Light Ion Beams for Energy Production in ADS

Abstract

A comparative study of the energy efficiency of proton beams with an energy from 0.5 GeV to 4 GeV and light ion beams (7Li, 9Be, 11B, and 12C) with energies from 0.25 AGeV to 1 AGeV in natural and enriched quasi-infinite U target is presented. The numerical results on the particle transport and interaction are obtained using the code Geant4. The following target optimization issues are addressed: the beam window dimensions, and the possibility to use a core from low Z materials. The best solution for ADS from the point of view of the energy gain and miniaturization is obtained for 7Li or 9Be beam with an energy of 0.3–0.4 AGeV and a target with Be core.