Project of deuteron accelerator based neutron source for rib production

Abstract

The project of a high-intense neutron source for the SPES project in LNL, Legnaro, Italy [1] is developed. The source is based on the rotating carbon target. The target is bombarded by the deuteron beam with energy 20 MeV, diameter 1 cm, average power 100 kW. The target is cooled by its thermal radiation, and its temperature can reach 1800ºC. It is shown that high density graphite can be used as a material for neutron production. The source can produce up to 10¹⁴ neutrons per second with energy within few MeV - few dozens MeV range, its lifetime is around few thousand hours.