Status of the first SINQ irradiation experiment, STIP-I

The irradiation program at SINQ was initiated in 1996 in collaboration with Commissariat à lʹEnergie Atomique Centre dʹEtudes de Saclay (CEA), Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), Japanese Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The first irradiation experiment (STIP-I) was carried out from July 1998 to December 1999 in SINQ target MARK-II, which received total charge of 6.8 A h of protons with a peak fluence of 3.2×1025 p/m2. In this experiment more than 1500 samples of different types of Fe-, Al-, Zr-, Ni-, Ti-, W-, Mo-based alloys and their weld materials were irradiated. At the same time, 101 dosimetry detectors of Al, Au, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, Nb and Ti were placed close to the samples in order to analyse the spallation spectrum at different positions. In addition, there were 11 rods from austenitic and martensitic steels and Zircaloy-2, 3 tubes of Zircaloy-2 and 7 lead (Pb) filled tubes of 9Cr–1Mo irradiated for different testing purposes, which would also be available for the post-irradiation examination (PIE). The irradiated samples have been retrieved and will be tested soon by different laboratories. The main results of the PIE should be available in 2001.