Energy deposition and radiological studies for the LBNF Hadron Absorber

TL;DR

This paper presents detailed Monte Carlo simulations and thermal analyses for the LBNF hadron absorber, evaluating energy deposition and radiological safety under normal and accidental conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model of the LBNF facility using MARS15 with ROOT geometry, integrating energy deposition, radiological, and thermal studies.

Findings

Identified optimal design options based on thermal calculations.

Provided detailed energy deposition profiles for safety assessments.

Assessed radiological impacts during normal and accidental scenarios.

Abstract

Results of detailed Monte Carlo energy deposition and radiological studies performed for the LBNF hadron absorber with the MARS15 code are described. The model of the entire facility, that includes a pion-production target, focusing horns, target chase, decay channel, hadron absorber system - all with corresponding radiation shielding - was developed using the recently implemented ROOT-based geometry option in the MARS15 code. Both normal operation and accidental conditions were studied. Results of detailed thermal calculations with the ANSYS code helped to select the most viable design options.