Study of a simplified CoolGal target to support the Phase-0 NEPIR facility

The NEPIR facility (NEutron and Proton Irradiation), currently in development at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNL-INFN), will serve as the first fast neutron (En > 1 MeV) irradiation source in Italy specifically designed to support advanced scientific research and industrial applications. Powered by the SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) variable-energy proton cyclotron, NEPIR will be implemented in two main phases. Phase-0 will deliver continuous (white spectrum) and pseudo quasi-monoenergetic neutron fields, while Phase-1 will introduce true quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams and an atmospheric-like neutron spectrum. The Phase-0 target system, CoolGal, is based on a thick beryllium target and is intended to evolve into a galinstan-cooled configuration for high-power operation. To simplify initial commissioning, a water-cooled prototype—excluding galinstan—has been developed. This paper presents thermal and structural analysis of the prototype and evaluates its neutron production performance through Monte Carlo simulations. The primary goal is to support an experiment to measure the double-differential neutron yield of the Be(p,n) reaction in the 30–70 MeV range. These results will provide new experimental data to supplement current Japanese Evaluated Nuclear Data Library evaluations and guide the development of advanced neutron sources at NEPIR.