The spallation loop

The spallation loop consists of the confinement vessel, two horizontal tubes and the central vertical tube in the centre of the reactor with the spallation target nozzle. The confinement vessel contains:

• The spallation loop heat exchanger (HX): a counter flow tubular HX for which the primary coolant PbBi of the reactor provides the heat sink
• The main circulation pump and the MHD fine tuning pump for flow regulation
• The feed tank with a secondary tank for the collection of the excess PbBi which contains an auxiliary drain pump
• The expansion tank and PbBi purification unit
• The cryopumps
• The required instrumentation with e.g. the LIDAR which measure the vertical position of the free surface and adjusts the flow of the MHD fine tuning pump
• A thick shielding block on top of the vessel with additional weights to overcome the buoyancy force

The confinement vessel includes the adequate "patches" in order to close the cover, the diaphragm and core support plate when the spallation loop is inserted. The confinement vessel extends above the upper surface of the reactor cover. It can be opened for periodic maintenance while still inserted in the reactor. Most components can be extracted individually with their specific instrumentation. It is also possible to extract the whole system from the reactor.