Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 150, 273-274 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2007-00321-6

The SPES direct UCx target

¹ INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, viale dell'Università 2, 35020 Legnaro (Pd), Italy
² ENEA, via M.M. Sole 4, 40129 Bologna, Italy
³ Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica, via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
⁴ Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, via Marzolo 1, 35131 Padova, Italy

Received: 31 January 2007
Published online: 8 December 2007

Abstract

A possible solution for a target system aimed at the production of exotic nuclei as a result of high energy fissions in ²³⁸U compounds has been analyzed. The proposed configuration is constituted by a primary proton beam (40 MeV, 0.2 mA) directly impinging on uranium carbide disks inserted within a cylindrical carbon box. This system has been conceived to obtain both a high number of neutron rich atoms (originated from about 10¹³ fissions/s) and a low power deposition in the target. In order to extract the fission fragments, the box has to be hold at 2000^○C. The thermal analysis shows the capability of the thermal radiation to cool the disks with a reasonable margin below the material melting point. Moreover, the analyses of the thermo-mechanical behaviour and of the effusion times confirm the promising features of this target configuration.