The High Brilliance Neutron Source Target Stations

Abstract

High Current Accelerator driven Neutron Sources (HiCANS) are a cost-efficient alternative for future large scale neutron facilities. They excel in transforming neutrons released by the primary nuclear reaction into a spectral range usable for applications. In particular, the cost of a target station represents only a minor fraction of the overall construction cost due to the lower energy of the primary neutrons, which requires less shielding. They can be designed to provide optimized pulse and spectral properties for applications in neutron scattering, analytics and imaging experiments. For the High Brilliance neutron Source (HBS) project at Forschungszentrum Jülich, we have developed a modular design that meets the radiation protection requirements while providing sufficient space in its core to adapt the target-moderator-reflector assembly to the different applications. In the following, we present the basic target station design which will be used at HBS for three different realizations with their own instrument suite. All relevant components have been designed, built and tested at the JULIC Neutron Platform which has produced neutrons since December 12th 2022. The simulated performance of a target station shows that the brightnesses of the moderators are in the range of modern research reactors and sub-MW power spallation sources.