A feasibility study for a one-megawatt pulsed spallation source at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Over the past two decades, high-intensity proton accelerators have been designed and developed to support nuclear physics research and defense applications. This technology has now matured to the point where it can support simultaneous and cost-effective exploitation of a number of important areas of both basic and applied science. Examples include neutron scattering, the production of radioisotopes, tests of technologies to transmute nuclear waste, radiation damage studies, nuclear physics, and muon spin research. As part of a larger program involving these and other areas, a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory has undertaken a feasibility study for a 1-MW pulsed spallation neutron source (PSS) based on the use of an 800-MeV proton linac and an accumulator ring. In January 1994, the feasibility study was reviewed by a large, international group of experts in the design of accelerators and neutron spallation targets. This group confirmed the viability of the proposed neutron source. In this paper, I describe the approach Los Alamos has taken to the feasibility study, which has involved a synergistic application of the Laboratory`s expertise in nuclear science and technology, computation, and particle-beam technologies. Several examples of problems resolved by the study are described, including chopping of low-energy proton beam, interactions between H{sup {minus}} particles and the stripper foil used to produce protons for injection into an accumulator ring, and the inclusion of engineering realities into the design of a neutron production target. These examples are chosen to illustrate the breadth of the expertise that has been brought to bear on the feasibility study and to demonstrate that there are real R&D issues that need to be resolved before a next-generation spoliation source can be built.