Neutron yield calculation of p-Li thick target by using PHITS with JENDL-4.0/HE and ENDF/B-VII for BNCT application

Abstract

ABSTRACT The lithium thick target bombed with low-energy protons is one of the promising neutron sources for the Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). The benchmark calculations of the neutron Thick Target Yield (TTY) of the lithium target are conducted by the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport Code System PHITS with ACE formatted files of JENDL-4.0/HE and ENDF/B-VII and the DROSG-2000 code for the incident proton energy of around 3 MeV. Also, neutron TTY of the lithium thick target with a titanium window is evaluated for the Nagoya University Accelerator-driven Neutron Source (NUANS). Finally, the TTY evaluated with PHITS is applied for the neuron transport calculation for the Beam Shaping Assembly (BSA) of NUANS. As a conclusion, it is considered that ENDF/B-VII is more feasible than JENDL-4.0/HE for the 7Li(p,n)7Be reaction around 3 MeV of the proton energy.