MEGAPIE Spallation Target: Design Implementation and Preliminary Tests of the First Prototypical Spallation Target for Future ADS
Résumé
The MEGAPIE target has been designed, manufactured, set-up and fitted with all the ancillary systems on an integral test stand in Paul Scherrer Institute for off-beam tests dedicated to thermo-hydraulic and operability tests, carried out during the last months of 2005. It was then moved for final implementation to the SINQ facility, with the ancillary systems, for irradiation that is foreseen to be carried out from July to December 2006. The results obtained during the integral tests have shown that the target was well designed for a safe operation and allowed to validate the main procedures related to fill and drain, steady-state operation, and transients due to beam trips. A start-up procedure has been developed, and the operating and control parameters have been defined. The already performed steps, conceptual and engineering design, manufacturing and assembly, safety and reliability assessment, integral off-beam tests, start-up of irradiation at SINQ PSI, then later decommissioning, post-irradiation experiments, and waste management will provide the ADS community a uniquely relevant design and operational feedback.