Cost and performance of rapid-cycling proton synchrotrons

Alternative rapid-cycling proton synchrotrons using resonant magnet power supply systems are examined as possible replacements for the Fermilab 8 GeV Booster Synchrotron. The baseline machine, with 16 GeV maximum kinetic energy, would replace the Booster and also function as the first stage of a neutrino factory. The study described here uses the cost estimates of the baseline design to scale costs for alternate machine designs with the same functional requirements as the baseline machine. Considering different maximum energy, magnet aperture, and injection strategies, it is found that considerable construction cost savings can be achieved by means of lower energy designs with smaller circumference. The costs are dominated by the stored energy of the resonant magnet power supply system and the volts/turn of the RF accelerating system. Additional considerations of packing fractions, maximum magnetic fields, and ease of implementation are also discussed