The Impact of Proton-Induced Activation on the Level of Radioactivity in D-³He Fusion Reactors

Experimental radionuclide production cross sections have been collected for protons with energy similar to those protons produced in a D-³He fusion reactor. Proton energy-dependent cross sections (E_p < 14.7 MeV) were used along with the proton stopping data of Anderson and Ziegler to produce a proton-induced thick-target radionuclide activation yields library. In its present form, the library contains thick-target yield data for 164 radioactive isotopes. The library has been used in an activation analysis study aimed at investigating the effect of proton-induced activity on the total level of radioactivity generated in Apollo-L2 (a D-³He tokamak fusion power reactor). Because protons have a short range in solid targets, their effect has been noticed only within the first wall of the reactor. Results showed that while neutron-induced specific activity generated in the reactor Tenelon first wall is 8.1 × 10⁷ Ci/m³, proton-induced specific activity only amounted to 6.37 × 10⁵ Ci/m³.