Physics Design Of A Cold Neutron Source For Kipt Neutron Source Facility

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) of USA and Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT) of Ukraine have been collaborating on the conceptual design development of a neutron source facility. It is based on the use of an electron accelerator driven subcritical (ADS) facility with low enriched uranium fuel, using the existing electron accelerators at KIPT of Ukraine [1]. The neutron source of the subcritical assembly is generated from the interaction of 100-KW electron beam, which has a uniform spatial distribution and the electron energy in the range of 100 to 200 MeV, with a natural uranium target [2]. The main functions of the facility are the production of medical isotopes and the support of the Ukraine nuclear power industry. Neutron beam experiments and material studies are also included. Over the past two-three decades, structures with characteristic lengths of 100 Å and correspondingly smaller vibrational energies have become increasingly important for both science and technology [3]. The characteristic dimensions of the microstructures can be well matched by neutrons with longer vibrational wavelength and lower energy. In the accelerator-driven subcritical facility, most of the neutrons are generated from fission reactions with energy in the MeV range. They are slowed down to the meV energy range through scattering reactions in the moderator and reflector materials. However, the fraction of neutrons with energies less than 5 meV in a normal moderator spectrum is very low because of up-scattering caused by the thermal motion of moderator or reflector molecules. In order to obtain neutrons with energy less than 5 meV, cryogenically cooled moderators 'cold neutron sources' should be used to slow down the neutrons. These cold moderators shift the neutron energy spectrum down because the thermal motion of moderator molecules as well as the up-scattering is very small, which provides large gains in intensity of low energy neutrons, E