Experimental results of an accelerator-driven neutron activator for medical radioisotope production

In the framework of the EC funded INBARCA project (Innovative Nanosphere Brachytherapy with Adiabatic Resonance Crossing using Accelerators) a compact, accelerator driven neutron activator has been designed and constructed, with the aim of efficiently utilising ion-beam generated neutrons for the production of radioactive nanoparticles for brachytherapy. The design is based on a modified version of the Adiabatic Resonance Crossing concept, first proposed by C. Rubbia of CERN. The neutron activator has been tested in two experimental configurations, with and without a central lead block. The activation performance on different materials was quantified by γ-spectrometry. Monte Carlo simulations accompanied all experimental runs, and neutron unfolding techniques were used to derive the experimental neutron spectrum. This paper compares the simulated and the unfolded neutron spectra thus obtained, as well as the experimental and simulated activation results for pure Au, Ag, Mo, Ni, Ho and Re foils as well as for Re and Ho nanoparticles. © 2011 IEEE.