Air - hdbk11080113

DOE-HDBK-1108-97

Radiological Training for Accelerator Facilities

Student's Guide

Beamline components may become activated (radioactive) depending on:

Nature of the material.

Proximity to the beam.

Beam characteristics.

Items that intercept a portion of the beam are most likely to be activated and

contaminated. Among those items that have the highest probability for activation are:

Targets: Targets are devices designed to intercept a portion of the beam for the

purposes of producing secondary beams of particles or physical reactions.

Beam dumps or stops: Beam dumps or stops are used to absorb the beam at the end

of a beam cycle.

Collimators and scrapers: Collimators and scrapers are used to remove particles

(halo) that have drifted from the highly collimated beam.

Septa and other magnets: Septa and other magnets are used to align and direct

beams.

Cavities and beamline: Beamline piping and items such as resonating cavities,

diagnostic devices, etc., may become activated.

Air

Air, dust, and other gases in the accelerator enclosure may be activated. Typically, the

activation products are short-lived gaseous radionuclides of the elements in the air or

particulate, in the case of dust particles. One example is Oxygen-15 which is produced

from Nitrogen-14 and Oxygen-16.