The new JRC tandem accelerator MONNET is ready for operation

On July 2, 2020 the Belgian authorities granted permission to operate the MONNET (MONo energetic Neutron Tower) accelerator

Commissioning of JRC MONNET started following approval by the Belgian authorities of the non-important modification file, the operational procedures and the test and commissioning protocols. Commissioning of the radiation safety system and facility operation went very smoothly and on February 14, the tandem accelerator (Fig. 1) reached its maximum terminal voltage of 3.6 MV. On February 17, the first beam of protons with a kinetic energy of 2 MeV and 10 microampere was developed and proved very stable (Fig. 2). First nuclear reactions were observed (Fig. 3) with the protons striking the beam stop.

The next milestone is the provision of proton beams for the exploratory research project IB4N studying radiation damage of materials. This will be the first of a long list of studies waiting for experiment time at this new research infrastructure of JRC, supporting the work programme and providing an important contribution to the initiative for open access to JRC research infrastructure.

These exciting new developments deserve special thanks to the MONNET team leader (Stephan Oberstedt), the MONNET technical team (Cedric Bonaldi, Thierry Gamboni, Wouter Geerts, Marzio Vidali), the Health Physics Service (Andreas Fessler, Nico Sevenhans, Jeff Goosens) and Petya Malo for document review.