High-throughput blood irradiator with low-cost compact linac

Blood Irradiators typically contain 2,000 to 7,000 curies of Cesium-137, which is a highly dangerous radioactive substance. The National Research Council has identified as a high priority the replacement of such sources with alternative technologies in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists for use in a Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD, or dirty bomb). While linacs have successfully replaced radioisotopes in many applications that require higher dose rates, their costs are still too high to allow them to be used in blood irradiators. RadiaBeam Systems proposes to develop a novel fabrication process for linacs, which promises to dramatically reduce the high-skilled labor costs required in linac manufacturing. The process can be completely automated, efficiently scaled up for high volume production, and produces linac structures with high enough precision that they will not need to be tuned. This will enable a blood irradiator to be developed that matches the specifications and costs of Cesium-based irradiators. In Phase I, we will design the linac and experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating it at low cost. This will set the stage for full prototype development in Phase II and commercialization in Phase III. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: There are more than 1,000 high activity self-contained radioisotope-based irradiators in operation in the US today, most of which are used for blood irradiation, and the number continues to grow. They are typically located in unsecure locations and are at risk of diversion for terrorist purposes, which is why DOE has placed a high priority on their replacement by safer technology. The innovative linac manufacturing process developed in this project will enable an inexpensive all- electronic replacement blood irradiator to be produced, which will match the price and throughput of Cesium blood irradiators. The technology developed would also allow less expensive linacs to be produced for non-destructive testing, cargo inspection, and radiation therapy.