Synchrotron-based Photonuclear Neutron Source for Energy, Medicine and Radiation Testing

TL;DR

The paper introduces SYNERGY, a novel synchrotron-driven neutron source architecture that decouples acceleration from neutron production, enabling high-power, multi-user neutron generation for energy, medical, and research applications.

Contribution

It presents a new architecture that overcomes limitations of existing neutron sources by using a storage ring to drive external photoneutron targets with synchrotron radiation.

Findings

Neutron production rates range from 2.8×10^14 to 1.3×10^15 n/s per beamline.

Total facility capacity exceeds 6.0×10^16 n/s with multiple beamlines.

Systematic validation using OpenMC, MCNPX, and FLUKA confirms performance estimates.

Abstract

The global availability of high-intensity neutron sources is restricted by the prohibitive costs of spallation facilities and the decommissioning of aging research reactors, while compact accelerator-driven sources (CANS) are fundamentally limited by target power density and thermal-mechanical stress. Here, we introduce SYNERGY (SYnchrotron-driven NEutron source for Research, energy Generation and therapY), a paradigm-shifting architecture that overcomes these bottlenecks by decoupling charged-particle acceleration from neutron production. By utilizing a storage ring to drive external photoneutron targets via synchrotron radiation, this topological separation ensures targets interact exclusively with a continuous-wave (CW) photon beam, minimizing thermo-mechanical shocks and enabling beam powers exceeding 200 kW per beamline. Through a systematic parametric analysis cross-validated using OpenMC, MCNPX, and FLUKA, we demonstrate single-beamline neutron production rates from $2.8\times10^{14}$ n/s to $1.3\times10^{15}$ n/s. With an inherent multi-beamline capacity feeding up to 50 independent stations, the total facility intensity exceeds $6.0\times10^{16}$ n/s. By bridging the gap between laboratory and national-scale infrastructure, SYNERGY provides a high-intensity, multi-user platform for subcritical systems, medical isotope production, and boron neutron capture therapy.