A NEW OPTICAL DESIGN FOR THE BNL ISOTOPE PRODUCTION TRANSPORT LINE*

The 200 MeV linac at BNL has recently been upgraded. As a result, 2.5 times more average beam current can be delivered to the Brookhaven Isotope Resource Center (BIRC), formerly called BLIP, a facility which produces radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals for the medical community, and also supports a research program seeking more effective diagnostic and therapeutic agents. The optics of the beam transport line to BIRC was redesigned to (a) reduce transverse fluctuations of the beam at the target due to any linac energy fluctuations, (b) produce a flat beam distribution at the target, in order to avoid melting certain target materials, and (c) handle the higher beam intensity while keeping radiation levels low. A profile monitor was also modified to monitor the flatness of the beam using the algebraic reconstruction technique (ART). The above improvements will be described, and results of the commissioning of the line during the 1996 running period will be discussed