Radiation Protection Dosimetry Advance Access originally published online on June 17, 2007
Radiation Protection Dosimetry 2007 126(1-4):640-644; doi:10.1093/rpd/ncm181
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Dose distributions in phantoms irradiated in thermal columns of two different nuclear reactors
1 Department of Physics of University and INFN Sezione di Milano, Milan, Italy
2 Department of Nuclear Engineering of Polytechnic and INFN Sezione di Milano, Milan, Italy
3 Department of Nuclear and Theoretical Physics of University and INFN Sezione di Pavia, Pavia, Italy
4 Medical Physics Department, National Cancer Institute, Milan, Italy
5 ENEA FIS NUC, Bologna, Italy
6 ENEA FIS ION, S. Maria di Galeria, Roma, Italy
* Corresponding author: grazia.gambarini{at}mi.infn.it
In-phantom dosimetry studies have been carried out at the thermal columns of a thermal- and a fast-nuclear reactor for investigating: (a) the spatial distribution of the gamma dose and the thermal neutron fluence and (b) the accuracy at which the boron concentration should be estimated in an explanted organ of a boron neutron capture therapy patient. The phantom was a cylinder (11 cm in diameter and 12 cm in height) of tissue-equivalent gel. Dose images were acquired with gel dosemeters across the axial section of the phantom. The thermal neutron fluence rate was measured with activation foils in a few positions of this phantom. Dose and fluence rate profiles were also calculated with Monte Carlo simulations. The trend of these profiles do not show significant differences for the thermal columns considered in this work.