The experimental accelerator driven system (XADS) designs in the EURATOM 5th framework programme

The Accelerator-Driven System has the potential to safely fission Minor Actinides and transmute, on industrial scale, selected long-lived fission products into isotopes of lesser concern. European leading nuclear Industrial Companies and Research Centers,within the EURATOM 5th Framework Programme, have studied three solutions of eXperimental Accelerator Driven Systems (XADS), different for the power (80 and 50 MW) or the primary coolant (Lead Bismuth Eutectic and Gas). Two main concepts of Target Unit are envisaged: the Window Target Unit which features a thin metallic sheet as a barrier between the LBE target and the Proton Beam Pipe and the Windowless Target Unit in which the proton beam impinges directly on the free surface of the liquid LBE target. These designs are under study in order to assess and compare them on a common basis, and to outline the main R&D needs.