Speaker
Description
CERN’s planned Beam Dump Facility (BDF) developed within the HI-ECN3 project will host the Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) experiment, a next-generation facility designed to explore light dark matter and other hidden sector particles. At the core of the BDF is a tungsten target designed to absorb most of the particle cascade produced by the high intensity 400 GeV/c proton beam and surrounded by a massive shielding. Over its five-year design lifetime, corresponding to an integrated beam intensity of 2E20 protons on target (POT), the target is expected to reach extreme levels of activation.
To ensure compliance with CERN radiation protection regulations and to maintain occupational exposures and environmental impacts as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), comprehensive radiation protection studies have been performed using the FLUKA Monte Carlo particle transport code.
In this work, the residual dose rates of the BDF target complex and radionuclide inventories of its most critical components were evaluated. Dedicated handling studies were performed to define feasible maintenance and replacement scenarios, demonstrate the need for remote operations, and identify the shielding and access provisions required to minimise personnel exposure. Particular attention was given to the BDF target as the most critical component from a radioactive waste perspective, including studies of its waste classification and the requirements for packaging, transport, and final disposal.
| Topics | T5. Induced radioactivity and decommissioning |
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