Abstract
A Varian K15 electron linear accelerator (linac) has been considered for installation at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Before experiments can be performed, it is necessary to evaluate the photon and neutron spectra as generated by the linac, as well as the resulting dose rates within the accelerator facility. A computational study using MCNPX was performed to characterize the source terms for the bremsstrahlung converter. The 15 MeV electron beam available in the linac is above the photoneutron threshold energy for several materials in the linac assembly, and as a result, neutrons must be accounted for. The angular and energy distributions for bremsstrahlung flux generated by the interaction of the 15 MeV electron beam with the linac target were determined. This source term was used in conjunction with the K15 collimators to determine the dose rates within the facility.
Highlights
High energy linear electron accelerators often produce photoneutrons due to the energies of the generated bremsstrahlung photons being greater than that of the neutron binding energies of the materials they are likely to interact with [1]
The high energy mode is capable of producing photons up to 15 MeV and the low energy mode is capable of producing photons up to 9 MeV
The F4 tally results on the conic segments were used to create the spectral distributions of bremsstrahlung photons
Summary
High energy (greater than 10 MeV) linear electron accelerators (linacs) often produce photoneutrons due to the energies of the generated bremsstrahlung photons being greater than that of the neutron binding energies of the materials they are likely to interact with [1]. These materials include the components of the linac itself in addition to the nearby structures within a shielded vault where the linac is housed. In order to determine the dose rates within the accelerator facility, first it was necessary to investigate the photon and neutron radiation flux generated in the linac’s target and the irradiated samples.
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