The use of linear superconducting electron accelerator for subcritical reactor driving

At the National Science Centre, Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology (NSC KIPT) the possibility of creating an installation with a subcritical reactor driven by an electron accelerator is examined. To obtain the maximal stream of neutrons from a neutron-producing target at a minimal density of energy emission, the electron energy should be in the range of 100–200 MeV and the size of the target should be as large as possible. Other important requirements are beam continuity with time and long-term stability of the accelerator parameters. The variants of using the superconducting linear accelerator on the basis of a TESLA accelerating structure as of subcritical reactor driver are considered. The basic design parameters and characteristics of this installation are presented.