Are high energy proton beams ideal for AB-BNCT? A brief discussion from the viewpoint of fast neutron contamination control.
High energy proton beam (>8MeV) is favorable for producing neutrons with high yield. However, the produced neutrons are of high energies. These high energy neutrons can cause severe fast neutron contamination and degrade the BNCT treatment quality if they are not appropriately moderated. Hence, this study aims to briefly discuss the issue, from the viewpoint of fast neutron contamination control, whether high energy proton beam is ideal for AB-BNCT or not. In this study, D2O, PbF4, CaF2, and Fluental(™) were used standalone as moderator materials to slow down 1-, 6-, and 10-MeV parallelly incident neutrons. From the calculated results, we concluded that neutrons produced by high energy proton beam could not be easily moderated by a single moderator to an acceptable contamination level and still with reasonable epithermal neutron beam intensity. Hence, much more complicated and sophisticated designs of beam shaping assembly have to be developed when using high energy proton beams.
Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Pei-Yi
PY
Lee
Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Electronic address: yhl.taiwan@gmail.com.
Yuan-Hao
YH
Liu
Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Shiang-Huei
SH
Jiang
D016754:Boron Neutron Capture Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017666:Deuterium Oxide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005459:Fluorides / Q000737:chemistry*; D007854:Lead / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009502:Neutrons / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010315:Particle Accelerators / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011522:Protons; D011874:Radiometry; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy / Q000295:instrumentation*
D011522:Protons; C077765:lead fluoride; D007854:Lead; D017666:Deuterium Oxide; D005459:Fluorides
Accelerator-based BNCT; Fast neutron contamination; High energy proton beam