Thermo-hydraulic analysis of the windowless target system

The target system, whose function is to supply an external neutron source to a subcritical core in order to sustain the neutron chain reaction, is the most critical part of an ADS being subject to severe thermo-mechanical loading and material damage due to accelerator protons and fission neutrons. In order to reduce the material damage and to increase the life of the target system a windowless option was chosen in the framework of the European PDS-XADS project as reference configuration for the experimental ADS cooled by lead-bismuth eutectic alloy. This document deals with the results of the thermo-hydraulic analysis performed with STAR-CD and RELAP5 codes to assess the behaviour of the windowless target system during off-normal operating conditions. It also reports a description of modifications properly implemented in the codes for studying this kind of plant. The windowless target system shows a satisfactory thermo-hydraulic behaviour for the analysed accidents, except for the loss of both pumps without proton beam shut-off and for the beam trips lasting more than 1 s.

@Article{BFM08a,
  author       = {Bianchi, F. and Ferri, R. and Moreau, V.},
  title        = {Thermo-hydraulic analysis of the windowless target system},
  journal      = {Nuclear Engineering and Design},
  number       = {8},
  volume       = {238},
  pages        = {2135--2145},
  month        = {august},
  year         = {2008},
  note         = {idxproject: PDS-XADS},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.nucengdes.2007.10.026},
  url          = {https://publications.crs4.it/pubdocs/2008/BFM08a},
}