SNS Target Systems initial operating experience

The SNS mercury target started operation with low beam power when commissioned on April 28, 2006. The beam power has been following a planned ramp up since then and has reached 340 kW as of February 2008. The target systems supporting neutron production include the target and mercury loop, the cryogenic and ambient moderator systems, reflector and vessel systems, bulk shielding and shutters systems, utility systems, remote handling systems and the associated instrumentation and controls. Availability for these systems has improved with time and reached 100% for the first 2000 hour neutron production run in fiscal year 2008. An overview of the operating experience and the planning to support continued power increases to 1.4 MW for these systems will be given in this paper.