Fast neutron source for cultured cell irradiation

Because of recent interest in the use of neutrons for radiotherapy, there has been an increased interest in the radiobiology of neutrons. In this irradiated cell study, a 1.3 MeV accelerator produced beam currents over 100 μA on the water-cooled 3-mm thick beryllium disk target. The monolayer of irradiated cells was neutron-shielded by about 700 kg of paraffin. The neutron energy spectrum for the 9Be(d,n)10B reaction was obtained, with an average neutron energy calculated to be between 3.3 and 3.5 MeV, and an average linear energy transfer calculated at more than 3π keV/micron