A neutronic experiment to support the design of an Indian TBM shield module for ITER

A shield module is associated with an Indian Test Blanket Module (TBM) in ITER to limit the radiation doses in port inter-space areas. The shield module is made of stainless steel plates and water channels. It is identified as an important component for radiation protection because of its radiation exposure control functionality. The radiation protection classification leads to more assurance of the component design. In order to validate and verify the design of the shield module, a neutronic laboratory-scale experiment is designed and executed. The experiment is planned by considering the irradiation under a neutron source of 14 MeV and yields of 1010 n s−1. The reference neutron spectrum of the ITER TBM shield module has been achieved through optimization of the neutron source spectrum by a combination of steel and lead materials. The neutron spectrum and flux are measured using a multiple foil activation technique and neutron dose-rate meter LB 6411 (He-3 proton recoil counter with polyethylene), respectively. The neutronic design simulation is assessed using MCNP5 and FENDL 2.1 cross-section data. The paper covers neutronic design, irradiation and the outcome of the experiment in detail.