MEGAPIE, a 1 MW pilot experiment for a liquid metal spallation target

Megawatt pilot target experiment (MEGAPIE) is an initiative launched by Commisariat à lʹEnergie Atomique, Cadarache (France) and Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Germany) together with Paul Scherrer Institut (Switzerland), to demonstrate, in an international collaboration, the feasibility of a liquid lead bismuth target for spallation facilities at a beam power level of 1 MW. Such a target is under consideration for various concepts of accelerator driven systems (ADS) to be used in transmutation of nuclear waste and other applications world wide. It also has the potential of increasing significantly the thermal neutron flux available at the spallation neutron source SINQ for neutron scattering. SINQʹs beam power being close to 1 MW already, this facility offers a unique opportunity to realize such an experiment with a reasonably small number of new ancillary systems. The paper describes the basic features of the experiment and its boundary conditions, the technical concept of the target and underlying research carried out at participating laboratories.