Abstract
At the SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) facility, intense Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) are produced by the interaction of a 40 MeV proton beam with a multi-foil uranium carbide ...target employing the Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) technique. The Target Ion Source (TIS) unit constitutes the core of the isotope production process. TIS units are replaced on a periodic basis during operation to maintain high performance. An automated storage system has been designed to accept highly radioactive TIS units and house them during a cooling period prior to decommissioning. The system is conceived to meet strict functional and safety requirements. Its peculiar design allows for improved reliability and availability during critical operations, as well as minimization of staff exposure to ionizing radiation during maintenance tasks. This contribution describes the design and control architecture of the Temporary Storage System (TSS). The equipment is part of a structured framework of remote manipulation, consisting of various machines interlocked with the Access Control System (ACS) and the Machine Protection System (MPS).
Abstract
The Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is an Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology suitable to produce almost free-form metallic components. At Legnaro National Laboratories (LNL) of the ...Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the LPBF process was recently used to produce parts of the Forced Electron Beam Induced Arc Discharge (FEBIAD) ion source for the SPES Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) facility. In this work are presented the feasibility assessment and production steps of tantalum cathodes produced via AM; in addition, the results concerning both the dimensional-geometrical measurements and the preliminary high-temperature test are reported.
The Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) method for the production of Radioactive Ion Beams (RIB) is attracting significant interest in the worldwide nuclear physics community. Within this context the ...SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) RIB facility is now under construction at INFN LNL (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro). This technique is established as one of the main techniques for high intensity and high quality beams production. The SPES facility will produce n-rich isotopes by means of a 40 MeV proton beam, emitted by a cyclotron, impinging on a uranium carbide multi-foil fission target. The aim of this work is to describe the most important results obtained by the study of the on-line behavior of the SPES production target assembly. This target system will produce RIBs at a rate of about 1013 fissions per second, it will be able to dissipate a total power of up to 10 kW, and it is planned to work continuously for 2 week-runs of irradiation. ISOL beams of 24 different elements will be produced, therefore a target and ion source development is ongoing to ensure a great variety of produced isotopes and to improve the beam intensity and purity.
SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) is a second generation facility for the production of radioactive ion beams that is going to be commissioned at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro of ...INFN at Legnaro, Padua, Italy. Radioactive neutron-rich isotopes are expected to be produced by nuclear fission induced by a 40 MeV, 200 μA primary proton beam impinging on a
UC
target. The expected reaction rate is about 10
fission/s. Radioactive ion beams are produced using the isotope separation on-line technique. The production of such an amount of radioactive species raises radiological issues throughout the life cycle of the facility. A study of the radioactive contamination of the components of the radioactive ion beam line is performed with the FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation code, under realistic hypotheses for the produced isobaric beams. The present results complete previous studies focused on the radiological impact of the production target irradiation, the residual activation of the primary proton beam line and the radioactive contamination of the ion source complex. The overall ambient dose equivalent rate due to the different radiation sources is calculated at several positions inside the production bunker and at different times after a typical one-year operating period of the facility with the
UC
target at full power. The obtained results and the developed methodology provide the guidelines and the needed tools to plan ordinary and extraordinary interventions as well as final decommissioning of the SPES facility.
The SPES laser ion source has been tested at ISOLDE Offline 2, CERN. A two-step single resonance photo-ionization scheme has been used to ionize gallium atoms in the SPES tantalum hot-cavity ion ...source. The ion beam time structure, laser enhancement of ion yield, and ionization efficiency are investigated in relation to the ion source temperature and ion load. From the time structures, it is inferred that a significant fraction of the extracted ions are generated in the transfer line rather than just in the hot cavity. The effect of the electrostatic axial field on the movement of ions inside the ion source is discussed. Generally, there is an inverse relationship between total ion load and the laser enhancement factor. This dependency is enhanced at lower operating temperature of the ion source. This is explained by the influence of thermionic electron emission and ion density on the transverse laser-ion confinement, and therefore the survival of ions as they drift towards the extraction region of the ion source. At 2200 °C, the nominal temperature for on-line operation of the ion source, the ratio of laser-ionized to surface-ionized gallium was stable around 55 during the measurement campaign, and independent of the total extracted ion current up to the measured value of 1.1 μA. A resonance laser ionization efficiency value of 27.2% for gallium has been measured.
•Thermal conductivity and emissivity measurements of uranium carbides were performed.•The tested materials are candidates as targets for radioactive ion beam production.•The results are correlated ...with the materials composition and microstructure.
Thermal conductivity and emissivity measurements on different types of uranium carbide are presented, in the context of the ActiLab Work Package in ENSAR, a project within the 7th Framework Program of the European Commission. Two specific techniques were used to carry out the measurements, both taking place in a laboratory dedicated to the research and development of materials for the SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) target. In the case of thermal conductivity, estimation of the dependence of this property on temperature was obtained using the inverse parameter estimation method, taking as a reference temperature and emissivity measurements. Emissivity at different temperatures was obtained for several types of uranium carbide using a dual frequency infrared pyrometer. Differences between the analyzed materials are discussed according to their compositional and microstructural properties. The obtainment of this type of information can help to carefully design materials to be capable of working under extreme conditions in next-generation ISOL (Isotope Separation On-Line) facilities for the generation of radioactive ion beams.
Abstract
The ADIGE (Acceleratore Di Ioni a Grande carica Esotici) injector consists of an electrostatic 1+ beam line, equipped with ion sources able to produce a wide variety of beams, coupled to a ...magnetic beam line, where charge multiplication is accomplished by implementing an Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) based charge breeder. The injector is totally integrated in the SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) beam line, to allow the post-acceleration of radioactive ions and is now in an advanced phase of installation. The electrostatic 1+beam line has been put into operation and is now producing beams from alkali metals. This contribution concerns the first results of the beam commissioning of this part of the injector, with the description of the initial debug phase and the solutions adopted to ensure a reliable and continuous operation. Preliminary results of the 1+ beam line characterization will be shown, with a comparison between simulated and measured emittances.
Radiopharmaceuticals represent a fundamental tool for nuclear medicine procedures, both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The present work aims to explore the Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) ...technique for the production of carrier-free radionuclides for nuclear medicine at SPES, a nuclear physics facility under construction at INFN-LNL. Stable ion beams of strontium, yttrium and iodine were produced using the SPES test bench (Front-End) to simulate the production of 89Sr, 90Y, 125I and 131I and collected with good efficiency on suitable targets.
•The use of ISOL method for radionuclides production is proposed.•ISOL method allows to produce carrier-free radionuclides for nuclear medicine.•Tests with stable ion beams were produced as a proof of concept.•Sodium Chloride is suitable as material for targets for Sr and Y beams.•Activated Carbon can be compacted with PVA to have a solid target for I2 beams.
Progress in the design and construction of SPES at INFN-LNL Bisoffi, G.; Prete, G.; Andrighetto, A. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section B, Beam interactions with materials and atoms,
06/2016, Volume:
376
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
INFN-LNL is constructing an ISOL (Isotope Separation On Line) facility delivering neutron rich ion beams at 10AMeV or beyond, making use of the linear accelerator ALPI as the secondary accelerator. ...The facility includes a direct ISOL target based on UCx and able to reach 1013fissions/s. In parallel, an applied physics facility will be developed, with applications in medicine and neutron production. The SPES project is a national facility, approved and funded. Commissioning with the first exotic species is expected in 2019. The primary accelerator is a commercial cyclotron, which will send a 40MeV, 200μA proton beam onto an UCx target, connected to SIS, PIS and LIS ion sources. The extracted beam is purified through a Low Resolution Mass Separator (LMRS, i.e. a Wien filter and a dispersive dipole), a beam cooler and a High Resolution Mass Separator (HRMS) and sent to an ECR charge breeder to boost the exotic beam charge state. The highly charged exotic beam is further separated in a MRMS (Medium Resolution Mass Separator) and injected into a 100% duty cycle RFQ and into the existing superconducting linac ALPI, which will be refurbished and upgraded to be an efficient exotic beam accelerator. The upgrade of ALPI will give ∼10AMeV energy to 132Sn19+, taken as the reference ion beam. The paper presents the status of the design and construction of the SPES facility.
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