Vialle, Fleur (2021) 41Ar production by neutrons in proton therapy. Bachelor's Thesis, Physics.
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Abstract
In this research the amount of 41Ar produced by thermal neutron activation at the Groningen Proton Therapy Center (GPTC) was studied. An indirect measurement technique was used, where Na atoms in NaHCO3 targets were activated instead of argon. The incident neutron flux was determined from the NaHCO3 samples and combined with the neutron capture cross-section of 40Ar to obtain an estimate for the produced 41Ar activity. First, this measurement technique was studied using an Am-Be neutron source at the Particle Therapy Research Center. It was determined that NaHCO3 is a better sodium-containing substance for measuring the incident neutron flux than NaCl because of thermal neutron absorption by chlorine. Moreover, the neutron flux incident on NaHCO3 was found to be equal to the neutron flux seen by Ar. The flux determined using the Na activation method can thus be used for calculating the 41Ar production. Finally, 8 NaHCO3 samples were placed in the cyclotron bunker and treatment room of the GPTC for an entire patient treatment day. The neutron flux incident on each sample was calculated and used to estimate the produced 41Ar activity concentration. The activity in the treatment room and near the entrance maze were smaller than 0.3 Bqm-3. The produced 41Ar activity concentrations in the bunker ranged from 0.007(2) up to 23(8) kBqm-3. The total 41Ar activity discharged from the bunker into air was found to be 3 GBq, which is below the licensed discharge limit of 8 GBq per year.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis) |
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| Supervisor name: | Dendooven, P.G. and Brandenburg, S. |
| Degree programme: | Physics |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Jul 2021 12:21 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Jul 2021 12:21 |
| URI: | https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/24978 |
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