Comparison of Neutron Yield Characteristics between Proton Accelerator and Electron Accelerator forWaste Transmutation

摘要

Nuclear waste transmutation is an important conceptfor the development of advanced fuel cycle. Along withreactor-based approaches, waste transmutation by usingaccelerators has been actively investigated. Currentlywidely accepted concept of accelerator-basedtransmutation is to use high-current proton accelerator.There has been some interest in the efficacy of usingelectron accelerators for waste transmutation [1]. Incontrast to high-current proton accelerators, electronaccelerators are well known technology and have beenused in various applications. With the availability of highenergy electron beams, electron accelerators are capableof producing high neutron flux. In this study, neutronyield characteristics in an accelerator target wereinvestigated and compared between the proton andelectron accelerator-based system.