Water Activation in a Fusion Environment

Water is activated in a fusion environment by the ¹⁶O(n,p)¹⁶N reaction. In this work nuclear responses in the magnets, induced by gamma rays from the activated cooling water, for the current design of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), are calculated with a detailed Monte Carlo model of the chimney region through which the cooling pipes leave the machine. It is found that, despite a significant dose, the nuclear responses induced by these gamma-rays do not pose an obvious threat to the operation of the magnets.