News Archive

25 February 2022
Cincinnati Radiation Society February Meeting

Wade Morris, Chapter President

About 25 members of the Cincinnati Radiation Society (CRS) Chapter of the Health Physics Society (HPS) met on Thursday, 10 February 2022, to hear Wade C. Morris present "Neutron Activation Analysis of Components From a Varian ProBeam® Cyclotron." The presentation discussed the evaluation of activation products in several different components removed from a 250-MeV Varian ProBeam® cyclotron proton accelerator located at the Cincinnati Children's/UC Health Medical Center Proton Therapy Center located in Liberty Township, Ohio, which began treatments in 2016. Since proton accelerators can induce photonuclear reactions in high-Z materials and activate individual components of the accelerator, the activated components may represent a source of radiation exposure for support personnel, especially during maintenance of the accelerator components when workers adjust and replace broken or worn-out components. In addition, activated components are also required by state rule to be regulated as byproduct materials.