Inertial electrostatic confinement: A unique compact accelerator-target source for neutron capture therapy
- Fusion Studies Lab., Urgana, IL (United States)
The economic development of neutron capture therapy requires the availability of a compact, relatively inexpensive neutron source. A variety of accelerator-target concepts are considered competitors for this application, but all require considerable research and development to achieve the goals desired. In this presentation, a new concept is described, the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement or IEC device. The IEC is, in effect, an integrated ion-accelerator, plasma-target device. The use of a plasma-target removes the traditional target-heating issues, transferring heating to other components where it is more easily handled. A gaseous discharge in deuterium (or deuterium-tritium [D-T] mixtures) is developed between a spherical grid and the spherical vacuum-vessel wall. A high voltage applied to the grid not only creates the discharge, but also simultaneously extracts and focuses the ions into a small high-density volume at the center of the sphere where fusion occurs, producing neutrons. A high efficiency is obtained, since this creates a potential configuration which recirculates scattered ions through the dense center volume. Present experimental devices (30- to 60-cm diameter) at the U. of Illinois routinely produce 10{sup 6-7} 2.54-MeV D-D neutrons/sec steady-state/10{sup 8-9}u 14-MeV D-T n/s equivalent. Even higher neutron-emission rates have been achieved in a new pulsed version. As is, these devices are of interest for laboratory experiments, and a scaled-up version could be considered for human treatment. Concepts and issues related to scale-up will be presented.
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-93ER75873
- OSTI ID:
- 199599
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941129-; CNN: Contract 9XG2-Y5958-1; TRN: 95:005652-0089
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 13. international conference on the application of accelerators in research and industry, Denton, TX (United States), 7-10 Nov 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Thirteenth international conference on the application of accelerators in research and industry; Duggan, J.L.; Morgan, I.L. [eds.]; PB: 201 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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