Remote handling systems for the Selective Production of Exotic Species (SPES) facility

The SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) facility, currently under development at Legnaro National Laboratories of INFN, aims at the production of intense RIB (Radioactive Ion Beams) employing the Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) technique for interdisciplinary research. The radioactive isotopes of interest are produced by the interaction of a multi-foil uranium carbide target with a 40 MeV 200 mA proton beam generated by a cyclotron proton driver. The Target Ion Source (TIS) is the core of the SPES project, here the radioactive nuclei, mainly neutron-rich isotopes, are stopped, extracted, ionized, separated, accelerated and delivered to specific experimental areas. Due to efficiency reasons, the TIS unit needs to be replaced periodically during operation. In this highly radioactive environment, the employment of autonomous systems allows the manipulation, transport, and storage of the TIS unit without the need for human intervention. A dedicated remote handling infrastructure is therefore under development to fulfill the functional and safety requirement of the project. This contribution describes the layout of the SPES target area, where all the remote handling systems operate to grant the smooth operation of the facility avoiding personnel exposure to a high dose rate or contamination issues. (c) 2022 Korean Nuclear Society, Published by Elsevier Korea LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

The SPES facility at Legnaro National Laboratories aims to produce intense RIBs for interdisciplinary research using the ISOL technique. The facility employs a cyclotron proton driver to generate a 40 MeV 200 mA proton beam that interacts with a uranium carbide target to produce radioactive isotopes. The Target Ion Source (TIS) plays a crucial role in extracting, ionizing, separating, and delivering the radioactive nuclei. Autonomous systems are used to handle the TIS unit in the highly radioactive environment, ensuring safety and smooth operation of the facility.