Speaker
Description
High-Current Accelerator-driven Neutron Sources (HiCANS) represent a cost-efficient and scientifically attractive complement to fission reactors and spallation sources, combining brilliant neutron beams with low radiation background, a flexible pulse structure, and straightforward user access.
The High Brilliance Neutron Source Phase I (HBS-I) is a proposed HiCANS user facili-ty to be realised at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) in collaboration with Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. A comprehensive Technical Design Report (TDR) covers all major components, from the high-current proton linear accelerator through the high-power tar-get and cryogenic moderators to the full instrument suite. All major source components have reached a high readiness level, and system-level proof-of-concept was demonstrated at the JULIC Neutron Platform at FZJ in December 2022, delivering first neutrons and validating the expected source performance.
HBS-I was included in the national shortlist of nine priority research infrastructures by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space in July 2025. The planned instrument suite comprises five instruments - SANS, neutron reflectometry, dif-fractometry, neutron imaging, and prompt gamma neutron activation analysis - address-ing the most demanded neutron applications while developing new methods that benefit in particular from the characteristic features of HiCANS. HBS-I would be the first HiCANS user facility in Europe, and together with related projects in France and Spain would provide complementary capacity to shape and sustain the European user community.
At ICANS XXV, we present the current project status, key results from the prototype experiments, the main design choices for HBS-I, and the next milestones on the path to an aimed construction start in 2028.
| Other | Neutron Source |
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