Operational Accelerator Health Physics I

223 Pages·2015·12.8 MB·English

LA-UR-03-4790
Operational Accelerator Health
Physics I
Prepared L. Scott Walker
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Presented by Elaine Marshall, SNL
Knowledge Base Requirements
• Do I need to know how an accelerator operates? No
• Should know a wide range of nuclides (particularly
neutron deficient radionuclides).
• Each radionuclide is treated differently.
• Research accelerators produce and experiment with
a very wide range of radionuclides.
Accelerator Description
• Accelerators “Accelerate” fundamental charged
particles.
• Energy Range: 60 KeV to many TeV.
• Accelerator currents: nano-amps to milli-amps.
• Accelerator sizes: small “boxes” to hundreds of
acres.
Accelerated Particles
• Protons and Electrons
• Anti Protons and Electrons
• Heavy Ions
• Short Lived Radioisotopes
• Charged Sub Particles
Particle Definitions
• Hadrons Charge Symbol Mass Mean
(MeV) λ (s)
• Proton + p 938 stable
• Neutron 0 n 940 900
• Pion ± π± 140 2.6x10-8
• Pion 0 π0 135 8.4x10-17
• Leptons
• Muon ± μ± 106 2.2x10-6
• Electron - e- 0.511 stable
• Positron + e+ 0.511 stable
Uses
• Isotope Production
• Neutron Sources
• X-Rays, Synchrotron Radiation Production
• Research Experiments (Nuclear and
Material Science)
• Potentially Used for Isotope Destruction
• Ion Implantation
• Fundamental Research
Uses
…continued
• Electronic Chip Etching?
• Medical Treatments
• Sterilization (Food and Equipment)
• Photon Radiography
• Free Electron Lasers
• Neutron and Proton Radiography
• Weapons and Weapon Interrogation
Accelerator Types
• Cyclotrons
• Synchrotrons
• Betatrons
• Synchocyclotrons
• Van de Graaffs
• Cockcroft-Walton
• Linear accelerators (Standing and traveling wave)
Accelerator Systems
• Accelerators operate as single units (or as in the case
of large research accelerators) several different
accelerators joined together.
• Typical large research accelerators utilize a D.C.
injector, connected to a drift tube linear accelerator
which is in turn connected to a synchrotron or side
coupled linear accelerator.
Accelerator Systems Described in
This Class
• Each research accelerator: Distinct design and
operational characteristics.
• Similar particles may be accelerated but each
accelerator is designed for a slightly different use.
• Since each accelerator is designed differently,
accelerator health physics programs and concerns
are each slightly different.
• ~30,000 accelerators around the world.