Computing for Neutron-Source Services
A fusion machine's 14 MeV neutrons are a research tool; computing plans irradiations, predicts results, and interprets them for users.
Neutrons as a service
Intense 14 MeV neutrons are useful well beyond energy production. They test how materials survive fusion conditions, produce isotopes, and probe the structure of matter. A fusion machine can offer this flux as a service to researchers who have no other way to reach it, and computing makes that service precise and predictable.
What computing provides
- Predict the flux and spectrum a sample will see, using neutron transport.
- Plan irradiations to deliver a target dose in a target time.
- Predict activation so samples can be handled safely afterward.
- Interpret results by modeling the damage the sample received.
Predictable exposure
A researcher needs to know exactly what a sample was exposed to. Transport modeling turns the machine's operation into a quantified dose and spectrum for each sample position, so results are interpretable and comparable. Without it, the irradiation is a black box.
Link to materials qualification
The same capability that serves outside users also drives Kronos's own materials qualification, so the tools are shared and mutually validated. Serving external samples is a check on the machine's own predictions.
The Hyperion source
The Hyperion breeder is a D-T machine producing exactly the 14 MeV neutrons this service needs. Scheduling this alongside breeding and isotope production is a shared optimization of a finite neutron budget.
Honesty
Predicted doses carry nuclear-data uncertainty, reported with the result so users know the confidence, consistent with uncertainty-driven practice.