Utilization of Monte Carlo calculations in radiation transport analyses to support the design of the US Spallation Neutron Source (SNS)

The Department of Energy (DOE) has given the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) project approval to begin Title I design of the proposed facility to be built at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and construction is scheduled to commence in FY01. The SNS initially will consist of an accelerator system capable of delivering an approximately 0.5 microsecond pulse of 1 GeV protons, at a 60 Hz frequency, with 1 MW of beam power, into a single target station. The SNS will eventually be upgraded to a 2 MW facility with two target stations (a 60 Hz station and a 10 Hz station). The radiation transport analysis, which includes the neutronic, shielding, activation, and safety analyses, is critical to the design of an intense high-energy accelerator facility like the proposed SNS, and the Monte Carlo method is the cornerstone of the radiation transport analyses.