NEUTRON FLUXES IN RADIOTHERAPY ROOMS

The spatial distribution of the neutron flux, originated in an electron accelerator therapy room when energies above the threshold of (gamma,n) and (e,e'n) reactions are employed, is physically due to a direct flux, coming from the accelerator head, and to a flux diffused from the walls. In this work, the flux is described to a high degree of approximation by a set of functions whose spatial behavior is univocally determined by the angular distributions of the neutrons emitted from the shield of the accelerator head and diffused from the walls. The analytical results are verified with an extended series of Monte Carlo simulations obtained with the MCNP code.