Some medical compact cyclotrons have self-shielding to reduce neutron fluxes. Thermal neutron fluxes in an 18-MeV unshielded cyclotron room and in a 16.5-MeV self-shielded cyclotron room were evaluated. In addition, the radioactivities in concrete and metals due to thermal neutrons in the cyclotron rooms for 30 years were calculated of operation such that the sum of the ratio of the nuclide concentration to the nuclide clearance level was equal to 1. The thermal neutron flux from the unshielded cyclotron was approximately 10(2) cm(-2) s(-1), whereas that from the self-shielded cyclotron was approximately 10(2) cm(-2) s(-1). The thermal neutron fluxes for concrete, stainless steel, vessel steel, and aluminum that reached their clearance levels were 9.80 × 10(4), 2.17 × 10(3), 1.87 × 10(4), and 2.41 × 10(5) cm(-2) s(-1), respectively. The specific activities in the cyclotron room were found to be sufficiently below the clearance level when the self-shield was employed.

The cyclotron at our hospital has a self-shield of boron-containing water. The amount of induced radioactivity in the boron-containing water shield of a compact medical cyclotron has not yet been reported. In this study, we measured the photon and neutron dose rates outside the self-shield during cyclotron operation. We estimated the induced radioactivities of the boron-containing water used for the self-shield and then measured them. We estimated the activation of concrete outside the self-shield in the cyclotron laboratory. The thermal neutron flux during cyclotron operation was estimated to be 4.72 × 102 cm−2 s−1, and the activation of concrete in a cyclotron laboratory was about three orders of magnitude lower than the clearance level of RS-G-1.7 (IAEA). The activity concentration of the boron-containing water did not exceed the concentration limit for radioactive isotopes in drainage in Japan and the exemption level for Basic Safety Standards. Consequently, the boron-containing water is treatable as non-radioactive waste. Neutrons were effectively shielded by the self-shield during cyclotron operation.

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