Discovery and discussion of 7Be and another full-energy peak in water from 3D water phantom of a proton therapy system / 中国辐射卫生

Objective To discuss 7Be and a 77.2 keV full-energy peak with short half-life found in the water sample from the 3D water phantom of a proton therapy system. Methods We measured the water sample from the 3D water phantom of a proton therapy system according to Determination of Radionuclides in Water by Gamma Spectrometry (GB/T 16140—2018). Results The activity concentration of 7Be in the water sample was 1.30 × 101 Bq·L−1 on December 24, 2018; 4.3 × 101 Bq·L−1 on March 22, 2019; and 1.41 × 101 Bq·L−1 at the time of sampling on December 19, 2018. On December 24, 2018, the net peak area of the 77.2 keV full-energy peak in the sample was 683 ± 45, and the measurement time was 26123.02 s; on March 22, 2019, the net peak area decreased to the background level of 194 ± 49, and the measurement time was 86400.00 s. Conclusion In the 3D water phantom of the proton therapy system, 7Be can be generated from the spallation reaction between high-energy neutrons and oxygen in water. In addition, we find a full-energy peak at 77.2 keV with short half-life. The activity concentration of 7Be in the water sample is lower than the exemption level, but the activity concentration at sampling may not be the maximum activity concentration in the process of quality control. The inductive radionuclide 7Be produced in the 3D water phantom should be identified and properly evaluated in the assessment of occupational radiation hazards of proton therapy system.

Study on the optimization of radiation protection for therapeutic proton synchrotron / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective@#To investigate the effect of iron shield at different depths within main protection wall on the dose rate outside the protection wall.@*Methods@#By adopting the FLUKA code, a therapeutic room model was constructed with its primary protective barrier consisting of concrete and iron. In order to obtain its ambient dose equivalent rate distribution, the 250 MeV protons and 220 MeV protons impinging on water phantom were simulated separately.@*Results@#With varying depth of iron plate embedded in barrier, the ambient dose equivalent rates in the two simulated conditions differed sinificantly at 30 cm outside the protection wall. The maximum ambient dose equivalent rate(220 MeV: 3.42 μSv/h, 250 MeV: 6.39 μSv/h) was more than 2 times higher than the minimum ambient dose equivalent rate(220 MeV: 1.75 μSv/h, 250 MeV: 3.32 μSv/h).@*Conclusions@#In the design of therapeutic proton accelerator, it is essential to evaluate carefully the location where the iron shield is in main protection wall.

Study on the optimization of radiation protection for therapeutic proton synchrotron / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective To investigate the effect of iron shield at different depths within main protection wall on the dose rate outside the protection wall. Methods By adopting the FLUKA code, a therapeutic room model was constructed with its primary protective barrier consisting of concrete and iron. In order to obtain its ambient dose equivalent rate distribution, the 250 MeV protons and 220 MeV protons impinging on water phantom were simulated separately. Results With varying depth of iron plate embedded in barrier, the ambient dose equivalent rates in the two simulated conditions differed sinificantly at 30 cm outside the protection wall. The maximum ambient dose equivalent rate(220 MeV:3.42 μSv/h, 250 MeV:6. 39 μSv/h) was more than 2 times higher than the minimum ambient dose equivalent rate ( 220 MeV:1. 75 μSv/h, 250 MeV: 3. 32 μSv/h ) . Conclusions In the design of therapeutic proton accelerator, it is essential to evaluate carefully the location where the iron shield is in main protection wall.

A Study of Radiation Exposure in Proton Therapy Facility / 의학물리

Proton therapy facility, which is recently installed at National Cancer Center in Korea, generally produces a large amount of radiation near cyclotron due to the secondary particles and radioisotopes caused by collision between proton and nearby materials during the acceleration. Although the level of radiation by radioisotope decreases in length of time, radiation exposure problem still exists since workers are easily exposed by a low level of radiation for a long time due to their job assignment for maintenance or repair of the proton facility. In this paper, the working environment near cyclotron, where the highest radiation exposure is expected, was studied by measuring the degree of radiation and its duration for an appropriate level of protective action guide. To do this, we measured the radiation change in the graphite based energy degrader, the efficiency of transmitted beam and relative activation degree of the transmission beam line. The results showed that while the level of radiation exposure around cyclotron and beam line during the operation is much higher than the other radiation therapy facilities, the radiation exposure rate per year is under the limit recommended by the law showing 1~3 mSv/year.