Speaker
Description
The CEA and CNRS institutes in France are currently working on the Technical Design Phase of ICONE, a new HiCANS, High-Current Accelerator-driven neutron source. The goal is to equip France with a new neutron source by the early 2030s. This source would provide 10 to 12 neutron scattering instruments to the French community. The source is using a 25 MeV proton accelerator operating in pulsed mode and serving 2 target stations with different proton pulse lengths and repetition rates to optimize the efficiency of the different types of instruments.
In this communication, we present the technical choices which have been made to build the Target-Moderator-Reflector (TMR) assembly and maximize its performances. The primary fast neutrons are produced by the interaction of the proton beam with a solid beryllium target. The neutrons are moderated by water and para-hydrogen. Following the recommendations of the ICONE scientific committee, and considering the planned instrument suite, a special emphasis has been put on providing cold neutrons. The current moderator geometry is thus optimized to provide either a cold spectrum or {cold + thermal} spectra to the different instruments.
In this communication, we emphasize on the specificities of HiCANS in particular in terms of heat load, activation, materials aging and shielding.
The current simulations suggest that the peak brilliance of ICONE should be equivalent to medium power research reactors (ex. ORPHEE) so that the performances of the neutron scattering instruments should be good.