Abstract
Preparations are ongoing to test the viability and usefulness of an accelerator source of epithermal neutrons for ultimate use in a clinical environment. This feasibility study is to be conducted in a shielded room located on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus and will not involve patient irradiations. The accelerator production of neutrons is based on the 7Li(p,n)7Be reaction. A maximum proton beam current of 4 mA at an energy of 2.5 MeV is anticipated. The resultant 3.58 × 1012 neutrons sec−1 have a maximum energy of 800 keV and will be substantially moderated. This paper describes the Monte Carlo methods used to estimate the neutron and photon dose rates in a variety of locations in the vicinity of the accelerator, as well as the shielding configuration required when the device is run at maximum current. Results indicate that the highest absorbed dose rate to which any individual will be exposed is 3 μSv hr−1 (0.3 mrem hr−1). The highest possible yearly dose is 0.2 μSv (2 × 10−2 mrem) to the general public or 0.9 mSv (90 mrem) to a radiation worker in close proximity to the accelerator facility. The shielding necessary to achieve these dose levels is also discussed. The shielding design has been completed and installation of the accelerator has begun.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Wang, C.; Blue, T. E.; Gahbauer, R. A Neutronic study of an accelerator-based neutron irradiation facility for boron neutron capture therapy. Nucl. Tech. 84: 93–107; 1989.
Crawford, J.F.; Reist, H.; Conde, H.; Elmgren, K.; Ronnqvist, T.; Grusell, E.; Nilsson, B.; Pettersson, O.; Stromberg, P.; Larsson, B. Neutrons for capture therapy produced by 72 MeV protons. In: Progress in neutron capture therapy for cancer, proceedings of the fourth international symposium on boron neutron capture therapy. New York: Plenum Press; 1992.
Blue, T. E.; Qu, T-X, B.; Christensen, R. N.; Guo, P.; Blue, J. W. An integrated neutronic and thermal-hydraulic design study for an accelerator neutron irradiation facility. In: Progress in neutron capture therapy for cancer, proceedings of the fourth international symposium on boron neutron capture therapy. New York: Plenum Press; 1992.
Wang, C.; Eggers, P.E.; Crawford, H.L. Accelerator neutron irradiation facility for hospital-based neutron capture therapy. In: Advances in neutron captpure therapy, proceedings of the fifth international symposium on neutron capture therapy. New York: Plenum Press; 1993.
Shefer, R.E.; Klinkowstein, R.E.; Yanch J.C.; Brownell G.L. An epithermal neutron source for BNCT using a tandem cascade accelerator. In: Progress in neutron capture therapy for cancer, proceedings of the fourth international symposium on boron neutron capture therapy. New York: Plenum Press; 1992.
Wang, C.; Moore, B. R. On the study of energy spectra and angular distributions of the neutrons emitted from a beryllium target bombarded with 4-MeV protons for neutron capture therapy. In: Advances in neutron captpure therapy, proceedings of the fifth international symposium on neutron capture therapy. New York: Plenum Press; 1993.
Yanch, J.C.; Shefer, R.E.; Hughey, B.J.; Klinkowstein, R.E. Accelerator-based epithermal neutron beams for neutron capture therapy. In: Advances in neutron captpure therapy, proceedings of the fifth international symposium on neutron capture therapy. New York: Plenum Press; 1993.
Yanch, J.C.; Zhou, X-L.; Shefer, R.E.; Klinkowstein, R.E. Accelerator-based epithermal neutron beam design for neutron capture therapy. Med. Phys. 19: 709–721; 1992.
Liskien, H; Paulson, A. Neutron production cross sections and energies for the reactions’Li(p,n)7Be and ?Li(p,n)7Be*. Atomic Data Nucl. Tables 15: 57; 1975
Halbleib, J. A.; Kensek, R. P.; Mehlhorn, T. A.; Valdez, G. D.; Seltzer, S. M.; Berger, M. J. ITS Version 3.0: The integrated TIGER series of coupled electron photon monte carlo transport codes. SAND91–1634; 1992.
Hughey, B. Science Research Laboratory, Somerville, MA. Personal communication, 25 August, 1993.
Brooks, R.; DiChiro, G.; Keller, M.R. Explanation of cerebral white-gray contrast in computed tomography. J. Comp. Asst. Tomog. 4 (4): 489–491; 1980.
Caswell, R. S.; Coyne, J. J.; Randolph, M. L. Kerma factors of elements and compounds for neutron energies below 30 Mev. Int. J. Appl. Radiat. lsot. 33: 1227–1262; 1982.
Zamenhof, R. G.; Murray, B. W.; Brownell, G. L.; Wellum, G. R.; Tolpin, E. I. Boron neutron capture therapy for the treatment of cerebral gliomas. 1: Theoretical evaluation of the efficacy of various neutron beams. Med. Phys. 2: 47–60; 1975.
Briesmeister, J.F. MCNP-A general Monte Carlo N-particle transport code, Version 4A. LA-12625; 1988.
Walen, D.J.; Hollowell, D.E.; Hendricks, J.S. MCNP: Photon benchmark tests. LA-12196; 1991.
Walen, D.J.; Cardon, D.A.; Uhle, J.L.; Hendricks, J.S. MCNP: Neutron benchmark tests. LA-12212; 1991.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Code of Massachusetts Regulations. 105 CMR 120.000.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Howard, W.B., Yanch, J.C. (1996). Shielding Design and Dose Assessment for an Accelerator-Based BNCT Facility. In: Mishima, Y. (eds) Cancer Neutron Capture Therapy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9567-7_62
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9567-7_62
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9569-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9567-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive