The DONES (DEMO oriented neutron source) has been conceived as a simplified IFMIF-like plant to provide earlier availability, on a reduced time scale and with a reduced budget—both compared to IFMIF—of basic information on materials damage. The conceptual design of the DONES will consist of a number of changes oriented to reduce the time required for construction and the time required to produce the required damage.This paper evaluates how changes in beam irradiation parameters or geometric issues will affect the damage produced in the specimens located in the experimental irradiation area (test cell) of the DONES. Neutron transport calculations have been performed to evaluate the sensitivity of material radiation effects to different irradiation environments. The neutron transport calculations have been performed using McDeLicious 2011 (based on MCNP5-v1.6), code developed by the KIT research institute to reproduce the IFMIF deuteron–lithium neutron source.With this aim in mind, the materials radiation effects evaluated to analyse the sensitivity to the changes in the irradiation conditions have been the damage dose rate, the He and H production, and the He and H production to damage dose ratio. With the analysis of these parameters it is possible to make an evaluation of the level of primary damage suffered by the specimen placed in the high flux test module (HFTM).Based on results obtained in this paper and taking into account engineering considerations, substantial progress should be possible regarding the optimum design parameters for the irradiation area of the IFMIF-DONES facility.