Preface
A great deal of interest has been shown in the accelerator-driven system (ADS), to
produce energy and transmute radioactive wastes in a clean and safe way, from the
viewpoint of a promising and innovative technology. ADS is considered an interestingly hybrid system comprising of a reactor and an accelerator, and many experts of
reactor physics and nuclear data have dedicated their important time and a huge effort
to the implementation of a new system of nuclear transmutation by ADS, through
numerical analyses by stochastic and deterministic approaches.
The few introductory books on ADS present a rather narrow view of numerical
simulations by concentrating only on the behaviors of the neutrons under the existence of an external neutron source such as the accelerator. Meanwhile, neutron
characteristics of ADS cannot be separated from other neutronics and experimental
aspects, including accelerator, radiation detection, and nuclear data, since the validity
and verification of numerical simulations, and the accuracy of experimental results
are confirmed by integrating with the relevant fields.
The authors have attempted to write the results and discussions of experimental
analyses accommodated to the needs of the scientists and researchers in our ADS
community. In particular, the authors have tried to introduce the researchers to
measurement methodologies and numerical simulations of reactor physics parameters in a subcritical reactor, including neutron spectrum, subcritical multiplication
factor, subcriticality, prompt neutron decay constant, and effective delayed neutron
decay constant. Nearly all of the illustrations have been specifically devised for this
book to facilitate insight into various aspects of statics and kinetics in a subcritical
core. Profound works have been written on the subjects of subcriticality by Kengo
Hashimoto and of effective delayed neutron fractions by Masao Yamanaka.
The authors have engaged in feasibility studies of ADS since 2003 with the
combined use of the Kyoto University Critical Assembly (KUCA) core and two
accelerators (pulsed-neutron generator: 14 MeV neutrons and fixed-field alternating
gradient accelerator: 100 MeV proton accelerator). ADS feasibility has been mainly
examined by statics and kinetics experiments carried out at KUCA and numerical
simulations by the Monte Carlo calculations with major nuclear data libraries. This
work is based on a lot of invaluable reactor operations and important experiences in
the KUCA core by the authors, research staff, and students over 15 years.
v
A great deal of interest has been shown in the accelerator-driven system (ADS), to
produce energy and transmute radioactive wastes in a clean and safe way, from the
viewpoint of a promising and innovative technology. ADS is considered an interestingly hybrid system comprising of a reactor and an accelerator, and many experts of
reactor physics and nuclear data have dedicated their important time and a huge effort
to the implementation of a new system of nuclear transmutation by ADS, through
numerical analyses by stochastic and deterministic approaches.
The few introductory books on ADS present a rather narrow view of numerical
simulations by concentrating only on the behaviors of the neutrons under the existence of an external neutron source such as the accelerator. Meanwhile, neutron
characteristics of ADS cannot be separated from other neutronics and experimental
aspects, including accelerator, radiation detection, and nuclear data, since the validity
and verification of numerical simulations, and the accuracy of experimental results
are confirmed by integrating with the relevant fields.
The authors have attempted to write the results and discussions of experimental
analyses accommodated to the needs of the scientists and researchers in our ADS
community. In particular, the authors have tried to introduce the researchers to
measurement methodologies and numerical simulations of reactor physics parameters in a subcritical reactor, including neutron spectrum, subcritical multiplication
factor, subcriticality, prompt neutron decay constant, and effective delayed neutron
decay constant. Nearly all of the illustrations have been specifically devised for this
book to facilitate insight into various aspects of statics and kinetics in a subcritical
core. Profound works have been written on the subjects of subcriticality by Kengo
Hashimoto and of effective delayed neutron fractions by Masao Yamanaka.
The authors have engaged in feasibility studies of ADS since 2003 with the
combined use of the Kyoto University Critical Assembly (KUCA) core and two
accelerators (pulsed-neutron generator: 14 MeV neutrons and fixed-field alternating
gradient accelerator: 100 MeV proton accelerator). ADS feasibility has been mainly
examined by statics and kinetics experiments carried out at KUCA and numerical
simulations by the Monte Carlo calculations with major nuclear data libraries. This
work is based on a lot of invaluable reactor operations and important experiences in
the KUCA core by the authors, research staff, and students over 15 years.
v