The 14 MeV neutron source for the development of fusion reactor materials

The necessity for a 14 MeV neutorn source is a long-standing argument in the community involved in the development of materials for fusion reactors. It has been discussed in several international panels, and a number of different proposals for a source have been made, but only in 1994 has the FPCC taken action and endorsed a conceptual design of such a source. Besides the difficulty in convincing the budgeting authorities of the necessity for a 14 MeV neutron source, there exists also difficulty in choosing the best available source. The different proposed sources have a quite different level of maturity and differ substantially in the type of neutron spectrum which they can deliver. Any decision is therefore a trade-off between the quality of the source and the possibility of building the machine in an acceptable time. In spite of these technical difficulties there exists unanimity amongst materials scientists that such a source will be essential in assembling the necessary data bank for the licensing of a fusion reactor and is necessary to develop materials which can withstand the difficult conditions in a fusion reactor.