Overview
The Rotating Target Neutron Source is an accelerator-based source of D-T fusion neutrons. This machine has a 400 kilovolt Cockroft-Walton type accelerator and a rotating, water-cooled target which contains tritium. The accelerator provides a 5 mA beam of deuterons, which interact with the tritium on the rotating target to make fusion neutrons. These neutrons have an energy of 14 MeV and are produced roughly isotropically from the point of beam impact on the target. The available neutron yield from this source is between 1.0E12 and 6.0E12 neutrons per second. The target is constructed so that material samples can be placed within one centimeter of the neutron source point. Fluxes up to 5.0E11/cm2 over a volume of several cubic centimeters are available.Current studies using RTNS are materials tests for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) under construction at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, activation studies for radiological safety of fusion facilities including NIF, and measurements of nuclear cross sections and detector devices for neutrons at fusion energy. Operations using the RTNS machine are currently supported under contract with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
