Neutronic design of a fission converter-based epithermal neutron beam for neutron capture therapy
- Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States)
To meet the needs for neutron capture theory (NCT) irradiations, a high-intensity, high-quality fusion converter-based epithermal neutron beam has been designed for the MITR-II research reactor. This epithermal neutron beam, capable of delivering treatments in a few minutes with negligible background contamination from fast neutrons and photons, will be installed in the present thermal column and hohlraum of the 5-MW MITR-II research reactor. Spent or fresh MITR-II fuel elements will be used to fuel the converter. With a fission converter power of {approximately}80 kW using spent fuel, epithermal fluxes (1 eV < E < 10 keV) in excess of 10{sup 10} n/cm{sup 2} {center_dot} s are achievable at the target position with negligible photon and fast neutron contamination, i.e., <2 {times} 10{sup {minus}11}cGy-cm{sup 2}/n. With the currently available {sup 10}B delivery compound boronophenylalanine-fructose, average therapeutic ratios of {approximately}5 can be achieved using this beam for brain irradiations with deep effective penetration ({approximately}9.5 cm) and high dose rates of up to 400 to 600 RBE cGy/min. If NCT becomes an accepted therapy, fission converter-based beams constructed at existing reactors could meet a large fraction of the projected requirements for intense, low-background epithermal neutron beams at a relatively low cost. The results of an extensive set of neutronic design studies investigating all components of the beam are presented. These detailed studies can be useful as guidance for others who may wish to use the fission converter approach to develop epithermal beams for NCT.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 320992
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Science and Engineering, Vol. 131, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Jan 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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