DESIGN OF A PHOTONEUTRON SOURCE BASED ON A 5 MeV ELECTRON LINAC

A photoneutron source, based on a 5 MeV electron linac was designed by means of the MCNP (Monte-Carlo-N-Particle) simulation code. Although higher electron ener-gies are required to produce acceptable neutron fluxes, the availability of a 5 MeV electron linac at Dipartimento di Fisica (Universita ̀ di Messina) has suggested this project, in sight of a future development of the studied neutron source. The final neutron flux, at a 50 cm distance from the pho-toneutron target, thermalized by a PE layer, was esti-mated to be 8.48 · 107 n/cm2/sec/mA with Be target and 1.23 · 108 n/cm2/sec/mA with BeD2 target. This neutron flux could find application in industrial and medical fields such as BNCT (Boron-Neutron-Capture-Therapy) and neutron radiography