Radiation protection constraints for use of proton and ion accelerators in medicine

Abstract

This paper gives some guidelines for radiation protection at proton therapy facilities. The energy and angular distribution of secondary radiation from thick iron and tissue targets bombarded by 250-MeV protons were calculated with Monte Carlo simulations in order to emphasise the influence of the various components of the radiation field on the shielding design. The main constraints for radiation protection (e.g. workload, use and occupancy factors, etc.), shielding design (including access mazes) and the estimate of material activation are also discussed with some practical examples.