Innovation Research Laboratory

This building was built next to the KUCA building in FY 2003. It consists of two independent parts: the experimental facility which accommodates 150 MeV FFAG synchrotron and 11 MeV Negative Hydrogen Ion Beam Linear Accelerator ; the medical facility which accommodates 30 MeV Cyclotron and medical treatment equipments.
Innovation Research Laboratory
Innovation Research Laboratory

150 MeV FFAG Synchrotron

A Fixed Field Alternating Gradient ( FFAG ) accelerator complex was installed in the experimental facility for the basic study of Accelerator Driven System ( ADS ) under the support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ( MEXT ). The world first ADS experiments were performed in March 2009 by using the combination of 100 MeV proton beams from the FFAG synchrotron and the subcritical nuclear fuel system assembled in A-core in the KUCA. The experiments are still ongoing with different conditions of the core and the beam.
 The present beam specifications at 2015 are the energy of 150 MeV, the current of 1 nA, the repetition rate of 30 Hz and pulse width less than 100 ns. Other than ADS experiments, irradiation for the materials, aerosol and living animals e.g. rats are performed for the basic studies in various research fields. In future, considering the usages of the beams for a pulsed neutron source, the beam intensity upgrade is ongoing aiming to the beam current of 1 μA.
150MeV
Fig.1:150 MeV FFAG Synchrotron

11 MeV Negative Hydrogen Ion Beam Linear Accelerator

This apparatus consists of a negative hydrogen ion source, 7 MeV DTL and 11 MeV DTL. It is used as the injector of the 150 MeV FFAG synchrotron. A negative hydrogen ion is composed of one proton and two electrons.  Once it is injected to the FFAG ring and hits the thin carbon foil, two electrons are stripped out and it becomes a proton. This injection scheme can realize a long-term injection such as over 100 turns. The  beam specifications are the energy of 11 MeV, the current of 1 mA at the peak, the repetition rate of 200 Hz and pulse width of  100 μs. Other than an injector to the FFAG ring, it can be used for irradiation experiments with 11 MeV and 7 MeV.
11MeV
Fig.2:11 MeV Negative Hydrogen Ion Beam Linear Accelerator

30MeV Cyclotron

30MeV cyclotron is the proton accelerator that can produce epithermal neutrons for boron neutron capture therapy. This cyclotron produces proton beams with the energy and current of 30 MeV and 1 mA, respectively. Epithermal neutron flux of 1.2 x109(n/cm2/s) is supplied by the combination of neutron production target and neutron moderator. Cyclotron was install in Innovation Research Laboratory Medical Area on December 2008. The test of neutron production was started on March 2009. After the physical irradiation and biological irradiation using small animals and cells, the first clinical trial in the world was started on October 2012.
30MeV Cyclotron and beam transport tube
Fig. 1. 30MeV Cyclotron and beam transport tube