Speaker
Description
The materials proposed for nuclear fusion applications have yet to be fully characterized under the neutron irradiation conditions expected in future fusion reactors. IFMIF DONES (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility – DEMO Oriented NEutron Source) has been conceived to address this challenge by irradiating materials under neutron conditions representative of those found in fusion environments. In IFMIF DONES, neutrons will be produced through the interaction of a 40 MeV, 125 mA deuteron beam, with a thick liquid lithium target, where deuteron–lithium reactions generate a high intensity neutron flux.
Downstream of the lithium target, different modules will be placed for the commissioning and operation phase. These modules will host diagnostics to machine protection, beam monitoring and beam characterization. Among the diagnostics currently considered are ionization chambers, fission chambers, and self powered neutron detectors. To better understand the behaviour of these detectors in the IFMIF DONES environment, theoretical sensitivity studies have been carried out. These studies aim to gain deeper insight into the influence of the detector design on the estimation of the induced current.
Moreover, to mitigate temperature gradients induced by gaps between specimens, the irradiation module capsules and diagnostics will be filled with a conductive material to ensure thermal homogenization. At present, sodium has been selected for this purpose, as it behaves as a liquid metal at irradiation temperature. However, sodium is corrosive to the specimen materials, which motivates the need to investigate, from the neutronic point of view, alternative filling materials in solid, liquid and gas states that can provide adequate thermal performance while ensuring material compatibility and without jeopardizing the neutron doses received by the specimens.
The assessment of the different designs and scenarios was carried out using calculations obtained from different Monte Carlo simulation codes.
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