Status of BINP proton tandem accelerator

Abstract The status of a unique 2.0 MeV, 10 mA proton tandem accelerator with vacuum insulation is presented. The accelerator is intended to be used in facilities generating resonant gamma rays for explosives detection and epithermal neutrons for boron neutron-capture therapy of brain tumors. A magnetically coupled DC voltage multiplier derived from an industrial ELV-type electron accelerator is used as a high voltage source for the accelerator. A dc high current negative ion source has been developed for injection into the tandem. In the tandem accelerator there is set of nested potential electrodes with openings which form a channel for accelerating the negative hydrogen ion beam and subsequently accelerating the proton beam after stripping in the gas target. The electrodes are connected to a high voltage feedthrough insulator to which required potentials are applied from the high voltage power supply by means of a resistor voltage divider. In the paper the first experimental results obtained with the vacuum insulated tandem accelerator are also given.