Feasibility of the Utilization of BNCT in Thermalizing Column of TRIGA Reactor

Abstract

At least twenty new patients fall ill for brain glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in Slovenia every year. Therefore, the development of irradiation facility for clinical use is almost indispensable alternative to the epithermal neutron beam for “in-vitro” experiments on tumor cells or laboratory animals, already installed in the radial channel of the “Jožef Stefan” Institute (JSI) TRIGA reactor.¹ A unique reactor configuration has an important advantage: so called “dry cell” (see Figure 1), primarily devoted for a pool-type storage of a TRIGA reactor spent fuel elements could be appropriate for the patient irradiation room. This contribution presents the Monte Carlo suitability study of the thermalizing column (TC)/dry cell (DC) for epithermal neutron beam installation. The general purpose Monte Carlo code MCNP4B2 was used for the modeling of the TRIGA reactor, together with the continuous cross-section libraries ENDF/B-VI and S(α,β) scattering data from ENDF/B-IV.