After six year of intense work, ESS Bilbao ends successfully the ESS (European Spallation Source) target system. Engineers from the division that ESS Bilbao has at the Instituto de Fusión Nuclear “Guillermo Velarde” at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid have been responsible for the project. This complex target system will become the core of the European Spallation Neutron Source (ESS).

Target wheel

Target wheel: The target wheel stands as the core of the facility, where the spallation neutrons will be generated. As such, its design is a result of the conditions imposed by the beam, and its loads are influenced by all the elements around it.

Target wheel

Shaft: The wheel turns at 23 1/3 RPMs as the proton beam falls on each segment at a frequency of about 0.5 Hz. The wheel spans 2.6 metres in diameter and weighs in at around five tonnes.

The role of the division of ESS Bilbao in IFNGV included the design, construction and testing of 5 elements of the target, including the wheel, which is the main element of the target and producer of the neutron pulses thereof.