Recent Refurbishment of the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator Neutron Source

Conference · Sun Apr 22 00:00:00 EDT 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1051/ndata:07365· OSTI ID:978751

Guber, Klaus H. ^[1]; Bigelow, Tim S. ^[1]; Ausmus, Clint ^[1]; Brashear, Dane ^[1]; Harvey, John A. ^[1]; Koehler, Paul Edward ^[1]; Wiarda, Dorothea ^[1]; Overton, Roland B. ^[1]; White, John A. ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator

For almost 40 years the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator (ORELA) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been operational and has provided high-resolution neutron cross-section data for many isotopes in the energy range from thermal up to 60 MeV. ORELA is a four-section radiofrequency electron linear accelerator with a water-cooled tantalum neutron production target. Short (2-30 ns) electron burst widths together with available long flight paths lead to excellent time-of-flight resolution. The electron beam energy can range up to 180 MeV and at 50 kW of beam power yields a neutron production rate 10¹⁴ n/s. We report on recent refurbishment activities that included improvements to the accelerator vacuum and electron gun design and other upgrades. The current ORELA program is focused on high-resolution neutron cross-section measurements for the Nuclear Criticality Safety Program for nuclides for which deficiencies in existing data have been identified. Additionally, neutron cross-section measurements for nuclear astrophysics are performed to support studies of heavy element synthesis in Asymptotic Giant Branch stars. Detection and data analysis capabilities have been developed for making highly accurate measurements of neutron capture, neutron total, and (n, α) cross sections simultaneously on different beam lines.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 978751
• Resource Relation: Conference: International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology, Nice (France), 22-27 Apr 2007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
ACCELERATORS
ASTROPHYSICS
CAPTURE
CRITICALITY
CROSS SECTIONS
DATA ANALYSIS
DETECTION
ELECTRON BEAMS
ELECTRON GUNS
ELECTRONS
ENERGY RANGE
ISOTOPES
LINEAR ACCELERATORS
NEUTRON REACTIONS
NEUTRON SOURCES
NEUTRONS
RESOLUTION
SAFETY
STARS
SYNTHESIS
TANTALUM
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator (ORELA)
Neutron Cross-Section Data
Isotopes
Refurbishment
Improvements
Accelerator Vacuum
Electron Gun Design
Neutron Cross-Section Measurements
Nuclear Astrophysics