Introduction to spallation physics and spallation-target design

When coupled with the spallation process in appropriate target materials, high‐power accelerators can be used to produce large numbers of neutrons, thus providing an alternate method to the use of nuclear reactors for this purpose. Spallation offers exciting new possibilities for generating intense neutron fluxes for a variety of applications, including: (a) spallation‐neutron sources for materials science research; (b) accelerator‐based production of tritium; (c) accelerator‐based transmutation of waste; (d) accelerator‐based destruction of plutonium; and (e) radioisotope production for medical and energy applications. Target design plays a key role in these applications, with neutron production/leakage being strongly dependent on the incident particle type and energy, and target material and geometry.