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At least 145 records · Page 8

Preliminary Assessment of the Dose near the Shield Plug at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 (1F2)

Since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi on March 11, 2011, caused by the Great East Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami, there have been significant coordinated international efforts to better understand the accident progression, phenomenology and consequences. Of particular note is the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency's (OECD/NEA) Benchmark Study of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (BSAF Project). Phase 1 of this ongoing effort focused on modeling the modeling of the three beyond design basis accidents at the site for the first six days of the accident. Phase 2 of the effort is a forensic effort and focuses on extending the accident simulations out to 21 days and assessing the consequences of the accident. This effort aims to inform the government of Japan and The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)'s ongoing effort to decommission and decontaminate the site. One of the key questions posed by TEPCO in its efforts to decommission the site is the location of released radionuclides (RNs) that result in anomalously high dose rate measurements on and near the shield plugs of all three units. In this summary, we provide insight into the possible location of the source resulting in this high dose. Previous MELCOR accident progression analyses have predicted leakage of the containment through the drywell head, directly below the shield plug. Using this plausible accident scenario, MELCOR is able to predict the radionuclide source to the region below the shield plug and possible deposition amounts within the gaps of the shield plug. Using this predicted source and the transport and shielding code MCNP6 the dose in and around the shield plug of 1F2 was assessed. Unit 2 was chosen since the refueling bay is still intact and therefore a simpler initial problem compared to Units 1 and 3. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Poster - 40: Treatment Verification of a 3D-printed Eye Phantom for Proton Therapy

Purpose: Ocular melanoma is a form of eye cancer which is often treated using proton therapy. The benefit of the steep proton dose gradient can only be leveraged for accurate patient eye alignment. A treatment-planning program was written to plan on a 3D-printed anatomical eye-phantom, which was then irradiated to demonstrate the feasibility of verifying in vivo dosimetry for proton therapy using PET imaging. Methods: A 3D CAD eye model with critical organs was designed and voxelized into the Monte-Carlo transport code FLUKA. Proton dose and PET isotope production were simulated for a treatment plan of a test tumour, generated by a 2D treatment-planning program developed using NumPy and proton range tables. Next, a plastic eye-phantom was 3D-printed from the CAD model, irradiated at the TRIUMF Proton Therapy facility, and imaged using a PET scanner. Results: The treatment-planning program prediction of the range setting and modulator wheel was verified in FLUKA to treat the tumour with at least 90% dose coverage for both tissue and plastic. An axial isotope distribution of the PET isotopes was simulated in FLUKA and converted to PET scan counts. Meanwhile, the 3D-printed eye-phantom successfully yielded a PET signal. Conclusions: The 2D treatment-planning program can predict required parameters to sufficiently treat an eye tumour, which was experimentally verified using commercial 3D-printing hardware to manufacture eye-phantoms. Comparison between the simulated and measured PET isotope distribution could provide a more realistic test of eye alignment, and a variation of the method using radiographic film is being developed.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Comparison of Organ Dosimetry for Astronaut Phantoms: Earth-Based vs. Microgravity-Based Anthropometry and Body Positioning

The purpose of this study is to use NASA radiation transport codes to compare astronaut organ dose equivalents resulting from solar particle events (SPE), geomagnetically trapped protons, and free-space galactic cosmic rays (GCR) using phantom models representing Earth-based and microgravity-based anthropometry and positioning. Methods: The Univer sity of Florida hybrid adult phantoms were scaled to represent male and female astronauts with 5th, 50th, and 95th percentile heights and weights as measured on Earth. Another set of scaled phantoms, incorporating microgravity-induced changes, such as spinal lengthening, leg volume loss, and the assumption of the neutral body position, was also created. A ray-tracer was created and used to generate body self-shielding distributions for dose points within a voxelized phantom under isotropic irradiation conditions, which closely approximates the free-space radiation environment. Simplified external shielding consisting of an aluminum spherical shell was used to consider the influence of a spacesuit or shielding of a hull. These distributions were combined with depth dose distributions generated from the NASA radiation transport codes BRYNTRN (SPE and trapped protons) and HZETRN (GCR) to yield dose equivalent. Many points were sampled per organ. Results: The organ dos e equivalent rates were on the order of 1.5-2.5 mSv per day for GCR (1977 solar minimum) and 0.4-0.8 mSv per day for trapped proton irradiation with shielding of 2 g cm-2 aluminum equivalent. The organ dose equivalents for SPE irradiation varied considerably, with the skin and eye lens having the highest organ dose equivalents and deep-seated organs, such as the bladder, liver, and stomach having the lowest. Conclus ions: The greatest differences between the Earth-based and microgravity-based phantoms are observed for smaller ray thicknesses, since the most drastic changes involved limb repositioning and not overall phantom size. Improved self-shielding models reduce the overall uncertainty in organ dosimetry for mission-risk projections and assessments for astronauts

VanBaalen, Mary↗

TU-AB-BRC-12: Optimized Parallel MonteCarlo Dose Calculations for Secondary MU Checks

Purpose: Secondary MU checks are an important tool used during a physics review of a treatment plan. Commercial software packages offer varying degrees of theoretical dose calculation accuracy, depending on the modality involved. Dose calculations of VMAT plans are especially prone to error due to the large approximations involved. Monte Carlo (MC) methods are not commonly used due to their long run times. We investigated two methods to increase the computational efficiency of MC dose simulations with the BEAMnrc code. Distributed computing resources, along with optimized code compilation, will allow for accurate and efficient VMAT dose calculations. Methods: The BEAMnrc package was installed on a high performance computing cluster accessible to our clinic. MATLAB and PYTHON scripts were developed to convert a clinical VMAT DICOM plan into BEAMnrc input files. The BEAMnrc installation was optimized by running the VMAT simulations through profiling tools which indicated the behavior of the constituent routines in the code, e.g. the bremsstrahlung splitting routine, and the specified random number generator. This information aided in determining the most efficient compiling parallel configuration for the specific CPU’s available on our cluster, resulting in the fastest VMAT simulation times. Our method was evaluated with calculations involving 10{sup 8} – 10{sup 9} particle histories which are sufficient to verify patient dose using VMAT. Results: Parallelization allowed the calculation of patient dose on the order of 10 – 15 hours with 100 parallel jobs. Due to the compiler optimization process, further speed increases of 23% were achieved when compared with the open-source compiler BEAMnrc packages. Conclusion: Analysis of the BEAMnrc code allowed us to optimize the compiler configuration for VMAT dose calculations. In future work, the optimized MC code, in conjunction with the parallel processing capabilities of BEAMnrc, will be applied to provide accurate and efficient secondary MU checks.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Effective dose rate coefficients for exposure to contaminated soil

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge has undertaken calculations related to various environmental exposure scenarios. A previous paper reported the results for submersion in radioactive air and immersion in water using age-specific mathematical phantoms. This paper presents age-specific effective dose rate coefficients derived using stylized mathematical phantoms for exposure to contaminated soils. Dose rate coefficients for photon, electron, and positrons of discrete energies were calculated and folded with emissions of 1252 radionuclides addressed in ICRP Publication 107 to determine equivalent and effective dose rate coefficients. The MCNP6 radiation transport code was used for organ dose rate calculations for photons and the contribution of electrons to skin dose rate was derived using point-kernels. Bremsstrahlung and annihilation photons of positron emission were evaluated as discrete photons. As a result, the coefficients calculated in this work compare favorably to those reported in the US Federal Guidance Report 12 as well as by other authors who employed voxel phantoms for similar exposure scenarios.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Factors for converting dose measured in polystyrene phantoms to dose reported in water phantoms for incident proton beams

Purpose: Previous dosimetry protocols allowed calibrations of proton beamline dose monitors to be performed in plastic phantoms. Nevertheless, dose determinations were referenced to absorbed dose-to-muscle or absorbed dose-to-water. The IAEA Code of Practice TRS 398 recommended that dose calibrations be performed with ionization chambers only in water phantoms because plastic-to-water dose conversion factors were not available with sufficient accuracy at the time of its writing. These factors are necessary, however, to evaluate the difference in doses delivered to patients if switching from calibration in plastic to a protocol that only allows calibration in water. Methods: This work measured polystyrene-to-water dose conversion factors for this purpose. Uncertainties in the results due to temperature, geometry, and chamber effects were minimized by using special experimental set-up procedures. The measurements were validated by Monte Carlo simulations. Results: At the peak of non-range-modulated beams, measured polystyrene-to-water factors ranged from 1.015 to 1.024 for beams with ranges from 36 to 315 mm. For beams with the same ranges and medium sized modulations, the factors ranged from 1.005 to 1.019. The measured results were used to generate tables of polystyrene-to-water dose conversion factors. Conclusions: The dose conversion factors can be used at clinical proton facilities to support beamline and patient specific dose per monitor unit calibrations performed in polystyrene phantoms.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Assessment of Activation on Level L3 of the Tokamak Building due to the ITER Tokamak Cooling Water System

The ITER fusion reactor is being built to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power and will be the largest tokamak in the world. The tokamak cooling water system (TCWS) will extract the heat generated during operations and includes large amounts of piping and equipment such as pumps and heat exchangers (HXs) that are located in a large shielded region on level L3 of the tokamak building. During operation, water in the TCWS will be activated by plasma neutrons and then flow into this shielded region. The activated coolant will in turn activate the steel in the TCWS during operation and result in an activation gamma source and radiation responses that must be assessed to inform equipment selection and maintenance schedules.The activation of materials in the shielded region of level L3 was assessed at several decay times and for different equipment options using the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) shutdown dose rate (SDDR) code suite. The ORNL SDDR code suite implements the rigorous two-step method using the Multi-Step Consistent Adjoint-Driven Importance Sampling (MS-CADIS) method to create effective neutron variance reduction parameters for the photon response of interest. In conclusion, two different HX designs, shell and tube and shell and plate, were considered, as well as the impact of cobalt impurities in steel equipment.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

TLD efficiency calculations for heavy ions: an analytical approach

The use of thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) in heavy charged particles’ dosimetry is limited by their non-linear dose response curve and by their response dependence on the radiation quality. Thus, in order to use TLDs with particle beams, a model that can reproduce the behavior of these detectors under different conditions is needed. Here a new, simple and completely analytical algorithm for the calculation of the relative TL-efficiency depending on the ion charge Z and energy E is presented. In addition, the detector response is evaluated starting from the single ion case, where the computed effectiveness values have been compared with experimental data as well as with predictions from a different method. The main advantage of this approach is that, being fully analytical, it is computationally fast and can be efficiently integrated into treatment planning verification tools. In conclusion, the calculated efficiency values have been then implemented in the treatment planning code TRiP98 and dose calculations on a macroscopic target irradiated with an extended carbon ion field have been performed and verified against experimental data.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Measurement and modeling of the effect of support arm backscatter on dosimetry with a Varian EPID

Purpose: Amorphous silicon EPIDs have been used for planar dose verification in IMRT treatments for many years. The support arm used to attach some types of EPIDs to linear accelerators can introduce inaccuracies to dosimetry measurements due to the presence of metallic parts in their structures. It is demonstrated that this uncertainty may be as large as {approx}6% of maximum image signal for large fields. In this study, a method has been described to quantify, model and correct for the effect of backscattered radiation from the EPID support arm (E-Arm type, Varian Medical Systems). Methods: Measurements of a support arm backscatter kernel were made using several 1x1 cm{sup 2} 6 MV pencil beam irradiations at a sample of positions over the sensitive area of the EPID in standard clinical setup and repeated with the EPID removed from the support arm but at the same positions. A curve-fit to the subtraction of EPID response obtained on and off the arm was used to define the backscatter kernel. The measured kernel was compared with a backscatter kernel obtained by Monte Carlo simulations with EGS/BEAM code. A backscatter dose prediction using the measured backscatter kernel was added to an existing EPID dose prediction model. The improvement in the agreement of the modified model predictions with EPID measurements for a number of open fields and IMRT beams were investigated by comparison to the original model results. Results: Considering all functions tested to find the best functional fit to the data points, a broad Gaussian curve proved to be the optimum fit to the backscatter data. The best fit through the Monte Carlo simulated backscatter kernel was also found to be a Gaussian curve. The maximum decrease in normalized root mean squared deviation of the measured and modeled EPID image profiles for open fields was 13.7% for a 15x15 cm{sup 2} field with no decrease observed for a 3x3 cm{sup 2} (the smallest) field as it was not affected by the arm backscatter. Gamma evaluation (2%, 2 mm criteria) showed the improvement in agreement between the model and measurement results when the backscatter was incorporated. The average increase in Gamma pass rate was 2% for head and neck and 1.3% for prostate IMRT fields investigated in this study. Conclusions: The application of the backscatter kernel determined in this study improved the accuracy of dosimetry using a Varian EPID with E-arm for open fields of different sizes: Eight head and neck and seven prostate IMRT fields. Further improvement in the agreement between the model predictions and EPID measurements requires more sophisticated modeling of the backscatter.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Modality comparison for small animal radiotherapy: A simulation study

Purpose: Small animal radiation therapy has advanced significantly in recent years. Whereas in the past dose was delivered using a single beam and a lead shield for sparing of healthy tissue, conformal doses can be now delivered using more complex dedicated small animal radiotherapy systems with image guidance. The goal of this paper is to investigate dose distributions for three small animal radiation treatment modalities. Methods: This paper presents a comparison of dose distributions generated by the three approaches—a single-field irradiator with a 200 kV beam and no image guidance, a small animal image-guided conformal system based on a modified microCT scanner with a 120 kV beam developed at Stanford University, and a dedicated conformal system, SARRP, using a 220 kV beam developed at Johns Hopkins University. The authors present a comparison of treatment plans for the three modalities using two cases: a mouse with a subcutaneous tumor and a mouse with a spontaneous lung tumor. A 5 Gy target dose was calculated using the EGSnrc Monte Carlo codes. Results: All treatment modalities generated similar dose distributions for the subcutaneous tumor case, with the highest mean dose to the ipsilateral lung and bones in the single-field plan (0.4 and 0.4 Gy) compared to the microCT (0.1 and 0.2 Gy) and SARRP (0.1 and 0.3 Gy) plans. The lung case demonstrated that due to the nine-beam arrangements in the conformal plans, the mean doses to the ipsilateral lung, spinal cord, and bones were significantly lower in the microCT plan (2.0, 0.4, and 1.9 Gy) and the SARRP plan (1.5, 0.5, and 1.8 Gy) than in single-field irradiator plan (4.5, 3.8, and 3.3 Gy). Similarly, the mean doses to the contralateral lung and the heart were lowest in the microCT plan (1.5 and 2.0 Gy), followed by the SARRP plan (1.7 and 2.2 Gy), and they were highest in the single-field plan (2.5 and 2.4 Gy). For both cases, dose uniformity was greatest in the single-field irradiator plan followed by the SARRP plan due to the sensitivity of the lower energy microCT beam to target heterogeneities and image noise. Conclusions: The two treatment planning examples demonstrate that modern small animal radiotherapy techniques employing image guidance, variable collimation, and multiple beam angles deliver superior dose distributions to small animal tumors as compared to conventional treatments using a single-field irradiator. For deep-seated mouse tumors, however, higher-energy conformal radiotherapy could result in higher doses to critical organs compared to lower-energy conformal radiotherapy. Treatment planning optimization for small animal radiotherapy should therefore be developed to take full advantage of the novel conformal systems.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

TU-EF-304-10: Efficient Multiscale Simulation of the Proton Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) for DNA Double Strand Break (DSB) Induction and Bio-Effective Dose in the FLUKA Monte Carlo Radiation Transport Code

Purpose: One of the more critical initiating events for reproductive cell death is the creation of a DNA double strand break (DSB). In this study, we present a computationally efficient way to determine spatial variations in the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of proton therapy beams within the FLUKA Monte Carlo (MC) code. Methods: We used the independently tested Monte Carlo Damage Simulation (MCDS) developed by Stewart and colleagues (Radiat. Res. 176, 587–602 2011) to estimate the RBE for DSB induction of monoenergetic protons, tritium, deuterium, hellium-3, hellium-4 ions and delta-electrons. The dose-weighted (RBE) coefficients were incorporated into FLUKA to determine the equivalent {sup 6}°60Co γ-ray dose for representative proton beams incident on cells in an aerobic and anoxic environment. Results: We found that the proton beam RBE for DSB induction at the tip of the Bragg peak, including primary and secondary particles, is close to 1.2. Furthermore, the RBE increases laterally to the beam axis at the area of Bragg peak. At the distal edge, the RBE is in the range from 1.3–1.4 for cells irradiated under aerobic conditions and may be as large as 1.5–1.8 for cells irradiated under anoxic conditions. Across the plateau region, the recorded RBE for DSB induction is 1.02 for aerobic cells and 1.05 for cells irradiated under anoxic conditions. The contribution to total effective dose from secondary heavy ions decreases with depth and is higher at shallow depths (e.g., at the surface of the skin). Conclusion: Multiscale simulation of the RBE for DSB induction provides useful insights into spatial variations in proton RBE within pristine Bragg peaks. This methodology is potentially useful for the biological optimization of proton therapy for the treatment of cancer. The study highlights the need to incorporate spatial variations in proton RBE into proton therapy treatment plans.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Radiation shielding analysis of the concrete hutch of a long beamline of the Advanced Photon Source Upgrade project

The radiation shielding analysis of the external concrete enclosure of a feature long beamline of the Advanced Photon Source Upgrade project is described in this work. The beamline has 2 undulators that can operate in two different configurations and the source terms are estimated for the worst configuration using the SRW code in the OASYS package as well as the STAC8 code. The shielding analysis is carried out using the STAC8 code, and for the case of pink beam, with the FLUKA code also. Effective dose rates on contact with the outside surface of the concrete walls for pink, reflected full spectrum and monochromatic beams are calculated. For the monochromatic beams, 2 sets of discrete bandwidths (BW) from the Double Crystal Monochromator (DCM) and the full reflectance of the Double Multilayer Monochromator (DMM) are used. Further, due to the size of the direct beam and the energy domain of interest in the direct and scattered fields, the importance of the equivalent dose to the lens of the eye is discussed with respect to the shielding calculations of such facilities. The dose rates outside the concrete hutch in the lateral directions calculated using STAC8 is about 50% higher than the FLUKA results for the case of pink beam but may be considered as a reasonable agreement due to the differences in the calculational methodologies. Those dose rates in the lateral and forward directions are higher for the pink beam to allow full occupancy from the radiation protection point of view. For the full spectrum after 3 reflections, the effective dose rates are less than 0.5 Sv/h in the lateral direction but is higher in the forward region below about 22° with respect to the beam direction. For the DCM beams, except for the scenario with one mirror and 0.1%BW, all dose rates are less than 0.5 Sv/h outside the concrete hutch in the lateral directions. Here, the higher harmonics are what contributes to the dose outside the shield and the bandwidths assumed to derive the photon flux thus becomes important. The dose rates with the DMM are generally lower compared to the 0.1% BW DCM beam but are higher than the results obtained with XOP calculated bandwidths.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

TH-CD-209-06: LET-Based Adjustment of IMPT Plans Using Prioritized Optimization

Purpose: In-vitro experiments suggest an increase in proton relative biological effectiveness (RBE) towards the end of range. However, proton treatment planning and dose reporting for clinical outcome assessment has been based on physical dose and constant RBE. Therefore, treatment planning for intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) is unlikely to transition radically to pure RBE-based planning. We suggest a hybrid approach where treatment plans are initially created based on physical dose constraints and prescriptions, and are subsequently altered to avoid high linear energy transfer (LET) in critical structures while limiting the degradation of the physical dose distribution. Methods: To allow fast optimization based on dose and LET we extended a GPU-based Monte-Carlo code towards providing dose-averaged LET in addition to dose for all pencil beams. After optimizing an initial IMPT plan based on physical dose, a prioritized optimization scheme is used to modify the LET distribution while constraining the physical dose objectives to values close to the initial plan. The LET optimization step is performed based on objective functions evaluated for the product of physical dose and LET (LETxD). To first approximation, LETxD represents a measure of the additional biological dose that is caused by high LET. Regarding optimization techniques, LETxD has the advantage of being a linear function of the pencil beam intensities. Results: The method is applicable to treatments where serial critical structures with maximum dose constraint are located in or near the target. We studied intra-cranial tumors (high-grade meningiomas, base-of-skull chordomas) where the target (CTV) overlaps with the brainstem and optic structures. Often, high LETxD in critical structures can be avoided while minimally compromising physical dose planning objectives. Conclusion: LET-based re-optimization of IMPT plans represents a pragmatic approach to bridge the gap between purely physical dose-based and RBE-based planning. It can be realized with fast GPU-based Monte-Carlo dose calculation. The project was in part supported by NIH grants U19 CA 021239-36 and C06 CA 059267.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

RADIATION DOSE SIMULATIONS FOR JEFFERSON LAB’S PERMANENT MAGNET RESILIENCY LDRD STUDY

In late 2023, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facil- ity (Jefferson Lab) funded a Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) grant dedicated to investigating the impact of radiation on permanent magnet materials. This research initiative is specifically geared towards assessing materials slated for use in the CEBAF energy upgrade. The experimental approach involves strategically placing perma- nent magnet samples throughout the accelerator, exposing them to varying radiation doses. The simulation code BD- SIM is used to first validate the data and then to simulate the effects on future higher energy passes to study the degra- dation effects on the permanent magnets. In this paper we present the progress of that work.

Deitrick, K.↗

Investigation of HZETRN 2010 as a Tool for Single Event Effect Qualification of Avionics Systems

NASA's future missions are focused on deep space for human exploration that do not provide a simple emergency return to Earth. In addition, the deep space environment contains a constant background Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) radiation exposure, as well as periodic Solar Particle Events (SPEs) that can produce intense amounts of radiation in a short amount of time. Given these conditions, it is important that the avionics systems for deep space human missions are not susceptible to Single Event Effects (SEE) that can occur from radiation interactions with electronic components. The typical process to minimizing SEE effects is through using heritage hardware and extensive testing programs that are very costly. Previous work by Koontz, et al. [1] utilized an analysis-based method for investigating electronic component susceptibility. In their paper, FLUKA, a Monte Carlo transport code, was used to calculate SEE and single event upset (SEU) rates. This code was then validated against in-flight data. In addition, CREME-96, a deterministic code, was also compared with FLUKA and in-flight data. However, FLUKA has a long run-time (on the order of days), and CREME-96 has not been updated in several years. This paper will investigate the use of HZETRN 2010, a deterministic transport code developed at NASA Langley Research Center, as another tool that can be used to analyze SEE and SEU rates. The benefits to using HZETRN over FLUKA and CREME-96 are that it has a very fast run time (on the order of minutes) and has been shown to be of similar accuracy as other deterministic and Monte Carlo codes when considering dose [2, 3, 4]. The 2010 version of HZETRN has updated its treatment of secondary neutrons and thus has improved its accuracy over previous versions. In this paper, the Linear Energy Transfer (LET) spectra are of interest rather than the total ionizing dose. Therefore, the LET spectra output from HZETRN 2010 will be compared with the FLUKA and in-flight data to validate HZETRN 2010 as a computational tool for SEE qualification by analysis. Furthermore, extrapolation of these data to interplanetary environments at 1 AU will be investigated to determine whether HZETRN 2010 can be used successfully and confidently for deep space mission analyses.

Rojdev, Kristina↗

Shielding Calculations for the Hard X-Rays Generated by LCLS Mec Laser System

Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) Instrument is an X-ray instrument that will be able to create and diagnose High Energy Density (HED) matter. The MEC laser system can generate hard X-ray due to the interaction of the laser and the plasma. This paper summarizes results of the shielding calculations performed to evaluate the radiation hazards induced by this hard X-ray source with Monte Carlo code FLUKA. The dose rates and photon spectra due to this X-ray source are calculated at different locations with different shielding. The influence of the electron temperature on the source terms and the shielding effectiveness was also investigated.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Predictive Fallout Composition Modeling: Improvements and Applications of the Defense Land Fallout Interpretive Code

This paper outlines several improvements to the Particle Activity Module of the Defense Land Fallout Interpretive Code (DELFIC). The modeling of each phase of the fallout process is discussed within DELFIC to demonstrate the capabilities and limitations with the code for modeling and simulation. Expansion of the DELFIC isotopic library to include actinides and light elements is shown. Several key features of the new library are demonstrated, including compliance with ENDF/B-VII standards, augmentation of hardwired activated soil and actinide decay calculations with exact Bateman calculations, and full physical and chemical fractionation of all material inventories. Improvements to the radionuclide source term are demonstrated, including the ability to specify heterogeneous fission types and the ability to import source terms from irradiation calculations using the Oak Ridge Isotope Generation (ORIGEN) code. Additionally, the dose, kerma, and effective dose conversion factors are revised. Finally, the application of DELFIC for consequence management planning and forensic analysis is presented. For consequence management, DELFIC is shown to provide disaster recovery teams with simulations of real-time events, including the location, composition, time of arrival, activity rates, and dose rates of fallout, accounting for site-specific atmospheric effects. The results from DELFIC are also demonstrated for use by nuclear forensics teams to plan collection routes (including the determination of optimal collection locations), estimate dose rates to collectors, and anticipate the composition of material at collection sites. These capabilities give mission planners the ability to maximize their effectiveness in the field while minimizing risk to their collectors.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗