Characteristics of an energy selective neutron irradiation test facility (ESNIT) for material irradiation studies

Abstract The concept of an energy selective neutron irradiation test facility (ESNIT) was generated at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, and a program for the preliminary technical survey was initiated in 1988. The potential benefit of such a facility is that it makes possible that neutron-irradiation experiments on materials can be carried out with well-defined energy spectra up to reasonably high flux and fluence levels and with high manipulability. A significant fraction of its applications will be focused on fundamental aspects of radiation damage in fusion reactor materials.