Advanced Accelerator Design to Enhance Boron-Neutron-Capture Therapy

Recent clinical trials have cast doubt on the efficacy of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) for brain tumor treatment when low energy, reactor-generated neutron beams are used. It has been predicted that higher energy, accelerator-produced neutron beams would have an epithermal neutron spectrum that would be much more effective. Therefore, this project will design and fabricate an innovative accelerator for neutron generation based on an RF shunt-fed voltage multiplier. Phase I showed that a shunt-fed, inductively coupled accelerator is capable of clinical BNCT by demonstrating: (1) the required multi-stage voltage multiplication at high current; (2) the low voltage ripple characteristics required to support 2.5 MeV operation at high current; and (3) that the all-solid-state power supply can be successfully matched to the accelerating column, delivering the required voltage and current characteristics. Phase II will verify that a 2.5 MV, 50 mA electrostatic accelerator can be built for BNCT. The resulting energy spectrum of the produced neutrons will be optimized for BNCT trials.