| Schematic of an ADR system with fiber front end. The fiber-based proton accelerator drives a spallation neutron source, which can be used to transmute minor actinides into less toxic elements. The high-energy, high-average-power laser pulses (1) are focused onto a proton-containing target (2) at intensities >1023 W cm−2 (3). GeV-energy protons produced by radiation pressure acceleration (4) are incident on a Pb–Bi target and produce high-energy neutrons by spallation (5), which are used to transmute the spent fuel (6). The condition of the entrance window (7) needs to be carefully monitored to ensure safe operation. |
