LINAC-BASED PHOTONUCLEAR APPLICATIONS AT THE IDAHO ACCELERATOR CENTER

In this paper, current Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC) activities based on the exploitation of high energy bremsstrahlung photons generated by linear electron accelerators will be reviewed. These beams are used to induce photonuclear interactions for a wide variety of applications in materials science, activation analysis, medical research, and nuclear technology. Most of the exploited phenomena are governed by the familiar giant dipole resonance cross section in nuclei. By proper target and converter design, optimization of photon and photoneutron production can be achieved, allowing radiation fields produced with both photons and neutrons to be used for medical isotope production and for fission product transmutation. The latter provides a specific application example that supports long-term fission product waste management. Using high-energy, highpower electron accelerators, we can demonstrate transmutation of radio-toxic, long-lived fission products (LLFP) such as ⁹⁹Tc and ¹²⁹I into short lived species. The latest experimental and simulation results will be presented.