First experimental verification of the neutron field of Nagoya University Accelerator-driven neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy

Kenichi Watanabe; Sachiko Yoshihashi; Akihisa Ishikawa; Shogo Honda; Atsushi Yamazaki; Yukio Tsurita; Akira Uritani; Kazuki Tsuchida; Yoshiaki Kiyanagi

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109553

First experimental verification of the neutron field of Nagoya University Accelerator-driven neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy

Appl Radiat Isot. 2021 Feb:168:109553. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109553. Epub 2020 Dec 5.

Authors

Kenichi Watanabe¹, Sachiko Yoshihashi², Akihisa Ishikawa², Shogo Honda², Atsushi Yamazaki², Yukio Tsurita², Akira Uritani², Kazuki Tsuchida², Yoshiaki Kiyanagi²

Affiliations

¹ Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8603, Japan. Electronic address: k-watanabe@energy.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
² Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8603, Japan.

PMID: 33302249
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109553

Abstract

As the commissioning phase of the Nagoya University Accelerator-driven Neutron Source for boron neutron capture therapy, in-phantom thermal neutron flux measurements were conducted using a small ⁶LiF/Eu:CaF₂ scintillator detector and activation foils. The spatial distribution of the measured thermal neutron flux agreed with the Monte Carlo simulation results. Based on this comparison, the free-in-air neutron spectrum, calculated at the exit aperture, was verified and the epithermal neutron flux, at a 0.25 mA proton current, was evaluated as (1.49 ± 0.10) × 10⁷ n/(cm² s).

Keywords: Accelerator-based neutron source; Boron neutron capture therapy; Epithermal neutron flux; Neutron energy spectrum; Optical-fiber-based neutron detector.