear Engineering using a High-intensity Proton Accelerator

 

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Fig. 10-1 Plan view of neutron science research center

 


The use of neutron beams is expected to strongly promote the research and development of basic science and engineering. This will lead to practical applications in many fields, including the industrial field.
Neutron scattering techniques have achieved great success in recent years for probing the crystal structures of high-temperature superconductors. These technigues have now drawn, the interest of biologists for unraveling the structures of large organic molecules. Intense proton or neutron sources will allow transmutation of long-lived radioactive nuclides in radioactive waste, RI production, and other applications.
A unique feature of this neutron utilization is realized by several properties of neutrons. Neutrons are electrically neutral and have a mass considerably heavier than those of photons and electrons. Moreover, their beam wavelength can be tuned to meet experimental purposes. Consequently, neutrons can interact directly with nuclei. This peculiar feature cannot be utilized in photon and electron science.
JAERI is preparing the Neutron Science Research Program (NSRP) for a large future project. The objective of the NSRP is to construct a high-intensity proton accelerator. The accelerator will produce a proton beam having 1.5-GeV energy and 1-mA current initially with increases in current to 4 ~ 6 mA around 2007. An abundance of continuous or pulsed neutrons can be effectively generated by use of the proton accelerator.
The proposed research fields are materials science, structural biology, production of new super-heavy elements, radioactive waste transmutation study, RI production, etc.
In addition to the ongoing development of the accelerator, basic experimental research is proceeding on target neutronics and high-energy radiation shielding. The preliminary experimental research on the thermal hydraulics of the high-power target has also started.


Reference

Proceedings of the first Workshop of Neutron Science Research Program, JAERI-Conf 95-017 (1995).

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Persistent Quest-Research Activities 1996
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