An accelerator facility for intermediate energy proton irradiation and testing of nuclear materials

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel university-scale proton irradiation facility using a cyclotron to study radiation damage in nuclear materials, enabling scalable and effective research for fission and fusion applications.

Contribution

It describes the development of the first intermediate energy proton irradiation facility at a university, combining irradiation and advanced testing capabilities.

Findings

First university-scale facility for 12 MeV proton irradiation

Capability to test radioactive specimens at high temperature and vacuum

Demonstrates scalability and effectiveness for nuclear materials research

Abstract

The bulk irradiation of materials with 10-30 MeV protons promises to advance the study of radiation damage for fission and fusion power plants. Intermediate energy proton beams can now be dedicated to materials irradiation within university-scale laboratories. This paper describes the first such facility, with an Ionetix ION-12SC cyclotron producing 12 MeV proton beams. Samples are mm-scale tensile specimens with thicknesses up to 300 um, mounted to a cooled beam target with control over temperature. A specialized tensile tester for radioactive specimens at high temperature (500+ {\deg}C) and/or vacuum represents the conditions in fission and fusion systems, while a digital image correlation system remotely measures strain. Overall, the facility provides university-scale irradiation and testing capability with intermediate energy protons to complement traditional in-core fission reactor and micro-scale ion irradiation. This facility demonstrates that bulk proton irradiation is a scalable and effective approach for nuclear materials research, down-selection, and qualification.