A High Intensity Proton Linac Development for the JAERI Neutron Science Project

Abstract

JAERI has been proposing the Neutron Science Project (NSP) which will be composed of a high intensity proton accelerator and various research facilities. The accelerator with an energy of 1.5GeV and a beam power of 8MW is required to operate both with pulse mode for basic research fields and CW mode for nuclear waste transmutation studies. A superconducting (SC) linac is a main option for the high energy portion from 100MeV to 1.5GeV. A beam test with an ion source and an RFQ has been performed with a current of 80mA and a duty factor of 10 % at the energy of 2MeV. A hot test model of DTL has been fabricated and tested with a duty factor of 20%. A test stand for SC linac cavity with equipment of cryogenics, vacuum, RF and cavity processing and cleaning system has been prepared to test the fabrication process and physics issues. The vertical test of a β=0.5 (145MeV) single cell SC cavity has been made resulting in a maximum electric field strength of 44MV/m at 2K.