Picture of the open
Pre-Conditining Vessel (PCV) |
Lead-bismuth eutectic (PbBi) is the reference target material for MYRRHA. Because of the significant reduction of the production rate of the α-emitter 210Po, lead (Pb) could be thought of being advantageous over PbBi. It does, however, have the important disadvantage of a higher melting point (327 °C compared to 123.5 °C) which puts severe constraints to the structural materials. For PbBi, the Po release problem is mitigated by the fact that Po forms a bond with Pb to form meta-stable PbPo which has an emanation. |