Irradiation of Electronic Components and Circuits at the Portuguese Research Reactor: Lessons Learned

A program was started in 1999 in the Portuguese Research Reactor to test electronics components and circuits for the LHC facility at CERN, initially with a dedicated in-pool irradiation container used at a reactor power of 2 kW and later an irradiation chamber outside the pool, with tailored neutron and gamma filters that could be used at 1 MW. Practice has shown the need to introduce several improvements to the irradiation procedures and infrastructures over the years. In this paper, we review the lessons learned and the major improvements introduced.