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Division Spotlight
Accelerator Applications
The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
Jérôme M. Verbeke, Jasmina L. Vujic, Ka-Ngo Leung
Nuclear Technology | Volume 129 | Number 2 | February 2000 | Pages 257-278
Technical Paper | Radiation Biology and Medicine | doi.org/10.13182/NT00-A3061
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A monoenergetic neutron beam simulation study is carried out to determine the most suitable neutron energy for treatment of shallow and deep-seated brain tumors in the context of boron neutron capture therapy. Two figures-of-merit - the absorbed skin dose and the absorbed tumor dose at a given depth in the brain - are used to measure the neutron beam quality. Based on the results of this study, moderators, reflectors, and delimiters are designed and optimized to moderate the high-energy neutrons from the fusion reactions 2H(d,n)3He and 3H(d,n)4He down to a suitable energy spectrum. Two different computational models (MCNP and BNCT_RTPE) have been used to study the dose distribution in the brain. With the optimal beam-shaping assembly, a 1-A mixed deuteron/triton beam of energy 150 keV accelerated onto a titanium target leads to a treatment time of 1 h. The dose near the center of the brain obtained with this configuration is >65% higher than the dose from a typical spectrum produced by the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor and is comparable to the dose obtained by other accelerator-produced neutron beams.