Energy Production Demonstrator and Material Testing Station optimization for Megawatt proton beams

Abstract A simulation study of the Energy Production Demonstrator (EPD) concept – a solid heavy metal target irradiated by GeV-range intense proton beams and producing more energy than consuming – is carried out. Neutron production, fission, energy deposition, energy gain, testing volume and helium production are simulated using the MARS15 code for tungsten, thorium, and natural uranium targets in the proton energy range 0.5–120 GeV. This study shows that the proton energy range of 2–4 GeV is optimal for both a nat U EPD and the tungsten-based testing station for proton accelerator facilities. Simulation-based conservative estimates not including breeding and fission of plutonium suggest the proton beam current sufficient to produce 1 GW of thermal output power with the nat U EPD while supplying a relatively small fraction of that power to operate the accelerator. The thermal analysis has been performed and has shown that the EPD with a parallel proton beam feeding the core has a potential problem due to a possible core meltdown. A scheme has been proposed with a beam steering on the outer surface of the target; its thermal analysis indicates that slicing the target in shorter parts and maintaining a temperature of 25 °C on their surfaces would to avoid the target meltdown.