Microdosimetric measurements in the thermal neutron irradiation facility of LENA reactor

P Colautti; D Moro; S Chiriotti; V Conte; L Evangelista; S Altieri; S Bortolussi; N Protti; I Postuma

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.01.005

Microdosimetric measurements in the thermal neutron irradiation facility of LENA reactor

Appl Radiat Isot. 2014 Jun:88:147-52. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.01.005. Epub 2014 Jan 22.

Authors

P Colautti¹, D Moro², S Chiriotti³, V Conte², L Evangelista⁴, S Altieri⁵, S Bortolussi⁵, N Protti⁵, I Postuma⁵

Affiliations

¹ INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, viale dell׳Università 2, I-35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy. Electronic address: paolo.colautti@lnl.infn.it.
² INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, viale dell׳Università 2, I-35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy.
³ INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, viale dell׳Università 2, I-35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy; SCK.CEN, Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium.
⁴ INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, viale dell׳Università 2, I-35020 Legnaro, PD, Italy; Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Unit, Istituto Oncologico Veneto, Padova, via Gattamelata 64, I-35128 Padova, Italy.
⁵ Department of Physics, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy; INFN, Section of Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-7100 Pavia, Italy.

PMID: 24508176
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.01.005

Abstract

A twin TEPC with electric-field guard tubes has been constructed to be used to characterize the BNCT field of the irradiation facility of LENA reactor. One of the two mini TEPC was doped with 50ppm of (10)B in order to simulate the BNC events occurring in BNCT. By properly processing the two microdosimetric spectra, the gamma, neutron and BNC spectral components can be derived with good precision (~6%). However, direct measurements of (10)B in some doped plastic samples, which were used for constructing the cathode walls, point out the scarce accuracy of the nominal (10)B concentration value. The influence of the Boral(®) door, which closes the irradiation channel, has been measured. The gamma dose increases significantly (+51%) when the Boral(®) door is closed. The crypt-cell-regeneration weighting function has been used to measure the quality, namely the RBEµ value, of the radiation field in different conditions. The measured RBEµ values are only partially consistent with the RBE values of other BNCT facilities.

Keywords: BNCT; Microdosimetry; Twin TEPC.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Boron / analysis*
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy / instrumentation*
Equipment Design
Equipment Failure Analysis
Gamma Rays
Isotopes / analysis
Neutrons
Nuclear Reactors / instrumentation*
Radiometry / instrumentation*
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

Isotopes
Boron