CHARACTERIZATION OF THE BNCT EPITHERMAL COLUMN OF THE FAST REACTOR TAPIRO (ENEA) AND DOSE MEASUREMENTS IN PHANTOM UTILISING NOT-CONVENTIONAL DETECTION

The epithermal column of TAPIRO reactor has been characterized and in-phantom dose has been imaged, with the purpose of determining parameters and data whose knowledge will be of main importance for future experimentation regarding boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). In-phantom measurements have been carried out mainly utilizing a recently developed method for absorbed dose imaging, based on gel-dosimeters. Gel-dosimeters have revealed to give significant support to thermal or epithermal neutron dosimetry: in fact, the modality of energy release in gel-dosimeters is very similar to that in tissue, and with proper adjustment of the isotopic composition of gel matrix, the various dose components are separated.