Benefits of extended capabilities of the driver accelerator for EURISOL

Abstract

Possibilities are studied for the optimization of EURISOL rare nuclide yields in specific regions of the nuclear chart by building the driver accelerator in a way that enables accelerating several additional beam species, to specific energies, besides the baseline 1 GeV proton beam. Nuclide production rates with these driver beams are compared to the production rates expected with the 1 GeV proton beam in the direct-production and the high-power-converter scenarios. Arguments are presented to show that several additional driver-beam scenarios could provide substantial benefit for the production of nuclides in specific regions of the nuclear chart. The quantitative values in this report are preliminary in the sense that they depend on assumptions on the values of some key parameters which are subject to technical development, e.g., maximum beam intensities or limits on the target heat load. The different scenarios are compared from the aspect of nuclide yields. The arguments presented here, when complemented by the corresponding technological and financial considerations, are intended to serve as a part of the basis for decisions on the design of the driver accelerator of EURISOL.