| ABSTRACT: | COMPACT NEUTRON GENERATOR DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATIONS
K.-N. Leung
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California,
Berkeley, USA
The Plasma and Ion Source Technology Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has
been engaged in the development of high flux compact neutron generators for the last ten years. Neutrons in
these generators are formed by using either the D-D, T-T or the D-T fusion reaction. As a result one can
produce either mono-energetic (2.4 MeV or 14 MeV) or a white spectrum of neutrons. All the neutron
generators are utilizing 13.5 MHz RF induction discharge to produce a pure deuterium or a mixture of
deuterium-tritium plasma. As a result, ion beams with high current density and almost pure atomic ions can
be extracted from the plasma source. The ion beams are accelerated to ~100 keV and neutrons are produced
when the beams impinge on a titanium target. Neutron generators with different configurations and sizes
have been designed and tested at LBNL. Their applications include neutron activation analysis, oil-well
logging, boron neutron capture therapy, brachytherapy, cargo and luggage screening. A novel small point
neutron source has recently been developed for radiography application. The source size can be 2 mm or
less, making it possible to examine objects with sharper images. The performance of these neutron
generators will be described in this presentation.
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