Intruder configurations in Ne at the transition into the island of inversion; Detailed structure study of Ne

Wang, H.*; Yasuda, Masahiro*; Kondo, Yosuke*; Nakamura, Takashi*; Tostevin, J. A.*; Ogata, Kazuyuki*; Otsuka, Takaharu*; Poves, A.*; Shimizu, Noritaka*; Yoshida, Kazuki; et al.

Physics Letters B, 843, p.138038_1 - 138038_9, 2023/08

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138038

Detailed -ray spectroscopy of the exotic neon isotope Ne has been performed using the one-neutron removal reaction from Ne. Based on an analysis of parallel momentum distributions, a level scheme with spin-parity assignments has been constructed for Ne and the negative-parity states are identified for the first time. The measured partial cross sections and momentum distributions reveal a significant intruder p-wave strength providing evidence of the breakdown of the N = 20 and N = 28 shell gaps. Only a weak, possible f-wave strength was observed to bound final states. Large-scale shell-model calculations with different effective interactions do not reproduce the large p-wave and small f-wave strength observed experimentally, indicating an ongoing challenge for a complete theoretical description of the transition into the island of inversion along the Ne isotopic chain.

Neutron production in the interaction of 200-MeV deuterons with Li, Be, C, Al, Cu, Nb, In, Ta, and Au

Watanabe, Yukinobu*; Sadamatsu, Hiroki*; Araki, Shohei; Nakano, Keita; Kawase, Shoichiro*; Kin, Tadahiro*; Iwamoto, Yosuke; Satoh, Daiki; Hagiwara, Masayuki*; Yashima, Hiroshi*; et al.

EPJ Web of Conferences, 284, p.01041_1 - 01041_4, 2023/05

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202328401041

Intensive fast neutron sources using deuteron accelerators have been proposed for the study of medical RI production, radiation damage for fusion reactor materials, nuclear transmutation of radioactive waste, and so on. Neutron production data from various materials bombarded by deuterons are required for the design of such neutron sources. In the present work, we have conducted a systematic measurement of double-differential neutron production cross sections (DDXs) for a wide atomic number range of targets (Li, Be, C, Al, Cu, Nb, In, Ta, and Au) at an incident energy of 200 MeV in the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University. A deuteron beam accelerated to 200 MeV was transported to the neutron experimental hall and focused on a thin target foil. Emitted neutrons from the target were detected by two different-size EJ301 liquid organic scintillators located at two distances of 7 m and 20 m, respectively. The neutron DDXs were measured at six angles from 0 to 25). The neutron energy was determined by a conventional time-of-flight (TOF) method. The measured DDXs were compared with theoretical model calculations by the DEUteron-induced Reaction Analysis Code System (DEURACS) and PHITS. The result indicated that the DEURACS calculation provides better agreement with the measured DDXs than the PHITS calculation.

Measurement of 107-MeV proton-induced double-differential thick target neutron yields for Fe, Pb, and Bi using a fixed-field alternating gradient accelerator at Kyoto University

Iwamoto, Hiroki; Nakano, Keita; Meigo, Shinichiro; Satoh, Daiki; Iwamoto, Yosuke; Sugihara, Kenta; Nishio, Katsuhisa; Ishi, Yoshihiro*; Uesugi, Tomonori*; Kuriyama, Yasutoshi*; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 60(4), p.435 - 449, 2023/04

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2022.2115423

Double-differential thick target neutron yields (TTNYs) for Fe, Pb, and Bi targets induced by 107-MeV protons were measured using the fixed-field alternating gradient accelerator at Kyoto University for research and development of accelerator-driven systems (ADSs) and fundamental ADS reactor physics research at the Kyoto University Critical Assembly (KUCA). Note that TTNYs were obtained with the time-of-flight method using a neutron detector system comprising eight neutron detectors; each detector has a small NE213 liquid organic scintillator and photomultiplier tube. The TTNYs obtained were compared with calculation results using Monte Carlo-based spallation models (i.e., INCL4.6/GEM, Bertini/GEM, JQMD/GEM, and JQMD/SMM/GEM) and the evaluated high-energy nuclear data library, i.e., JENDL-4.0/HE, implemented in the particle and heavy iontransport code system (PHITS). All models, including JENDL-4.0/HE, failed to predict high-energy peaks at a detector angle of 5. Comparing the energy- and angle-integrated spallation neutron yields at energies of 20 MeV estimated using the measured TTNYs and the PHITS indicated that INCL4.6/GEM would be suitable for the Monte Carlo transport simulation of ADS reactor physics experiments at the KUCA.

Design and beam dynamics studies of an ADS RFQ based on an equipartitioned beam scheme

Yee-Rendon, B.; Kondo, Yasuhiro; Tamura, Jun; Nakano, Keita; Maekawa, Fujio; Meigo, Shinichiro; Jameson, R. A.*

Proceedings of 19th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.499 - 502, 2023/01

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is designing a 30-MW proton linear accelerator (linac) for the accelerator-driven subcritical system (ADS). The Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) is an essential component for the performance of high-intensity linac, especially in ADS, where stringent reliability is demanded. The present RFQ will capture a 20 mA proton beam and accelerate from the energy of 35 keV to 2.5 MeV, where the space-charge effects are severe. The present RFQ's design employs the equipartitioning (EP) beam scheme to control the emittance growth and compactness. As a result, the beam halo formation was minimized and allowed to optimize the superconducting linac downstream part. A remarkable feature of this RFQ is the low Kilpatrick factor of 1.2 adopted to achieve high stability by reducing the probability of surface sparking on the vane. This work presents and discusses the results of this RFQ design.

Availability analysis for the 30-MW proton linac of the JAEA-ADS project

Yee-Rendon, B.; Kondo, Yasuhiro; Tamura, Jun; Nakano, Keita; Maekawa, Fujio; Meigo, Shinichiro

Proceedings of 19th Annual Meeting of Particle Accelerator Society of Japan (Internet), p.286 - 290, 2023/01

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is designing a 30-MW proton linear accelerator (linac) as one of the fundamental components for its accelerator-driven subcritical system (ADS) project. ADS accelerators demand extremely high reliability and availability to avoid thermal stress in the subcritical reactor structures. Thus, reliability and availability assessments of the accelerator are mandatory to detect weakness in the lattice designed and evaluate redundancy configurations to fulfill the demanded operation. This study applied the Reliability Block Diagrams (RBD) method to calculate the Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) for different linac configurations: all the linac's elements in a series configuration and a combination of hot-standby for the low-energy section of the linac and k-out-n redundancy for the high-energy part. The estimation considered the detailed arrangement of the cavities and magnets that compose the linac lattice. In this report, we describe the reliability model of the JAEA-ADS linac, report the MTBF results, and point out the potential route toward operating with the required availability.

Beam physics design of a 30-MW beam transport to the target for an accelerator-driven subcritical system

Yee-Rendon, B.; Meigo, Shinichiro; Kondo, Yasuhiro; Tamura, Jun; Nakano, Keita; Maekawa, Fujio; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Sugawara, Takanori; Nishihara, Kenji

Journal of Instrumentation (Internet), 17(10), p.P10005_1 - P10005_21, 2022/10

https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/17/10/P10005

To reduce the hazard of minor actinides in nuclear waste, JAEA proposed an accelerator-driven subcritical system (JAEA-ADS). The JAEA-ADS drives a subcritical reactor 800-MWth by 30-MW proton linac delivering the beam to the spallation neutron target inside the reactor. The beam transport to the target (BTT) is required for high-beam power stability and low peak density to ensure the integrity of the beam window. Additionally, the design should have compatible with the reactor design for the maintenance and replacement of the fuel and the beam window. A robust-compact BTT design was developed through massive multiparticle simulations. The beam optics was optimized to guarantee beam window feasibility requirements by providing a low peak density of less than 0.3 A/mm. Beam stability was evaluated and improved by simultaneously applying the linac's input beam and element errors. The input beam errors to the reactor were based on the beam degradation obtained by implementing fast fault compensation in the linac. Those results show that the BTT fulfills the requirements for JAEA-ADS.

Beam dynamics studies for fast beam trip recovery of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency accelerator-driven subcritical system

Yee-Rendon, B.; Kondo, Yasuhiro; Tamura, Jun; Nakano, Keita; Maekawa, Fujio; Meigo, Shinichiro

Physical Review Accelerators and Beams (Internet), 25(8), p.080101_1 - 080101_17, 2022/08

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.25.080101

High reliability and availability are primary goals for the operation of particle accelerators, especially for accelerator-driven subcritical systems (ADS). ADSs employ high-power beams for the transmutation of minor actinide; as a result, the amount and the radiotoxicity of the nuclear waste are considerably reduced. To this end, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency is designing a 30-MW continuous wave (cw) super-conducting proton linear accelerator (linac) that supplies neutrons to an 800-MW subcritical reactor by a spallation process. The major challenge for an ADS linac is the strict control of the beam trip duration and its frequency to avoid thermal stress in the subcritical reactor structures. The maximum allowed beam trips for failures longer than a few seconds are estimated to be far below the rate achieved in current accelerators. Thus, we implemented a combination of hot standby and local compensation that enables a fast beam recovery. This work comprehensively investigated the tolerance of our linac lattice for the local compensations for failures in superconducting cavities and magnets. This scheme includes simultaneous compensation of multiple cavities in independent and same cryomodules that significantly enhance the reliability of the linac. The returned schemes present acceptable beam performance to guarantee the integrity of the linac and the beam transport to the target; moreover, they satisfy the beam stability in the beam window. In addition, the readjusted elements are subjected to moderate stress to ensure a sustainable operation. This manuscript reports the beam dynamics results toward fulfilling the high reliability demanded by an ADS linac.

Neutronic analysis of beam window and LBE of an Accelerator-Driven System

Nakano, Keita; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Nishihara, Kenji; Meigo, Shinichiro; Sugawara, Takanori; Iwamoto, Yosuke; Takeshita, Hayato*; Maekawa, Fujio

JAEA-Research 2021-018, 41 Pages, 2022/03

JAEA-Research-2021-018.pdf:2.93MB

Neutronic analysis of beam window of the Accelerator-Driven System (ADS) proposed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducted using PHITS and DCHAIN-PHITS codes. We investigate gas production of hydrogen and helium isotopes in the beam window, displacement per atom of beam window material, and heat generation in the beam window. In addition, distributions of produced nuclides, heat density, and activity are derived. It was found that at the maximum 12500 appm H production, 1800 appm He production, and damage of 62.1 DPA occurred in the beam window by the ADS operation. On the other hand, the maximum heat generation in the beam window was 374 W/cm. In the analysis of LBE, Bi and Po were found to be the dominant nuclides in decay heat and radioactivity. Furthermore, the heat generation in the LBE by the proton beam was maximum around 5 cm downstream of the beam window, which was 945 W/cm.

Experimental plan for displacement damage cross sections using 120-GeV protons at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Iwamoto, Yosuke; Yoshida, Makoto*; Meigo, Shinichiro; Yonehara, Katsuya*; Ishida, Taku*; Nakano, Keita; Abe, Shinichiro; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Spina, T.*; Ammigan, K.*; et al.

JAEA-Conf 2021-001, p.138 - 143, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.11484/jaea-conf-2021-001

To predict the operating lifetime of materials in high-energy radiation environments at proton accelerator facilities, Monte Carlo code are used to calculate the number of displacements per atom (dpa). However, there is no experimental data in the energy region above 30 GeV. In this presentation, we introduce our experimental plan for displacement cross sections with 120-GeV protons at Fermilab Test Beam Facility. Experiments will be performed for the US fiscal year 2022. We developed the sample assembly with four wire sample of Al, Cu, Nb and W with 250-m diameter and 4-cm length. The sample assembly will be maintained at around 4 K by using a cryocooler in a vacuum chamber. Then, changes in the electrical resistivity of samples will be obtained under 120-GeV proton irradiation. Recovery of the accumulated defects through isochronal annealing, which is related to the defect concentration in the sample, will also be measured after the cryogenic irradiation.

Radiation shielding analysis of the upper structure of an accelerator-driven system

Iwamoto, Hiroki; Meigo, Shinichiro; Nakano, Keita; Yee-Rendon, B.; Katano, Ryota; Sugawara, Takanori; Nishihara, Kenji; Sasa, Toshinobu; Maekawa, Fujio

JAEA-Research 2021-012, 58 Pages, 2022/01

JAEA-Research-2021-012.pdf:7.23MB

A radiation shielding analysis was performed for the structure located above the spallation target of an accelerator-driven system (ADS), assuming one cycle of an 800 MW thermal and 30 MW beam power operation. In this analysis, the Monte Carlo particle transport code PHITS and the activation analysis code DCHAIN-PHITS were used. The structures to be analyzed are a beam duct above the target, a beam transport room located above the ADS reactor vessel, beam transport equipment, and the room ceiling. For each structure, the radiation doses and radioactivities during and after the operation were estimated. Furthermore, the shielding structure of the ceiling was determined. As a result, it was found that the radiation dose at the site boundary would be sufficiently lower than the legal limit by applying the determined shielding structure. Moreover, under the condition of this study, it was shown that the effective dose rate around the beam transport equipment positioned above the target after the operation exceeded 10 mSv/h, and that the maintenance and replacement of the equipment in the room would require remote handling.