Scope of the work
The spallation target is one of the most delicate and technically challenging components of an Accelerator-Driven System (ADS)*. The MEGAPIE experiment has been very important since it consisted in the first experiment to design, manufacture, test, commission and operate a liquid metal spallation target at the MW beam power level.
The design phase of the project was supported by a R&D work divided in several areas, and performed by specialists from the corresponding research fields, studying problems related to thermal-hydraulics, structural mechanics, materials issues, neutronic and nuclear assessment. Concerning the latter topics, in the design phase a comprehensive study was performed on neutronic benchmark, target performance, power deposition, radiation damage to structural materials, target activation, gas production, and shielding. A lot of the work performed needed a validation in the irradiation phase, where neutronic and nuclear measurements, and corresponding calculations, could be performed. [...]