Microdosimetric measurements in the thermal neutron irradiation facility of LENA reactor

Paolo Colautti, Davide Moro, Sabina Chiriotti Alvarez, Valeria Conte, Laura Evangelista, Saverio Altieri, Silvia Bortolussi, Nicoletta Protti, Ian Postuma, Filip Vanhavere, Emiliano D'Agostino

    Research outputpeer-review

    Abstract

    A twin TEPC with electric-field guard tubes has been constructed to be used to characterize the BNCT field of the irradiation facility of LENA reactor. One of the two mini TEPC was doped with 50 ppm of 10B in order to simulate the BNC events occurring in BNCT. By properly processing the two microdosimetric spectra, the gamma, neutron and BNC spectral components can be derived with good precision (~6%). However, direct measurements of 10B in some doped plastic samples, which were used for contructing the cathod walls, point out the scarce accuracy of the nominal 10B concentration value. The influence of the Boral door, which closes the irradiation channel, has been measured. The gamma dose increases significantly (+ 51%) when the Boral® door is closed. The crypt-cell-regeneration weighting function has been used to measure the quality, namely the RBEµ-value, of the radiation field in different conditions. The measured RBEµ values are only partially consistent with RBE values of other BNCT facilities
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)147-152
    JournalApplied Radiation and Isotopes
    Volume88
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 22 Jan 2014
    Event15th International Congress on Neutron Capture Therapy - Tsukuba
    Duration: 10 Sep 201214 Sep 2012

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