SCOPING ANALYSIS OF MATERIAL ACTIVATION AT A BORON NEUTRON CAPTURE THERAPY FACILITY BASED ON THE Be(p,xn) REACTION WITH 30 MeV PROTONS.

Abstract

Material activation assessment of a proposed accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy facility was performed using the FLUKA Monte Carlo code to quantify the magnitude of the problem in terms of the isotope inventories, induced activities, and residual dose rates. Two simplified operation scenarios were considered: a 30-min proton bombardment to simulate a typical session of patient treatment and a long-term 1 year continuous operation to estimate the accumulation of long-lived radionuclides. Following the generation and transport of decay radiation, the space- and time-dependent inventories of induced radionuclides in materials and residual dose rates after shutdown were obtained. The predicted results were compared with the corresponding regulatory limits. Moreover, the effectiveness of various measures to reduce the impact of material activation was demonstrated.