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Originally Posted by Flieger
Thank you for the description. Please forgive me for asking more questions. 
1) What is "spallation"? Is it like the pitting on bearings and cam lobes? |
Imagine hitting a rock with a hammer. Those little pieces of rock flying off is basically the "spallation" process. We use the energy (and mass) of the protons to knock the neutrons off of the mercury molecules. Another method of producing neutrons is in a reactor, but that has it's own set of issues so the spallation process is becoming pretty popular.
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2) How can you focus/direct a beam of neutrons?
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That's actually the hard part as - in reality - many of the neutrons have a mind of their own and don't go where we want them. Clustered right around the target module are sets of beryllium reflectors and moderators (some liquid hydrogen) which guide the neutrons down "beam guides" to instruments situated many meters from the target. One of my jobs in the next couple of months is to replace a portion of the beam guide that is installed in the core vessel itelf. I'll take pictures.
