title: Measurement of radionuclide activities induced in target components of an IBA CYCLONE 18/9 by gamma-ray spectrometry with HPGe and LaBr3: Ce detectors.
abstract: Cyclotrons are used worldwide to produce radiopharmaceuticals by proton irradiation of a suitable target. The intense secondary neutron beam generated by proton interactions with the target induce high radionuclide activities in the target assembly parts that may result in an exposure to high dose levels of the operators during maintenance. The main goal of this work is to evaluate gamma-emitting radionuclide activities induced in Havar foils and titanium windows of a target assembly and carousel stripper forks of an IBA CYCLONE 18/9 cyclotron. The knowledge of radionuclide inventory for each component is required by many companies to assess risk for operators before waste handling and disposal. Gamma-ray spectrometric analyses were carried out with High Purity Germanium (HPGe) and Lanthanum bromide (LaBr3:Ce) scintillation detectors. HPGe is the most used detector for its high energy resolution although it is more suitable for use in a laboratory. The use of LaBr3:Ce can be considered a viable option, particularly in realizing a portable spectrometric system to perform "on-site" measurements and a fast dose rate evaluation before the disposal of activated parts. Due to a high activity of target assembly components replaced after a typical irradiation cycle (about 5000 μAh integrated beam current), gamma-ray spectrometric measurements were performed at a large distance from the detector, even more than 100 cm, or by using a purposely realized Lead-walled collimator. The identification of some key-radionuclides allows to evaluate through simple formulations the dose rate behavior for each component as function of decay time from the last irradiation. The knowledge of the dose rate behavior is a significant piece of information to health physicists for waste handling with safety at work. For an Havar™ foil, the dose rate will be reduced to about 1/1,000 of the starting value after a decay period of approximately 4 y (about 1,500 d), with a relatively safety at product disposal work. For a longer time, only long-lived radionuclides (57)Co, (60)Co, and (54)Mn contribute to dose rate.
authors.affiliation: *Università di Palermo, Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell'Informazione e Modelli Matematici (DEIM), Viale delle Scienze-Edificio 6 90128 Palermo (Italy).
authors.forename: Elio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tomarchio
mesh_terms: D011851:Radioactivity; D011868:Radioisotopes; D013051:Spectrometry, Gamma / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes