Issue Discussion:
Accelerator Applications
Stuart Henderson
Fermilab
Superconducting Particle Accelerator Forum of the Americas
November 13, 2012
Particle Accelerators Impact Our Lives
Industry
Energy and
Environment
Medicine
Accelerators
and Beams
National Security
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Discovery Science
Applications: Now
Industry
• Ion implantation
• E-beam processing
Medical
• Cancer therapy
• Medical isotope production
Security
• Cargo scanning/screening
See “Industrial Accelerators &
Their Applications”, edited by R.
W. Hamm & M. E. Hamm, World
Scientific Publishing, 2012.
All the products that are processed, treated or
inspected by particle beams have an annual value
exceeding US$500B.
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Applications of the Future?
Industrial/Environmental
• E-beam treatment of
water, sewage, flue gas
• Needs:



Compact and Reliable
High beam power
Energy efficient
Medical
• Very compact sources of
electrons/x-rays/protons
• Carbon therapy
• Needs:

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
Compact machine and
gantry
Controls and instrumentation
Energy
• Accelerator Driven Systems

•
Little or no federal interest
Needs
•
Very high reliability
Security
• THz radiation sources
• Defense and detection
• Needs



Compact
Multiple probes
Fieldable, rugged
Connecting the Dots:
From Science to Application
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Discussion Topics
•
Jim S: “Get out of the Ivory Tower of labs and
mix it up with industry”
•
How can IARC help you develop the next
applications?
Are there other applications that are on your
radar screen?
What do you see as the opportunities that can
benefit from IARC and Fermilab collaboration?
How can we develop that feedback loop?
•
•
•
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S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
Accelerators are Essential Tools
in Industry
A wide-range of industrial applications makes use of acceleratorproduced beams for

Semiconductor (chip) manufacturing

Cross-linking and polymerization for tires,
rubber, plastics
Sterilization of medical products
Food irradiation for disinfection, extension
of shelf-life or sterilization
Welding/hardening, cutting and drilling
High energy X-ray inspection




There are ~20,000 industrial accelerators
Annual Market for industrial accelerator
systems: $1.9 B
Annual value of all products that make
use of accelerator technology: $500B
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S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
Applied Materials, Inc.
Accelerators are Essential Tools for
Medical Treatment and Diagnosis
Tens of millions of patients
receive accelerator-based
diagnoses and treatments
each year
Siemens Eclipse Cyclotron (11 MeV)
marketed for PET isotope production
•
•
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50 medical isotopes, used for
diagnosis and treatment, are
routinely produced with
accelerators
There are ~9000 medical accelerators in operation in the world
Annual market for medical accelerator systems: $4 B
S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
Accelerators for National Security
Accelerators are used
for cargo scanning and
“active interrogation” to
detect special materials
…and in Nuclear Defense:
stockpile stewardship, materials
characterization, radiography,
and support of non-proliferation
Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic
Test Facility, Los Alamos
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S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
Accelerators in Discovery Science
From understanding
the building blocks of
matter…
…to the way
biology works…
…to art history…
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Van Gogh,
Patch of
Grass, 1887
Atomic structure of
ribosomal subunit
Nearly 30% of Nobel Prizes in Physics since 1939 utilized or were influenced by
accelerators (39 of 141)
On average accelerator-motivated research yields a Nobel Prize every 3 years
4 of last 14 Nobel Prizes in Chemistry for research utilizing accelerator facilities
S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
What Are the Applications of
the Future?
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S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
DOE Office of Science Research is
Building the Foundation for Tomorrow’s
Accelerator Applications
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S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
Accelerators for the Environment
•
Accelerators can
•
•
•
•
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purify drinking water and treat waste
water
disinfect sewage sludge,
clean power-plant emissions by
removing NOX and SOX from flue
gases with high efficiency
R&D on new technologies, such
as those based on
superconducting radiofrequency
accelerators, may lead to better
and more cost-effective
approaches
S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
Accelerators for Energy
Accelerators play a pivotal role in the nation’s energy future by serving as
essential tools for materials characterization at the DOE-SC user facilities
Accelerators have tremendous potential – largely untapped thus far – in the
Energy Sector:
• Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactors (based on superconducting
particle accelerators) can transmute nuclear waste so it is much safer and
simpler to store, while at the same time generating electrical power

•
•
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This technology is actively pursued in Europe, China, India
Future nuclear plants require
materials capable of withstanding
very harsh radiation environments.
Accelerator-based irradiation
facilities can provide realistic testbeds
Generating electrical power from
nuclear fusion by utilizing particle
accelerators
S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
MYRRHA Accelerator Driven
Reactor Project, Mol, Belgium
Accelerators for National Security
and Defense
Accelerators based on superconducting
radio-frequency technology are being
developed to produce high power laser
beams for defense
New accelerators are under
development to produce
“Terahertz” radiation sources
for scanning
Accelerator laboratories and technologies have the
potential to make significant contributions to the needs
of defense and security
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S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
Accelerators for Medical Applications
Radioisotope production
•
Particle accelerators already are used to produce ~50 medical isotopes.
New high power accelerators based on superconducting radiofrequency technology can be used to solve specific problems:


Tenuous supply chain for clinically relevant fission-produced radioisotopes
such as 99Mo/99mTc (most commonly used radioisotope)
Production of new clinically relevant isotopes
Beam therapy
•
Researchers are exploring the potential
of carbon ion beams for cancer therapy


•
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Higher biological effectiveness
Superior dose distribution
The U.S. does not have a carbon therapy
facility, whereas several have been built
oversees
S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
Accelerators for Medical Applications
There is much activity at the labs to
develop new, compact types of particle
accelerators which have the potential for
very compact (and less expensive)
sources of x-rays, electrons and protons
for cancer therapy and other applications
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Concept for compact proton therapy
accelerator, LLNL
W. Leemans, LBNL
One billion volt
accelerator (1.3
inches long)
Accelerator Technology for
Discovery Science
DOE-SC’s programs in accelerator R&D enable the
next generation scientific user facilities that will lead
to tomorrow’s discoveries
12 GeV Upgrade,
TJNAF
NSLS-II,
BNL
Next-Generation Light
Source, LBNL
Long-Baseline
Neutrino Expt.
NOvA
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Muon to Electron
Conversion
Project X
Making the Connections: the Illinois
Accelerator Research Center (IARC)
IARC is a new facility, expected to come online in FY15, depending on funding
IARC is a partnership between the DOE and State of Illinois with a mission to
bring together Industry, Universities and Fermilab to develop, demonstrate and
transfer accelerator technology to solve problems of national importance in
medicine, industry, energy, environment, security and discovery science
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S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012
Summary
•
•
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Accelerator Technology developed at the
laboratories through DOE/High Energy Physics
and the other SC programs will have a
tremendous impact on Discovery Science
But those same breakthroughs will have a reach
that goes far beyond, benefitting society in direct
and tangible ways by enabling transformative
approaches in medicine, energy, environment,
industry and national security
S. Henderson, SPAFOA, June 20, 2012