Dosimetry and spectrometry at accelerator based neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy

Authors:   B. Bayanov, A. Burdakov, A. Kuznetsov, A. Makarov, S. Sinitskii, Yu. Sulyaev, S. Taskaev.
Journal: Radiation Measurements
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radmeas.2010.05.017
Abstract: An innovative accelerator-based neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy has started operation at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Novosibirsk. This facility is based on a compact vacuum insulation tandem accelerator designed to produce proton current up to 10 mA. Epithermal neutrons are proposed to be generated by 1.915 MeV protons bombarding a lithium target using 7Li(p,n)7Be threshold reaction. In the article, techniques to detect neutron and gamma-rays at the facility are described. Gamma radiation is measured with NaI and BGO gamma-spectrometers. The total yield of neutrons is determined by measuring the 477 keV γ-quanta from beryllium decay. For the rough analysis of the generated neutron spectrum we used bubble detectors. As the epithermal neutrons are of interest for neutron capture therapy the NaI detector is used as activation detector. We plan to use a time-of-flight technique for neutron spectra measurement. To realize this technique a new solution of short time neutron generation is proposed.