Pulsed Neutron Source using 100-MeV electron Linac at Pohang Accelerator Laboratory

TL;DR

This paper describes the development and testing of a 100-MeV electron linear accelerator at Pohang Laboratory designed to generate pulsed neutrons for nuclear research, detailing its parameters, modes, and facility components.

Contribution

It introduces a new pulsed neutron source facility using an existing 100-MeV electron linac with dual pulse modes and reports its operational status and characteristics.

Findings

Successfully constructed and tested the linac

Operates in short and long pulse modes

Provides pulsed neutron production for research

Abstract

The Pohang Accelerator Laboratory operates an electron linac for the pulsed neutron source as one of the long-term nuclear R&D programs at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The designed beam parameters are as follows; The nominal beam energy is 100 MeV, the maximum beam power is 10 kW, and the beam current is varied from 300 mA to 5A depends on the pulse repetition. The linac has two operating modes: one for short pulse modes with the various repetitions between 2 ns and 100 ns and the other for long pulse modes with 1 ms repetition. We have constructed and tested an electron linac based on the existing equipment such as a SLAC-5045 klystron, two constant gradient accelerating sections, and a thermionic RF-gun. We present the characteristics of the linac and report the status of the pulsed neutron source facilities include a target system and time-of-flight paths.