The scrounge-atron: a proton radiography demonstration accelerator

The Scrounge-atron is a concept that could provide a demonstration accelerator for proton radiography. As discussed here, the Scrounge-atron would be capable of providing a 20 GeV beam of ten pulses, 10{sup 11} protons each, spaced 250 ns apart. This beam could be delivered once every minute to a single-axis radiographic station centered at the BEEF facility of the Nevada Test Site. These parameters would be sufficient to demonstrate, in five years, the capabilities of a proton-based Advanced Hydrotest Facility, and could return valuable information to the stockpile program, information that could not be obtained in any other way. The Scrounge-atron could be built in two to three years for $50-100 million. To meet this schedule and cost, the Scrounge-atron would rely heavily on the availability of components from the decommissioned Fermilab Main Ring.