33S as a cooperative capturer for BNCT

Authors:   J. Praena,M. Sabaté-Gilarte,I. Porras,P.L. Esquinas,J.M. Quesada,P. Mastinu,
Journal: Applied Radiation and Isotopes
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2013.12.039
Abstract: 33S is a stable isotope of sulfur for which the emission of an α-particle is the dominant exit channel for neutron-induced reactions. In this work the enhancement of both the absorbed and the equivalent biologically weighted dose in a BNCT treatment with 13.5keV neutrons, due to the presence of 33S, has been tested by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The kerma-fluence factors for the ICRU-4 tissue have been calculated using standard weighting factors. The simulations depend crucially on the scarce 33S(n,α)30Si cross-section data. The presence of a high resonance at 13.5keV was established by previous authors providing discrepant resonance parameters. No experimental data below 10keV are available. All of this has motivated a proposal of experiment at the n_TOF facility at CERN. A setup was designed and tested in 2011. Some results of the successful test will be shown. The experiment is scheduled for the period November to December 2012.