LENS Report Low Energy Accelerator-driven Neutron Sources LENS Ad-hoc Working Group CANS Nov. 2020 2 www.lens-initiative.org Table of Content 1 Foreword ................................................................................................................................6 2 Executive summary .................................................................................................................8 3 Neutrons for science and industry ......................................................................................... 12 4 Neutron production and landscape of neutron Infrastructures in Europe .............................. 16 4.1 Neutron production ........................................................................................................... 16 4.2 Situation in Europe ............................................................................................................ 16 4.3 Situation outside Europe ................................................................................................... 18 5 Capabilities of CANS .............................................................................................................. 22 5.1 What is a CANS ? ............................................................................................................... 22 5.2 What are the different types of facilities that can be considered? ...................................... 22 5.3 What performances can be achieved on a CANS for neutron scattering ............................. 23 6 Advantages / limitations of CANS .......................................................................................... 26 7 Operation and Costs .............................................................................................................. 30 7.1 Investment costs ............................................................................................................... 30 7.1.1 Proton accelerator ..................................................................................................... 30 7.1.2 Target – Moderator – Reflector (TMR) monolith ........................................................ 30 7.1.3 Instruments ............................................................................................................... 31 7.1.4 Building...................................................................................................................... 31 7.2 Operation costs ................................................................................................................. 32 7.3 Economic returns .............................................................................................................. 33 8 Communities and business case ............................................................................................ 36 8.1 Scientific research ............................................................................................................. 36 8.1.1 Scientific fields with direct use of CANS ...................................................................... 36 8.1.2 Typical measuring times ............................................................................................. 38 8.1.3 Instrumentation ......................................................................................................... 39 8.2 Industry ............................................................................................................................. 39 8.2.1 Quality assurance screening ....................................................................................... 39 8.2.2 Ad-hoc problems, e.g., related to quality issue ........................................................... 39 8.2.3 Joint research and development ................................................................................ 40 8.3 Other applications ............................................................................................................. 40 8.3.1 Fast neutron irradiation .............................................................................................. 40 9 CANS within a future landscape of neutron infrastructures in Europe .................................... 44 10 Conclusions and Recommendations ...................................................................................... 50 3 www.lens-initiative.org Annexes 11 Technical requirements for CANS .......................................................................................... 52 11.1 Accelerator system ............................................................................................................ 52 11.1.1 Ion source .................................................................................................................. 52 11.1.2 Radio-Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) ........................................................................... 53 11.1.3 Accelerator ................................................................................................................ 53 11.2 Target ................................................................................................................................ 53 11.3 Moderator ......................................................................................................................... 55 11.4 Reflector............................................................................................................................ 57 11.5 Neutron yield .................................................................................................................... 58 11.6 Instrumentation ................................................................................................................ 60 11.6.1 Neutron scattering instruments ................................................................................. 60 11.6.2 Neutron radio-tomography ........................................................................................ 61 11.6.3 Analytical tools .......................................................................................................... 61 11.6.4 Instrument performances .......................................................................................... 62 11.7 Operational considerations ................................................................................................ 63 11.7.1 Radiological safety ..................................................................................................... 63 11.7.2 Waste Management .................................................................................................. 64 11.7.3 Decommissioning ....................................................................................................... 64 12 State of the art across the world............................................................................................ 66 12.1 CANS across the world ....................................................................................................... 66 12.2 Examples of analytical studies using CANS ......................................................................... 68 12.2.1 Small Angle Neutron Scattering on CANS ................................................................... 68 12.2.2 Powder Diffraction on CANS....................................................................................... 69 12.2.3 Neutron Texture on CANS .......................................................................................... 69 12.2.4 Neutron radiography on CANS ................................................................................... 70 12.2.5 Other analytical methods ........................................................................................... 71 12.3 Current CANS projects in Europe ....................................................................................... 72 13 References on CANS .............................................................................................................. 76 List of participants in the editorial group of the Report ............................................................. 77 4 www.lens-initiative.org 1 Foreword 1 Foreword As Chairs of the League of European Neutron Sources (LENS) we would like to thank the working group for producing this report on the potential of low-energy accelerator driven neutron sources. The European landscape of research infrastructures for neutron scattering has changed considerably in recent years. Much of the capability was originally developed through ‘parasitic’ use of materials testing reactors for the development of nuclear power through the 1950’s and 60’s. This led on to the construction from the 1970’s of reactors dedicated for neutron scattering research, such as the Institut Laue Langevin (France). Together with the construction of the major accelerator based sources ISIS (UK, 1980’s) and SINQ (Switzerland, 1990’s), and the research reactor FRM-II (Germany, 2000’s), this created a powerful ecosystem of small, medium and large, national and international facilities that supported a world leading community of European researchers. However, many of the national reactor based sources have come to the natural end of their operation at around the same time leading to a significant reduction in support capacity. The European Spallation Source, currently under construction in Sweden, will offer enhanced capabilities but these will be exploited effectively only if the supporting ecosystem has sufficient strength and depth. Much of the