Speaker
Description
High-current accelerator-driven neutron sources (HiCANS) are proposed to fill the gap in European neutron production left by the progressive shutdown of research reactors. The ARGITU project is one of these initiatives: it aims to establish a regional, accelerator-driven neutron facility in the Basque Country whose final objective is to operate a low-energy, high-current proton accelerator delivering a neutron source of order 10^15 n/s. To reach this performance the accelerator is designed to deliver a ~50 MeV proton beam with an average current on the order of 2.25 mA.
The proton beam will impinge on a beryllium plate (with a thin vanadium proton-stopping layer) cooled by water and located at the centre of a target station; the design addresses thermal gradients and heat removal with optimized cooling channels and an oblique (45°) beam incidence to enlarge the cooling area and reduce peak stresses. ARGITU’s cold and thermal moderators follow the HBS 1-D (so-called “finger”/1D) concept, which explicitly optimizes coupling between target, pre-moderator and reflector and therefore maximizes the moderator efficiency. This improved coupling partially compensates the inherently lower neutron production efficiency of the (p,Be) reaction and yields a moderator brightness comparable to that of major European facilities.
The project is staged so the full 50 MeV / ~2.25 mA performance is achieved progressively. The first step, ion source +LBET+ RFQ+Beam Dump (3 MeV and up to 1.44 mA) is conceived as a technology demonstrator: it provides a hands-on platform to validate accelerator and target technologies, operational procedures and licensing approaches before scaling to the full machine.
Simultaneously, this first step of Argitu Accelerator is an integral element of the HiCANS Platform, being developed in collaboration with JCNS and LLB: the demonstrator couples the high-current accelerator hardware under construction at ESS-Bilbao with an external TMR (target–moderator–reflector) station, developed by JCNS and demonstrator instruments contributed by all partners, and adopts a Li-based target option to optimize neutron production at low proton energies. This joint HiCANS Platform, expected to deliver up to 10^12 n/s, will validate the high-current accelerator-driven neutron-source concept in an operational environment and is planned to be ready for beam-on-target in 2027, thereby de-risking and informing the subsequent scale-up to the full ARGITU facility.
Progress on key accelerator items — notably RFQ assembly, bead-pull/tuning activities and RF system conditioning at the RF test-stand — are central to the schedule and to the technical readiness of both ESS Bilbao facility. The staged approach, with ESS Bilbao accelerator embedded in the HiCANS Platform, therefore provides a pragmatic path: it delivers an early, operational neutron capability while generating the technical and operational experience needed to reach the long-term goal of a 10^15 n/s regional HiCANS facility.
We will present results showing the recent advances in RFQ conditioning (assembly, bead-pull/tuning and active conditioning at the RF test-stand), the commissioning status of the ion source and LEBT, and the detailed layout and installation readiness at the ESS-Bilbao Zamudio R&D facilities. These results illustrate the technical progress toward linac commissioning, the integration of the source and target systems, and the readiness of the site layout to host the HiCANS demonstrator.
References
[1] ARGITU, Compact Accelerator-Driven Neutron Source: A Unique Infrastructure Fostering our R&D Ecosystem. CFM / BC-Materials / Ineustar / ESS Bilbao.
[2] LENS Report – Low Energy Accelerator-driven Neutron Sources (2020) https://www.lens-initiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LENS-Report-on-Low-Energy-Accelerator-driven-Neutron-Sources.pdf.
[3] Conceptual Design Report Jülich High Brilliance Neutron Source (HBS) Allgemeines / General Band / Volume 8, ISBN 978-3-95806-501-7
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