Recent advances in laser-driven neutron sources

Due to the limited number and high cost of large-scale neutron facilities, there has been a growing interest in compact accelerator-driven sources. In this context, several potential schemes of laser-driven neutron sources are being intensively studied employing laser-accelerated electron and ion beams. In addition to the potential of delivering neutron beams with high brilliance, directionality and ultra-short burst duration, a laser-driven neutron source would offer further advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness, compactness and radiation confinement by closed-coupled experiments. Some of the recent advances in this field are discussed,
showing improvements in the directionality and flux of the laser-driven neutron beams.

Corrosion resistance of self-growing TiC coating on SIMP steel in LBE at 600 °C

SIMP steel was newly developed as a candidate structural material for the accelerator driven subcritical system. The serious decarburization of SIMP steel because of the high Si content was used to successfully form a self-growing TiC coating on the surface, after the Ti deposition as a first step. This TiC layer can effectively protect the surface from the static liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) corrosion at 600 °C up to 2000 h in the low oxygen LBE. However, in the oxygen saturated LBE, the TiC coating is oxidized into porous TiO2 after only 500 h and fails to protect. Therefore, the self-growing TiC coating is desired only when the oxygen content of LBE is strictly controlled on a low level.