Physics parameters for an epithermal-neutron beam at the Georgia Institute of Technology

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) research in the United States has focused on the use of epithermal (0.5 eV to 10 keV) neutron beams for treatment of certain highly-malignant primary brain tumors and possibly for treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma. Various types of epithermal neutron sources for BNCT have been proposed over the years. Reactor-based sources, accelerator-based sources, and radioactive neutron sources have all been extensively examined. The first practical, large-scale, epithermal neutron beam for BNCT was installed at the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor (BMRR). Although the BMRR beam has served the BNCT research community well, and will continue to be a valuable research tool for the foreseeable future, there are also reasons to seriously consider the construction of an advanced epithermal neutron beam facility at the Georgia Institute of Technology Research Reactor (GTRR). The neutronic characteristics of the GTRR are such that a properly-designed epithermal neutron filter in the existing large horizontal medical irradiation port at this facility would offer certain significant improvements in performance relative to the BMRR beam