Dosimetry and fast neutron energies characterization of photoneutrons produced in some medical linear accelerators

Abstract

This work focusses on the estimation of induced photoneutrons energy, fluence, and strength using nuclear track detector (NTD) (CR-39). Photoneutron energy was estimated for three different linear accelerators, LINACs as an example for the commonly used accelerators. For high-energy linear accelerators, neutrons are produced as a consequence of photonuclear reactions in the target nuclei, accelerator head, field-flattening filters and beam collimators, and other irradiated objects. NTD (CR-39) is used to evaluate energy and fluence of the fast neutron. Track length is used to estimate fast photoneutrons energy for linear accelerators (Elekta 10 MV, Elekta 15 MV, and Varian 15 MV). Results show that the estimated neutron energies for the three chosen examples of LINACs reveals neutron energies in the range of 1–2 MeV for 10 and 15 MV X-ray beams. The fluence of neutrons at the isocenter (Φtotal) is found to be (4×106 n cm2 Gy−1) for Elekta machine 10 MV. The neutron source strengths Q are calculated. It was found to be 0.2×1012 n Gy−1 X-ray at the isocenter. This work represents simple, low cost, and accurate methods of measuring fast neutrons dose and energies.