Kurchatov Institute Neutron Center: Current State and Trends
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hatov Institute Neutron Center: Current State and Trends V. P. Glazkova, V. A. Somenkova, and V. T. Ema,* a
National Research Center Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, 123182 Russia *e-mail: [email protected] Received November 1, 2017
Abstract—Prospects for creating a Kurchatov Institute Neutron Center based on the IR-8 reactor with a hydrogen cold neutron source, neutron guides, and new experimental facilities in the neutron guide hall and the reactor hall are discussed. Such a center will have a wide range of equipment enabling research using various new techniques, both in core aspects and in the area of nanotechnologies, surface physics, and study of material in extreme conditions. Keywords: IR-8 reactor, cold neutrons, experimental research DOI: 10.1134/S1063778818080082
Current trends in the development of research reactors come down to the following: (A) Gradual decommissioning of old reactors, most often low- and medium-flux ones, mainly in Europe, the United States and the CIS, as ineffective facilities that do not provide a competitive research level. More than ten research reactors have been decommissioned in recent years in France, Germany, the United States, Poland, Georgia, our country, etc. (B) Creation of neutron centers, mainly based on high- and medium-flux cold and hot source reactors, neutron guides, and an increased number of experimental installations in comparison with operating reactors, and, if possible, with an extended core lifetime. Such centers have been established and are actively operating in France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, and Switzerland. The same type of center is also envisaged at the European Spallation Source (ESS) project under construction. In this regard, it is planned to create in the next 2– 3 years a Kurchatov Institute Neutron Center based on the IR-8 reactor (Fig. 1). To do this, it is necessary to solve the following problems: to create a cold source, three neutron guides, and, at the first stage, three new experimental facilities operating with cold neutrons; to develop and commission new experimental installations and measurement modes and to update the existing ones on the reactor itself for thermal neutrons; and to develop new scientific methods and techniques in the field of nanotechnology, surface physics, highpressure physics, and other relevant domains of science.
MODERNIZATION OF EXISTING PLANTS AND CREATION OF NEW MEASUREMENT MODES In the experimental reactor hall (Fig. 1), two new installations were launched in 2016: a stress diffractometer STRESS and a gamma-neutron DRAKON unit. Four installations, a diffractometer DISK, a monocrystal diffractometer MOND, a triaxial spectrometer ATOS, and an ultra-small-angle perfect crystal device STOIK, were created much earlier [1] and are constantly being upgraded. Monochromator units, detector systems, electric motors, angle sensors, and computer software for automation of experiments were upgraded. Diffractometer DISK The diffractometer DISK [2] installed on horizontal experimental channel 6 (HEC-6) is an extreme ape
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