Radioactivity generation in Pb target by protons - A comparative study from MeV to GeV

In an Accelerator Driven Subcritical System (ADSS), choice of the target is decided by several factors like neutron yield, heat generation, ease of cooling, possibility of fire hazard, generation of chemically toxic elements and radioactive nuclides, running cost of the accelerator, etc. (nat)Pb is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Indian journal of pure & applied physics 2012-11, Vol.50 (11), p.761-765
Main Authors: Nandy, Maitreyee, Lahiri, Chirashree
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accelerators
Energy use
Fragments
Indian
Intervals
Radioactivity
Toxic
Toxicology
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In an Accelerator Driven Subcritical System (ADSS), choice of the target is decided by several factors like neutron yield, heat generation, ease of cooling, possibility of fire hazard, generation of chemically toxic elements and radioactive nuclides, running cost of the accelerator, etc. (nat)Pb is one of the probable targets for an ADSS. In the present work, we have estimated induced activity in a (nat)Pb target by primary proton beam in the energy range of 20 MeV up to 2.0 GeV using reaction model codes ALICE-91, TALYS-1.2, EMPIRE-2.19 and QMD. The energy range studied spans the entire energy interval used for target property study to practical application of an ADSS. At several hundreds of MeV, some of the major contributors to induced activity are projectile-like fragments, such as, (3)H. The maximum activity produced is of the order of 10(6)-10(7) MBq over the whole energy range. Some chemically toxic elements like Xe, Hg are also formed in significant amount.
ISSN:0019-5596