The invention of self-shielding copper substrate neutron guides is described, along with the rationale behind the development, and the realisation of commercial supply. The relative advantages with respect to existing technologies are quantified. These include ease of manufacture, long lifetime, increased thermal conductivity, and enhanced fast neutron attenuation in the keV-MeV energy range. Whilst the activation of copper is initially higher than for other material options, for the full energy spectrum, many of the isotopes are short-lived, so that for realistic maintenance access times the radiation dose to workers is expected to be lower than steel and in the lowest zoning category for radiation safety outside the spallation target monolith. There is no impact on neutron reflectivity performance relative to established alternatives, and the manufacturing cost is similar to other polished metal substrates.

描述了自屏蔽铜基板中子引导器的发明，以及开发背后的基本原理和商业供应的实现。量化了相对于现有技术的相对优势。这些包括易于制造、使用寿命长、导热性增加以及在 keV-MeV 能量范围内增强的快速中子衰减。虽然铜的活化最初高于其他材料选项，但对于全能谱，许多同位素都是短寿命的，因此对于实际维护访问时间，工作人员的辐射剂量预计低于钢，在散裂目标单体外辐射安全的最低分区类别。相对于已建立的替代品，对中子反射性能没有影响，