Development of a sealed-accelerator-tube neutron generator

Sealed-accelerator-tube neutron generators are being developed in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) for applications ranging from neutron r adiography to boron neutron capture therapy and neutron activation analysis . The new generation of high-output neutron generators is based on the D-T fusion reaction, producing 14.1-MeV neutrons. The main components of the ne utron tube - the ion source, the accelerator and the target - are all house d in a sealed metal container without external pumping. Thick-target neutro n yield computations are performed in this paper to estimate the neutron yi eld of titanium and scandium targets. With an average deuteron beam current of 1 A and an energy of 120 keV, a time-averaged neutron production of sim ilar to 10(14) n/s can be estimated for a tritiated target, for both pulsed and cw operations. In mixed deuteron/triton beam operation, a beam current of 2 A at 150 keV is required for the same neutron output. Recent experime ntal results on ion sources and accelerator columns are presented and discu ssed. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.