[en] LILA is a BNL adventure to create a particle orbit and tracking program ensemble for large storage ring accelerator design and also controls operation. The accelerator physics parts are based largely on the PATRICIA program of H. Weidemann, as enhanced by S. Kheifets in a later version with multipole effects. We have emphasized the data base aspects of the tracking problem, as modern storage rings contain thousands of distinct lattice items, each with perhaps up to fifty parameters of its own. We have also introduced the general and flexible program structures long familiar to high energy physics event analysis, by which an event is reconstructed in steps from points into lines, projections into tracks, tracks to vertices and the like. Thus, LILA is a modern amalgam of the original PATRICIA, a relational data base and memory management mechanism, and a number of enhancements for treating nonlinear forces

No abstract available

[en] The consensus of opinion within the nuclear industry is that the first step in the safe disposal of liquid high-level radioactive waste is the conversion of this waste into a solid such as a block of glass cast in a stainless steel canister. Steps in the vitrification process are considered. Research being carried out in the UK to obtain chemical engineering information on the vitrification process and to develop and evaluate the best glass for each type of highly active waste is discussed. Work being undertaken in France, India, USA and West Germany to turn the vitrification concept into a working industrial process is described. (UK)

[en] Beginning with the Teak nuclear test in 1958, Los Alamos has a long history of participation in active experiments in space. The last pertinent nuclear tests were the five explosions as part of the Dominic series in 1962. The Partial Test Ban Treaty signed in August 1963 prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground. Beginning with the “Apple” thermite barium release in June 1968 Los Alamos has participated in nearly 100 non-nuclear experiments in space, the last being the NASA-sponsored “AA-2” strontium and europium doped barium thermite releases in the Arecibo beam in July of 1992. The rationale for these experiments ranged from studying basic plasma processes such as gradientdriven structuring and velocity-space instabilities to illuminating the convection of plasmas in the ionosphere and polar cap to ionospheric depletion experiments to the B.E.A.R. 1-MeV neutral particle beam test in 1989. This report reviews the objectives, techniques and diagnostics of Los Alamos participation in active experiments in space.

[en] Methods have been developed for production of ¹²³I by decay of ¹²³Xe formed by the reaction ¹²⁷I(p,5n)¹²³Xe, by bombarding a flowing target of CH₂I₂/I₂ with a current of 10 to 20 micro A of 58 MeV protons produced by the Harwell Variable Energy Cyclotron. At this high current, radiation chemical reactions which are dose rate and total dose dependent caused serious difficulties, and means of overcoming these are reported. A practical production rate (which includes all losses during irradiation, trapping and chemical washing-out of the trap) of 5 to 6 mCi/microAhr has been achieved. The only impurity found is ¹²⁵I, present to the extent of 0.13% by activity. A total of 107 patients have been treated with pharmaceuticals labelled with approximately 2 Ci of ¹²³I produced in 20 separate runs. (author)

[en] Purpose: IMRT treatment is often administered with image guidance and small PTV margins. Change in body habitus such as weight loss and tumor response during the course of a treatment could be significant, thus warranting re-simulation and re-planning. Adaptive planning is challenging and places significant burden on the staff, as such some commercial vendors are now offering adaptive planning software to stream line the process of re-planning and dose accumulation between different CT data set. The purpose of this abstract is to compare the adaptive planning tools between Pinnacle version 9.8 and MIM 6.4 software. Methods: Head and Neck cases of previously treated patients that experienced anatomical changes during the course of their treatment were chosen for evaluation. The new CT data set from the re-simulation was imported to Pinnacle and MIM software. The dynamic planning tool in pinnacle was used to calculate the old plan with fixed MU setting on the new CT data. In MIM, the old CT was registered to the new data set, followed by a dose transformation to the new CT. The dose distribution to the PTV and critical structures from each software were analyzed and compared. Results: 9% difference was observed between the Global maximum doses reported by both software. Mean doses to organs at risk and PTV’s were within 6 % however pinnacle showed greater difference in PTV coverage change. Conclusion: MIM software adaptive planning corrects for geometrical changes without consideration for the effect of radiological path length on dose distribution; however Pinnacle corrects for both geometric and radiological effect on the dose distribution. Pinnacle gives a better estimate of the dosimetric impact due to anatomical changes

[en] Purpose: We will investigate the performance variation of the MapCheck2 detector array with different array calibration and dose calibration pairs from different radiation therapy machine. Methods: A MapCheck2 detector array was calibrated on 3 Elekta accelerators with different energy of photon (6 MV, 10 MV, 15 MV and 18 MV) and electron (6 MeV, 9 MeV, 12 MeV, 15 MeV, 18 MeV and 20 MeV) beams. Dose calibration was conducted by referring a water phantom measurement following TG-51 protocol and commission data for each accelerator. A 10 cm × 10 cm beam was measured. This measured map was morphed by applying different calibration pairs. Then the difference was quantified by comparing the doses and similarity using gamma analysis of criteria (0.5 %, 0 mm). Profile variation was evaluated on a same dataset with different calibration pairs. The passing rate of an IMRT QA planar dose was calculated by using 3 mm and 3% criteria and compared with respect to each calibration pairs. Results: In this study, a dose variation up to 0.67% for matched photons and 1.0% for electron beams is observed. Differences of flatness and symmetry can be as high as 1% and 0.7% respectively. Gamma analysis shows a passing rate ranging from 34% to 85% for the standard 10 × 10 cm field. Conclusion: Our work demonstrated that a customized array calibration and dose calibration for each machine is preferred to fulfill a high standard patient QA task.

[en] The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory employs 244 klystron modulators on its two-mile-long linear accelerator that has been operational since the early days of the SLAC establishment in the sixties. Each of these original modulators was designed to provide 250 kV, 262 A and 3.5 μS at up to 360 pps using an inductance-capacitance resonant charging system, a modified type-E pulse-forming network (PFN), and a pulse transformer. The modulator internal control comprised of large step-start resistor-contactors, vacuum-tube amplifiers, and 120 Vac relays for logical signals. A major, power-component-only upgrade, which began in 1983 to accommodate the required beam energy of the SLAC Linear Collider (SLC) project, raised the modulator peak output capacity to 360 kV, 420 A and 5.0 μS at a reduced pulse repetition rate of 120 pps. In an effort to improve safety, performance, reliability and maintainability of the modulator, this recent upgrade focuses on the remaining three-phase AC power input and modulator controls. The upgrade includes the utilization of primary SCR phase control rectifiers, integrated fault protection and voltage regulation circuitries, and programmable logic controllers (PLC) -- with an emphasis on component physical layouts for safety and maintainability concerns. In this paper, we will describe the design and implementation of each upgraded component in the modulator control system. We will also report the testing and present status of the modified modulators.

[en] Purpose: IGRT imaging procedures have emerged as a common method of patient position verification in radiotherapy, though imaging dose is generally neglected in the treatment plan. Consequently, evaluating and optimizing the dose from these procedures is worthwhile. This process is especially important for children, who are more radiosensitive than adults. The aim of this work was to gain some understanding of the relative doses involved with various XVI-preset parameters for an “adult” and “child” phantom set, with the hopes that imaging dose for a child can be reduced. Methods: 32 and 16cm CTDI-phantoms were used as surrogates for adult and child torsos, respectively. Dose was measured in the central and peripheral chamber positions of the phantoms. CBCT scans were made for both phantoms using Elekta’s Chest-preset to establish a dose baseline. The child-phantom was then scanned using the Elekta Head and Neck (HN) preset. A modified HN-preset (named Peds Abd-pelvis) was also created with a doubled mAs to maintain a reduction in dose to the child-phantom (relative to the baseline), while providing clinically-usable image quality. Results: The baseline dose to the child-phantom from the Chest-preset was 310% that of the adult-phantom for the center chamber position and 150% at the periphery. An average dose reduction of 97% was obtained in the childphantom by switching from the Chest-preset to the HN-preset, while the Peds Abd-pelvis-preset similarly reduced the dose by an average of 92%. Conclusion: XVI-preset parameters significantly affect dose, and should be optimized to reduce dose, while ensuring clinically-usable image quality. Using a modified imaging preset (Peds Abd-pelvis-preset) greatly reduced the dose to the child-phantom compared to the dose for the Chest-preset for both the child and adult-phantoms. This outcome provides support for the development of child-specific protocols for IGRT imaging in pediatric patients

[en] The Swedish nuclear power program consists of 12 power reactors. Nine of these are BWR:s and three are PWR:s. At the Ringhals site on the west coast of Sweden we have one BWR and three PWR:s (three-loop Westinghouse design). Direct Containment Heating (DCH) is a severe accident scenario in which a significant part of the core debris after melt-through of the reactor vessel is dispersed into the containment causing a rapid increase of the temperature and pressure in the containment atmosphere. Under certain assumptions concerning the accident sequence DCH is predicted to be a threat to the integrity of the PWR containment. However, the results of such DCH analyses are dependent on the choice of key modelling parameters in the calculations. Finally different plants must be treated individually mainly due to different failure pressure of the containment but also specific design of the containment. (author). 6 refs., 2 tabs., 2 figs