Neutronic Characterization of the Megapie Target

TL;DR

This paper presents the experimental neutronic characterization of the MEGAPIE liquid spallation target, measuring prompt and delayed neutron fluxes to validate transport models and assess performance under irradiation conditions.

Contribution

It provides novel measurements of prompt and delayed neutron fluxes in the MEGAPIE target, offering data for validating neutron production models in transport codes.

Findings

Measured prompt neutron flux distribution inside the target.

Compared experimental data with MCNPX simulations.

Analyzed the decay time spectrum of delayed neutrons.

Abstract

The MEGAPIE project is one of the key experiments towards the feasibility of Accelerator Driven Systems. On-line operation and post-irradiation analysis will provide the scientific community with unique data on the behavior of a liquid spallation target under realistic irradiation conditions. A good neutronics performance of such a target is of primary importance towards an intense neutron source, where an extended liquid metal loop requires some dedicated verifications related to the delayed neutron activity of the irradiated PbBi. In this paper we report on the experimental characterization of the MEGAPIE neutronics in terms of the prompt neutron (PN) flux inside the target and the delayed neutron (DN) flux on the top of it. For the PN measurements, a complex detector, made of 8 microscopic fission chambers, has been built and installed in the central part of the target to measure the absolute neutron flux and its spatial distribution. Moreover, integral information on the neutron energy distribution as a function of the position along the beam axis could be extracted, providing integral constraints on the neutron production models implemented in transport codes such as MCNPX. For the DN measurement, we used a standard 3He counter and we acquired data during the start-up phase of the target irradiation in order to take sufficient statistics at variable beam power. Experimental results obtained on the PN flux characteristics and their comparison with MCNPX simulations are presented, together with a preliminary analysis of the DN decay time spectrum.