A flexible target station for Hi-CANS

The advent of high-current accelerator systems launched the development of high -currentaccelerator-driven neutron sources (Hi-CANS) utilizing low energy nuclear reactions. Thisdevelopment can counteract the increasing shutdown of existing fission -based neutron sources and aresulting decline in available neutron beam days as well as establishing Hi-CANS as the nextgeneration of national neutron sources.A main component of a Hi-CANS is the target station used to convert protons into neutrons, tomoderate the neutrons to the required energy in the meV range, extract the neutrons to the instrumentswith the proper phase space volume as well as to shield the surrounding equipment .Within the High-Brilliance neutron Source (HBS) project, we are developing three target stationsoperated with a short pulse, medium pulse, and long pulse proton beam. The target stations have target/ moderator / reflector geometries optimized to the specific proton beam structure allowing to providetailored neutron beams to each individual neutron instrument. For this, a basic target station setup isused where just the core is modified to fulfill the specific requirements. Such a base layout of the targetstation reduces cost and effort and allows interchangeable composts making it highly modular andversatile.At UCANS 9, we will present the general design ideas of such a Hi-CANS target station and showthe flexibility it offers

The High Brilliance neutron Source (HBS): A project for a next generation neutron research facility

The High Brilliance neutron Source (HBS) is a project for a next generation neutron research facility, based on new concepts and recent technological advancements. As elementary processes it uses neither fission nor spallation, but instead low energy nuclear reactions in a very compact Target-ModeratorReflector (TMR) assembly. Our facility design results in very efficient production of neutron beams with high brightness. Key features of HBS are: (i) very competitive instrument performance, (ii) comparatively low construction and operation costs, (iii) resilience, (iv) sustainability, (v) flexibility, (vi) accessibility and (vii) scalability. Here we present the basic layout of the facility, elaborate on the mentioned key features and report on the commissioning of a small test setup

The High Brilliance Neutron Source Target Stations

High Current Accelerator driven Neutron Sources (HiCANS) are a cost-efficient alternative for future large scale neutron facilities. They excel in transforming neutrons released by the primary nuclear reaction into a spectral range usable for applications. In particular, the cost of a target station represents only a minor fraction of the overall construction cost due to the lower energy of the primary neutrons, which requires less shielding. They can be designed to provide optimized pulse and spectral properties for applications in neutron scattering, analytics and imaging experiments. For the High Brilliance neutron Source (HBS) project at Forschungszentrum Jülich, we have developed a modular design that meets the radiation protection requirements while providing sufficient space in its core to adapt the target-moderator-reflector assembly to the different applications. In the following, we present the basic target station design which will be used at HBS for three different realizations with their own instrument suite. All relevant components have been designed, built and tested at the JULIC Neutron Platform which has produced neutrons since December 12th 2022. The simulated performance of a target station shows that the brightnesses of the moderators are in the range of modern research reactors and sub-MW power spallation sources