Materials irradiation facilities at the high-power Swiss proton accelerator complex

Within the Swiss proton accelerator complex at the Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), several irradiation facilities are operated for investigation of materials behavior under high-dose irradiation conditions as well as for neutron activation analysis and isotope production. In LiSoR (liquid solid reaction), a liquid metal loop connected to the 72 MeV proton accelerator Injector 1, steel samples are irradiated while being in contact with flowing lead–bismuth-eutectic (LBE) at elevated temperatures and under tensile stress. In the spallation neutron source SINQ, the STIP program (SINQ Target Irradiation Program) allows materials irradiation under realistic spallation conditions, i.e. in a mixed spectrum of 570 MeV protons and spallation neutrons. Hundreds of samples, mainly austenitic and ferritic–martensitic steels such as 316L, T91 or F82H, were irradiated to doses up to 20 dpa as part of STIP. These also included steel samples in contact with liquid Hg and liquid LBE. MEGAPIE (MEGAwatt PIlot Experiment), a liquid metal target employing LBE, operated in SINQ during the second half of 2006, can be taken as a materials irradiation facility on its own. Adjacent to the target position, SINQ houses a neutron irradiation rabbit system serving activation analysis and isotope production.