Energy deposition studies for the Neutrino Factory target station

TL;DR

This paper investigates energy deposition in the Neutrino Factory target station using FLUKA and MARS simulations, focusing on beam power distribution, shielding effectiveness, and radiation damage to optimize design and safety.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of FLUKA and MARS simulations for energy deposition, offering insights into shielding strategies and radiation damage estimates for the target station.

Findings

Approximately 10% of beam power deposited in the mercury target

Over 2 MW absorbed by tungsten-carbide shielding

Enhanced shielding reduces heating in superconducting coils

Abstract

A study of the energy deposition in the Neutrino Factory baseline target station is presented. FLUKA simulations are used to study how much of the 4 MW proton beam power is distributed within the target station, and these results are compared with MARS simulations. About 10% of the beam power is deposited in the mercury jet target, with more than 2 MW absorbed by the tungsten- carbide shielding. Heating in the superconducting coils, that generate most of the magnetic field in the target region, can be substantially reduced by increasing the surrounding shielding. Estimates of radiation damage are also given for different sections of the target geometry.