ANEM: A rotating composite target to produce an atmospheric-like neutron beam at the LNL SPES facility

Abstract

A fast neutron (E>1 MeV) irradiation facility is under development at the 70 MeV SPES proton cyclotron at LNL (Legnaro, Italy) G. C. Acosta Urdaneta et al. 1660207-2we report on the progress in the design of ANEM (Atmospheric Neutron EMulator), a water-cooled rotating target made of Be and W to produce neutrons with an energy spectrum similar to that of neutrons produced by cosmic rays at sea-level. In ANEM, the protons from the cyclotron alternatively impinge on two circular sectors of Be and W of different areas; the effective neutron spectrum is a weighted combination of the spectra from the two sectors. In this contribution, we present the results of thermal-mechanical Finite Element Analysis (ANSYS) calculations of the performance of the ANEM prototype. The calculations at this stage indicate that ANEM can deliver fast neutrons with an atmospheric-like energy spectrum and with an integral flux Φ n (1-70 MeV) 10 7 n cm -2 s -1 that is 3×10 9 more intense than the natural one at sealevel: a very competitive flux for SEE testing.