We present R&D results of the preparation project for the experimental measurement of the (anti)neutrino magnetic moment at the level of 10(-12) mu(B) using an intense tritium source of antineutrinos and liquid helium target.

Automated system feeding into ion source hydrogen isotopes as molecules with preset ratio of the fluxes is described. The control system automatically maintained the working parameters and provided graphic and digital representation of the controlled processes. Theradio-frequency (RF) ion source installed at the axial injection line of the cyclotron produced ion beams of HD+, HT+, DT+, D2H+, etc. At a several months DT+ beam acceleration the tritium consumption was less than 108 Bq/hr. The intensity of a 58.2 MeV triton beam (T+ ions) extracted from the cyclotron chamber was about 10 nA.

A vast program of the experimental investigation of muon-catalyzed dt fusion was performed on the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research phasotron. Parameters of the dt cycle were obtained in a wide range of the D/T mixture conditions: temperatures of 20–800 K, densities of 0.2–1.2 of the liquid hydrogen density (LHD), and tritium concentrations of 15–86%. In this paper, the results obtained are summarized.

Experimental study on muon catalyzed dt fusion in a triple mixture of hydrogen isotopes (H/D/T) was carried out at the JINR phasotron. The measurements have been performed at various temperatures and densities with liquid and gaseous H/D/T mixtures. Results are presented for the main characteristics of the dt μ cycle. A reduction of the number of dt fusions is observed when hydrogen is added to the D/T mixture, This is mainly due to muon loss to the pt and pd cycles, which have a high sticking probability. We also observe an increase of the cycle rate when the temperature of the H/D/T mixture rises. This confirms the theoretical prediction.

Experiments on the study of the muon catalyzed fusion (μCF) process in a double D/T mixture of hydrogen isotopes in the temperature range 300–800 K at densities 0.3–0.5 LHD are performed at the JINR phasotron. The values of the effective μCF parameters (cycling rate λ c , neutron yield Y n , muon losses w) are obtained. Tentative dtμ-molecule formation rates on D2 and DT molecules (λ dtμ−d and λ dtμ−t ) are obtained for different mixture temperatures and densities. The results obtained show that λ dtμ−t increases with temperature, but its value is smaller than theoretical predictions.

Investigations into the radiogenic helium effect on mechanical properties and structure of the Pd-alloy B-1 have been carried out. For accelerated accumulation of helium in the alloy up to 3190 appm (simulating a long-term permeator operation (∼6 years) when cleaning up the international thermonuclear experimental reactors (ITER) spent D–T fuel mix) the alloy was saturated with tritium at room temperature. High tritium solubility was thus achieved at relatively low pressures. Research results showed that radiogenic helium available in the specimens causes their hardening with significant decrease in plasticity. Structural changes in the specimen material have not been found.

Muon catalyzed dt fusion in dense D/T and H/D/T gas mixtures of hydrogen isotopes is studied by the MCF collaboration at JINR. The measurements were carried out with a high pressure target at the JINR phasotron in the temperature range 300-800 K at mixture densities \( \simeq 0.4{\text{ and }} \simeq {\text{0}}{\text{.8 LHD}}\). Tentative experimental results obtained by several analysis methods are presented.

A facility is described that allows safe handling of high tritium gas activity as dozens kilocuries in a regular laboratory environment. It is used to make and deliver into the target a mixture of specific isotopic composition with the contamination requirement of 10-7 v.f. for Z>1 elements, and recover it upon completion of operation. With this facility, efforts have been accomplished to investigate into the muon catalyzed fusion on two targets – liquid tritium and high-pressure tritium types. Also, the operation range was 0.1–120 MPa for pressure and 20–800 K for temperature and the amount of tritium used was about 100 kCi. The facility showed reliability in operation without indications of radiation beyond the safety level.

Preliminary data are first presented for the measurements of effective parameters of MCF processes in dense D/T mixtures obtained by a novel method. Results are compared with the ones obtained by the “standard” method.