加速器驱动的核电站──干净现实的核能源

由一台１６００ＭｅＶ的强流质子加速器来辅助驱动一座熔盐核反应堆,从而组建一座新型的核电站．这座电站中裂变核燃料“燃烧”完全,没有长寿命的重锕系与裂片的核废料输出;并可以直接用天然存在的大量钍和贫铀元素作为核燃料来使用．核电站将２０％电能供给加速器运转,８０％电能并入电网．同时电站还可输出十分稀有的稳定同位素和短寿命医用同位素,作为副产品供应市场．这一干净的核能源就是加速器驱动式核反应堆．简称驱动堆;它没有核废料,比自持式核反应堆安全． A new type of nuclear power station can be built by a moltensalt reactor auxiliary driven by a strong neutron source produced by a intensive proton beam with the energy of 1600 MeV from a powerful accelerator. In the power station the nuclear fuels are completely burnt without some long-lived radioactive wastes both of heaVy actinide and fission products. Furthermore the thorium and sub-critical uranium which are massive existence in nature can be used as an available nuclear fuel in...     

Design of proton beam optics to realize beam distribution transformation in C-ADS HTBT

The linac to the transmuter beam transport line (LTBT) connecting the end of the linac to the spallation target is a critical sub-system in the accelerator driven system (ADS). It has the function of transporting the accel-erated high power proton beam to the target with a beam footprint satisfying the special requirements of the minor actinide (MA) transmuter. In this paper, a preliminary conceptual design of the hurling magnet to transmuter beam transport section (HTBT), as a part of the LTBT, for the China ADS (C-ADS) system is proposed and developed. In this design, a novel hurling magnet with a two dimensional amplitude modulation (AM) of 1 kHz and scanning of more than 10 kHz at 360 in transverse directions is used to realize a 300 mm diameter uniform distribution of beam on target. The preliminary beam optics design of C-ADS HTBT optimized to minimize the beam loss on the vacuum chamber and the radiation damage caused by back-scattering neutrons will be reported.     

ADS注入器II的5 MeV高能传输线的设计与搭建

ADS先导专项的注入器Ⅱ计划在将质子束通过一个Cryomodule加速到5 MeV后,进行10 mA连续束流的调试,以验证ADS低能段的强流超导直线加速器技术。为了将50 kW的束流功率沉积到束流垃圾站,需要搭建一条高能束流传输线,从超导段开始传输束流。采用两套三组合四极透镜控制束流包络及垃圾站的束流尺寸,利用诊断真空室进行水平和垂直发射度的测量。为避免束流产生的真空管道损伤,该传输线必须确保束流无损失地传输到垃圾站。A CW 10 mA,5 MeV beam commissioning of CADS Injector Ⅱ is planed recently to test the high power superconduction linac techniques.To transport 50 kW beam from linac to the beam dump,a high energy beam line (HEBT) line is designed and setup.Two Triplet are used to control the beam size along HEBT and at the beam dump.One diagnostics box is used for horizontal and vertical emittance measurement.To avoid damages to the vacuum pipe,beam should be transported to the beam dump without losses.The details of the HEBT design will be described in the paper.     

带有质量分析系统的强流质子束低能传输线研究

强流质子源与低能传输线（LEBT）是作为CIADS注入器的超导强流质子直线加速器的关键前端系统。目前LEBT采用双螺线管匹配结构设计,并安装有限制锥,但仍然不能避免少量H₂+和H₃+进入后端加速装置,这对直线加速器长期运行稳定性与可靠性会产生一定影响。为此,在LEBT加入分析磁铁对混合束（H+,H+2,H₃+）进行分离再注入后端加速器腔体,将是一个有效的方案。本研究对经过带有30度分析磁铁的LEBT的强流质子束的束流品质进行了模拟与实验测量。结果表明,分析磁铁高阶磁场的影响使经过分析磁铁的强流质子束束流品质变差,并且该影响随着束流包络的增大而增大。这些结果为CIADS注入器的低能传输线设计提供了参考依据。High current proton source and the low energy beam transport(LEBT) are the key front-end systems for CIADS injector:high current proton linac accelerator. CIADS injector's LEBT adopts double solenoid matching structure, using a limit cone which can partially avoid H₂+ and H₃+ which injecting into the back-end linac accelerator may impact the long-term stability and reliability of the whole system. It will be an effective method to separate the hybrid ions (H+, H₂+, H₃+) by adding a dipole magnet at LEBT. In this article, we simulated and mesasured the high current proton beam quality behind the LEBT with a 30 degree dipole. The results show that the the proton beam quality is significantly effected by high-order magnetic fields of the dipole magnet, and the effect increases with the increase of the beam envelope. The achieved result is useful for the LEBT design of CIADS injector.     

Preparation of Metallic Isotope ^26Mg

Some special isotope material is usually used in nuclear experiments. It can be served as ion beam or target. When new superheavy nuclide ^265Bh (Z=107) is synthesized, a reaction of ^243Am target with ^26Mg ion beamis selected to produce new isotope ^265Bh. The preparation and production of this rare and extremely expensive isotope ^26 Mg used for ion beam substance will be a key problem in synthesizing experiment of 265Bh. Theavailable chemical form of isotope ^26Mg in commercial product usually is oxide or other compound, which are not required in our experiment. They need to be transformed to metal form as a proper working substance in ion source.     

几种不同材料降能器对200 MeV质子放疗特性的蒙特卡罗模拟

能量选择系统是医用质子回旋加速器放疗系统中极其重要的部件,主要用来调节质子束能量,使得从加速器出来的质子束能量满足临床治疗计划的要求。能量选择系统的核心部件是降能器,目前降能器大多采用石墨作为降能材料。近些年提出用铍或者碳化硼替代石墨作为降能器材料的设想,以期望提高质子束流的传输效率。利用蒙特卡罗软件TOPAS模拟200 MeV质子在石墨、铍和碳化硼三种不同材料多楔形结构降能器中的输运过程,统计了穿过降能器后质子以及产生的次级中子的能量通量,并计算了质子束流在穿过不同降能器后的能量分散,据此得到了三种材料降能器厚度与质子能量之间的关系曲线,同时也分析了不同降能器对质子束传输效率的影响以及次级中子产额的情况。通过对比发现,三种材料降能器对束流的能量发散效果相当,而使用铍或者碳化硼都能提高束流传输效率,尤其铍降能器的性能较优。但铍和碳化硼与质子相互作用会产生更多的次级中子,因此在实际应用时需要更多地考虑次级中子对设备的辐射防护。Energy selection system (ESS) is an important component for medical proton cyclotron system. It has been widely used to modulate the proton energy in accordance with treatment requirements. ESS consists of the energy degrader which was mostly made of graphite. Recent years, to improve the transmission efficiency of the proton beams, beryllium and boron carbide have been proposed to substitute the graphite. In this work, the Monte Carlo code, TOPAS, was used to simulate the transport process of 200 MeV proton beams traversing the multi-wedge energy degrader made of graphite, beryllium and boron carbide, respectively. Energy fluxes of the protons and secondary neutrons after degrader, as well as the energy dispersion of the degraded proton beams, were calculated. It is found that the energy dissipation effect is nearly identical for all three kinds of degrader material, but using the beryllium or even boron carbide can improve the proton transmission efficiency. However, more secondary neutrons would be produced when proton beams interact with the beryllium and boron carbide, suggesting the need of additional consideration for radiation shielding to devices.     

Alignment techniques for DRAGON-Ⅰ LIA

DRAGON-I designed and manufactured by CAEP is a linear induction accelerator which can produce a 20 MeV-3 kA-60 ns electron beam. The high performance required for the machine is determined by the beam quality and thus is greatly dependent on the accelerator alignment. In order to reduce the chromatic effect of the beam, the stretched wire technique has been developed to measure magnetic axes of the cells precisely, and the dipole steering magnets have been equipped into each cell to correct its magnetic axis misalignment. Finally, the laser tracker has been used to examine the installation error of the accelerator. In this paper, different alignment techniques and the primary results are presented and discussed.     

加速器驱动的嬗变技术及应用──一个关于核能发展的热门话题

当前的核电技术存在着资源利用率低、排出高放射性长寿命废物以及运行的安全性等问题．利用加速器驱动次临界堆的嬗变技术,不仅可以产生“洁净”的核电,还可以对高放射性核废物进行嬗变处理,同时又能对核材料进行核燃料的增殖或生产,是新一代核能利用的发展方向．The existing nuclear power system has many problems, such as low utilization ratio of natural resources, output of long life radioactive nuclear wastes and safety of operation etc. The transmutation technology by using accelerator-driven sub-critical reactor can generate not only clean nuclear power, but also can transmutate nuclear wastes and proliferate and produce nuclear fuels. It will be a direction to develop new nuclear power.     

A preliminary study of the feasibility of using superconducting quarter-wave resonators foraccelerating high intensity proton beams

The superconducting (SC) cavities currently used for the acceleration of protons at a low velocity range are based on half-wave resonators. Due to the rising demand on high current, the issue of beam loading and space-charge problems has arisen. Qualities of low cost and high accelerating efficiency are required for SC cavities, which are properly fitted by using SC quarter-wave resonators (QWR). We propose a concept of using QWRs with frequency 162.5 MHz to accelerate high current proton beams. The main factor limiting SC QWRs being applied to high current proton beams is vertical beam steering, which is dominantly caused by the magnetic field on axis. In this paper, we intend to analyze steering and eliminate it to verify the qualification of using QWRs to accelerate high intensity proton beams.     

A preliminary quadrupole asymmetry study of a Iβ=0.12 superconducting single spoke cavity

An Accelerator Driven System (ADS) has been launched in China for nuclear waste transmutation. For the application of high intensity proton beam acceleration, the quadrupole asymmetry effect needs to be carefully evaluated for cavities. Single spoke cavities are the main accelerating structures in the low energy front-end. The single spoke cavity has small transverse electromagnetic field asymmetry, which may lead to transverse RF defocusing asymmetry and beam envelope asymmetry. A superconducting single spoke resonator (PKU-2 Spoke) of β =0.12 and f=325 MHz with a racetrack-shaped inner conductor has been designed at Peking university. The study of its RF field quadrupole asymmetry and its effect on transverse momentum change has been performed. The quadrupole asymmetry study has also been performed on a β =0.12 and f=325 MHz ring-shaped single spoke cavity. Our results show that the quadrupole asymmetry is very small for both the racetrack-shaped and the ring-shaped single spoke cavity.     

ADS注入器Ⅰ高频四极场功率源系统研制

ADS注入器Ⅰ高频四极场(RFQ)功率源系统将为325MHz RFQ提供连续波功率,使束流离开RFQ时,其能量达到几MeV。功率源系统除了补偿RFQ腔耗外,还必须提供足够的功率以保证RFQ中的加速电场。ADS注入器ⅠRFQ功率源系统主要包括600kW连续波速调管、80kV/18A基于脉冲步进调制技术的PSM电源、环流器以及相应的波导传输系统等。根据ADS总体指标和RFQ的相关技术参数,提出了功率源的总体布局、技术指标以及设计要求等,在此基础上完成系统安装与调试,并通过专家组测试与验收。     

Physics design of a CW high-power proton Linac for accelerator-driven system

Accelerator-driven systems (ADS) have evoked lot of interest the world over because of their capability to incinerate the MA (minor actinides) and LLFP (long-lived fission products) radiotoxic waste and their ability to utilize thorium as an alternative nuclear fuel. One of the main subsystems of ADS is a high energy (∼1 GeV) and high current (∼30 mA) CW proton Linac. The accelerator for ADS should have high efficiency and reliability and very low beam losses to allow hands-on maintenance. With these criteria, the beam dynamics simulations for a 1 GeV, 30 mA proton Linac has been done. The Linac consists of normal-conducting radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ), drift tube linac (DTL) and coupled cavity drift tube Linac (CCDTL) structures that accelerate the beam to about 100 MeV followed by superconducting (SC) elliptical cavities, which accelerate the beam from 100 MeV to 1 GeV. The details of the design are presented in this paper.     

驱动堆中长寿命核废料碘的嬗变研究

利用理论模拟和实验手段对加速器驱动的快中子堆消除常规反应堆排放的核废料碘进行了研究.实验中,利用加速器加速质子使其能量达到1.0GeV,并轰击重金属铅靶,利用靶中产生的次级中子诱发核废料¹²⁹I的嬗变,使其嬗变为稳定同位素¹³⁰Xe.对实验嬗变效率进行了理论模拟验证,进而拓宽到研究的驱动堆体系中.堆芯区的核燃料为乏燃料铀和钚,靶和初级热交换剂为液态铅.     

Thermal-hydraulic analysis of LBE spallation target for accelerator-driven systems

In an accelerator-driven subcritical system (ADS), a high-performance spallation neutron source is used to feed the subcritical reactor. Neutron generation depends on the proton beam intensity. If the beam intensity is increased by a given factor, the number of generated neutrons will increase. The mechanism yielding a high rate of neutron production per energy is the spallation process, and this mechanism produces a very high-energy deposition in the spallation target material. Producing a high rate of neutrons is accompanied by creation of problems of decay heat cooling and radiological protection. As a first step in designing a full-scale industrial ADS, a small-scale experimental ADS, which is similar to the European experimental ADS (XADS) is analysed. The analysis presented in this paper is based on lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) cooled XADS-type experimental reactors, designed during the European experimental (PDS-XADS) project. Computational fluid dynamics analysis has been carried out for the spallation target. Steady state behaviour and shear stress transport turbulence model with the automatic wall treatment were applied in the present analysis.     

Prospects for transmutation of nuclear waste and associated proton-accelerator technology

While a considerable and world-wide growth of the nuclear share in the global energy mix is desirable for many reasons, a major concern or objection is the long-term burden that is constituted by the radiotoxic waste from the spent fuel. The concept of Partitioning & Transmutation, a scientific and technological answer, is therefore of high interest. Its deployment may use dedicated “Transmuter” or “Burner” reactors, using a fast neutron spectrum. For the transmutation of waste with a large content (up to 50%) of (very long-lived) Minor Actinides, a sub-critical reactor, using an external neutron source is a solution of high interest. It is constituted by coupling a proton accelerator, a spallation target and a subcritical core. This promising new technology is named ADS, for accelerator-driven system. The present paper aims at an introduction into the field in order to focus, in its later part, on the development of the required accelerator technology.     

Thermal hydraulic studies of spallation target for one-way coupled indian accelerator driven systems with low energy proton beam

BARC has recently proposed a one-way coupled ADS reactor. This reactor requires typically ∼1 GeV proton beam with 2 mA of current. Approximately 8 kW of heat is deposited in the window of the target. Circulating liquid metal target (lead/lead-bismuth-eutectic) has to extract this heat and this is a critical R&D problem to be solved. At present there are very few accelerators, which can give few mA and high-energy proton beam. However, accelerators with low energy and hundreds of micro-ampere current are commercially available. In view of this, it is proposed in this paper to simulate beam window heating of ∼8 kW in the target with low-energy proton beam. Detailed thermal analysis in the spallation and window region has been carried out to study the capability of heat extraction by circulating LBE for a typical target loop with a proton beam of 30 MeV energy and current of 0.267 mA. The heat deposition study is carried out using FLUKA code and flow analysis by CFD code. The detailed analysis of this work is presented in this paper.      

Mismatch study of C-ADS main linac

The ADS accelerator in China is a Continuous-Wave(CW) proton linac with 1.5 Ge V beam energy,10 m A beam current, and 15 MW beam power. To meet the extremely low beam loss rate and high reliability requirements, it is very important to study the beam halo caused by beam mismatch, which is one major sources of beam loss. To avoid envelope instability, the phase advances per period are all smaller than 90 degrees in the main linac design. In this paper, simulation results of the emittance growth and the envelope oscillations caused by mismatch in the main linac section are presented. To meet the emittance growth requirement, the transverse and longitudinal mismatch factors should be smaller than 0.4 and 0.3, respectively.     

Transmutation: Towards solving problem of spent nuclear fuel

An Accelerator Driven Subcritical System (ADS) is a promising, new concept for transmutation of long-lived isotopes originating from spent nuclear fuel. In the mainstream of research is the proton accelerator-driven ADS, however, on smaller scale an electron accelerator-driven machine could be an alternative. Using international codes we started to investigate the reactor physical aspects of such a device. In our paper we present the results of the first step of the modelling: the target optimization.     

Beam experiments with a non-intercepting beam induced f luorescence profile monitor for the ADS LINAC

An accelerator-driven subcritical system(ADS) project was launched in China in 2011, aiming to design and build an ADS demonstration facility with the capability of more than 1000 MW thermal power. The driver linac is defined to be a 10 m A current of high energy protons at 1.5 Ge V in continuous wave operation mode. To meet the extremely high power and intense beam accelerator requirements, non-interceptive monitors for the beam transverse profile are required for this proton linac. Taking advantage of the residual gas as active material, the Beam Induced Fluorescence(BIF) monitor exploits gas-excited fluorescence in the visible spectrum region for transverse profile measurements. The advantages of this non-intercepting method are that nothing is installed in the vacuum pipe,component design is compact and there is no need for expensive signal processing electronics. Beam experiments have been performed under constant beam conditions. The helium spectrum has been verified with different optical filters, showing that a proper optical band-pass filter covering 400–500 nm is necessary for fluorescence experiments with helium. By changing gas pressure, it is shown that gas pressure is proportional to the signal amplitude but has no influence on detected profile width. Finally, a comparison experiment between the BIF monitor and a wire scanner shows that the detected profile width results of both methods agree well.