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A year in orbit: ISS deployment tests radiation detectors for future space missions
The predawn darkness on a cool Florida night was shattered by the ignition of nine Merlin engines on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The thrust of the engines shook the ground miles away. From a distance, the rocket appeared to slowly rise above the horizon. For the cargo onboard, the launch was anything but gentle, as the ignition of liquid oxygen generated more than 1.5 million pounds of force. After the rocket had been out of sight for several minutes, the booster dramatically returned to Earth with several sonic booms in a captivating show of engineering designed to make space travel less expensive and more sustainable.
Jean-François Pignatel, Pierre Richard, Gerald Rimpault, Julian Murgatroyd, Richard Stainsby, Michael Schikorr, Evaldas Bubelis, Sophie Larmignat, Antony Woaye Hune, Danas Ridikas, Alan Takibayev
Nuclear Technology | Volume 180 | Number 2 | November 2012 | Pages 264-296
Technical Paper | Accelerators | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-97
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In order to reduce the volume and the radiotoxicity of the nuclear waste coming from the operation of existing pressurized water reactors, accelerator-driven systems (ADSs) have been envisioned.The Helium-cooled (He) European Facility for Industrial-scale Transmutation (He-EFIT) concept is the EUROpean Research Programme for the TRANSmutation of High Level Nuclear Waste in Accelerator Driven System (EUROTRANS) Integrated Project (IP) (EUROTRANS IP) backup option, whereas Pb-cooled EFIT is the reference one. The plant has a power of [approximately]400 MW(thermal). Like all ADS plants, it consists of three main components: the accelerator, the spallation target module, and the subcritical core.This paper describes the He-EFIT design at the end of the EUROTRANS IP as well as the studies performed to support this design: spallation performances, trasmutation capabilities, and plant safety analyses.No specific technology deadlock has been identified, and it might be possible to build such a plant given necessary research and development in support.
