Software process in Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cosmo, G.

2001-01-01

Since its erliest years of R and D, the GEANT4 simulation toolkit has been developed following software process standards which dictated the overall evolution of the project. The complexity of the software involved, the wide areas of application of the software product, the huge amount of code and Category complexity, the size and distributed nature of the Collaboration itself are all ingredients which involve and correlate together a wide variety of software processes. Although in 'production' and available to the public since December 1998, the GEANT4 software product includes Category Domains which are still under active development. Therefore they require different treatment also in terms of improvement of the development cycle, system testing and user support. The author is meant to describe some of the software processes as they are applied in GEANT4 for both development, testing and maintenance of the software

G4-STORK: A Geant4-based Monte Carlo reactor kinetics simulation code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, Liam; Buijs, Adriaan; Jonkmans, Guy

2014-01-01

Highlights: • G4-STORK is a new, time-dependent, Monte Carlo code for reactor physics applications. • G4-STORK was built by adapting and expanding on the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit. • G4-STORK was designed to simulate short-term fluctuations in reactor cores. • G4-STORK is well suited for simulating sub- and supercritical assemblies. • G4-STORK was verified through comparisons with DRAGON and MCNP. - Abstract: In this paper we introduce G4-STORK (Geant4 STOchastic Reactor Kinetics), a new, time-dependent, Monte Carlo particle tracking code for reactor physics applications. G4-STORK was built by adapting and expanding on the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit. The toolkit provides the fundamental physics models and particle tracking algorithms that track each particle in space and time. It is a framework for further development (e.g. for projects such as G4-STORK). G4-STORK derives reactor physics parameters (e.g. k eff ) from the continuous evolution of a population of neutrons in space and time in the given simulation geometry. In this paper we detail the major additions to the Geant4 toolkit that were necessary to create G4-STORK. These include a renormalization process that maintains a manageable number of neutrons in the simulation even in very sub- or supercritical systems, scoring processes (e.g. recording fission locations, total neutrons produced and lost, etc.) that allow G4-STORK to calculate the reactor physics parameters, and dynamic simulation geometries that can change over the course of simulation to illicit reactor kinetics responses (e.g. fuel temperature reactivity feedback). The additions are verified through simple simulations and code-to-code comparisons with established reactor physics codes such as DRAGON and MCNP. Additionally, G4-STORK was developed to run a single simulation in parallel over many processors using MPI (Message Passing Interface) pipes

A tool to convert CAD models for importation into Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Vuosalo, C.; Carlsmith, D.; Dasu, S.; Palladino, K.; LUX-ZEPLIN Collaboration

2017-10-01

The engineering design of a particle detector is usually performed in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) program, and simulation of the detector’s performance can be done with a Geant4-based program. However, transferring the detector design from the CAD program to Geant4 can be laborious and error-prone. SW2GDML is a tool that reads a design in the popular SOLIDWORKS CAD program and outputs Geometry Description Markup Language (GDML), used by Geant4 for importing and exporting detector geometries. Other methods for outputting CAD designs are available, such as the STEP format, and tools exist to convert these formats into GDML. However, these conversion methods produce very large and unwieldy designs composed of tessellated solids that can reduce Geant4 performance. In contrast, SW2GDML produces compact, human-readable GDML that employs standard geometric shapes rather than tessellated solids. This paper will describe the development and current capabilities of SW2GDML and plans for its enhancement. The aim of this tool is to automate importation of detector engineering models into Geant4-based simulation programs to support rapid, iterative cycles of detector design, simulation, and optimization.

Nuclear spectroscopy with Geant4. The superheavy challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Sarmiento, Luis G.

2016-12-01

The simulation toolkit Geant4 was originally developed at CERN for high-energy physics. Over the years it has been established as a swiss army knife not only in particle physics but it has seen an accelerated expansion towards nuclear physics and more recently to medical imaging and γ- and ion- therapy to mention but a handful of new applications. The validity of Geant4 is vast and large across many particles, ions, materials, and physical processes with typically various different models to choose from. Unfortunately, atomic nuclei with atomic number Z > 100 are not properly supported. This is likely due to the rather novelty of the field, its comparably small user base, and scarce evaluated experimental data. To circumvent this situation different workarounds have been used over the years. In this work the simulation toolkit Geant4 will be introduced with its different components and the effort to bring the software to the heavy and superheavy region will be described.

Comparison Study on Low Energy Physics Model of GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, So Hyun; Jung, Won Gyun; Suh, Tae Suk

2010-01-01

The Geant4 simulation toolkit provides improved or renewed physics model according to the version. The latest Geant4.9.3 which has been recoded by developers applies inserted Livermore data and renewed physics model to the low energy electromagnetic physics model. And also, Geant4.9.3 improved the physics factors by modified code. In this study, the stopping power and CSDA(Continuously Slowing Down Approximation) range data of electron or particles were acquired in various material and then, these data were compared with NIST(National Institute of Standards and Technology) data. Through comparison between data of Geant4 simulation and NIST, the improvement of physics model on low energy electromagnetic of Geant4.9.3 was evaluated by comparing the Geant4.9.2

Monte Carlo application based on GEANT4 toolkit to simulate a laser–plasma electron beam line for radiobiological studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lamia, D., E-mail: debora.lamia@ibfm.cnr.it [Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology IBFM CNR – LATO, Cefalù (Italy); Russo, G., E-mail: giorgio.russo@ibfm.cnr.it [Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology IBFM CNR – LATO, Cefalù (Italy); Casarino, C.; Gagliano, L.; Candiano, G.C. [Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology IBFM CNR – LATO, Cefalù (Italy); Labate, L. [Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL) – National Institute of Optics INO CNR, Pisa (Italy); National Institute for Nuclear Physics INFN, Pisa Section and Frascati National Laboratories LNF (Italy); Baffigi, F.; Fulgentini, L.; Giulietti, A.; Koester, P.; Palla, D. [Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL) – National Institute of Optics INO CNR, Pisa (Italy); Gizzi, L.A. [Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL) – National Institute of Optics INO CNR, Pisa (Italy); National Institute for Nuclear Physics INFN, Pisa Section and Frascati National Laboratories LNF (Italy); Gilardi, M.C. [Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology IBFM CNR, Segrate (Italy); University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano (Italy)

2015-06-21

We report on the development of a Monte Carlo application, based on the GEANT4 toolkit, for the characterization and optimization of electron beams for clinical applications produced by a laser-driven plasma source. The GEANT4 application is conceived so as to represent in the most general way the physical and geometrical features of a typical laser-driven accelerator. It is designed to provide standard dosimetric figures such as percentage dose depth curves, two-dimensional dose distributions and 3D dose profiles at different positions both inside and outside the interaction chamber. The application was validated by comparing its predictions to experimental measurements carried out on a real laser-driven accelerator. The work is aimed at optimizing the source, by using this novel application, for radiobiological studies and, in perspective, for medical applications. - Highlights: • Development of a Monte Carlo application based on GEANT4 toolkit. • Experimental measurements carried out with a laser-driven acceleration system. • Validation of Geant4 application comparing experimental data with the simulated ones. • Dosimetric characterization of the acceleration system.

GPU in Physics Computation: Case Geant4 Navigation

CERN Document Server

Seiskari, Otto; Niemi, Tapio

2012-01-01

General purpose computing on graphic processing units (GPU) is a potential method of speeding up scientific computation with low cost and high energy efficiency. We experimented with the particle physics simulation toolkit Geant4 used at CERN to benchmark its geometry navigation functionality on a GPU. The goal was to find out whether Geant4 physics simulations could benefit from GPU acceleration and how difficult it is to modify Geant4 code to run in a GPU. We ported selected parts of Geant4 code to C99 & CUDA and implemented a simple gamma physics simulation utilizing this code to measure efficiency. The performance of the program was tested by running it on two different platforms: NVIDIA GeForce 470 GTX GPU and a 12-core AMD CPU system. Our conclusion was that GPUs can be a competitive alternate for multi-core computers but porting existing software in an efficient way is challenging.

Geant4-DNA simulation of electron slowing-down spectra in liquid water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Incerti, S., E-mail: sebastien.incerti@tdt.edu.vn [Division of Nuclear Physics, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Univ. Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170, Gradignan (France); CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); Kyriakou, I. [Medical Physics Laboratory, University of Ioannina Medical School, 45110 Ioannina (Greece); Tran, H.N. [Division of Nuclear Physics, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam)

2017-04-15

This work presents the simulation of monoenergetic electron slowing-down spectra in liquid water by the Geant4-DNA extension of the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit (release 10.2p01). These spectra are simulated for several incident energies using the most recent Geant4-DNA physics models, and they are compared to literature data. The influence of Auger electron production is discussed. For the first time, a dedicated Geant4-DNA example allowing such simulations is described and is provided to Geant4 users, allowing further verification of Geant4-DNA track structure simulation capabilities.

Physical models implemented in the Geant4-DNA extension of the Geant-4 toolkit for calculating initial radiation damage at the molecular level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Villagrasa, C.; Francis, Z.; Incerti, S.

2011-01-01

The ROSIRIS project aims to study the radiobiology of integrated systems for medical treatment optimisation using ionising radiations and evaluate the associated risk. In the framework of this project, one research focus is the interpretation of the initial radio-induced damage in DNA created by ionising radiation (and detected by γH2AX foci analysis) from the track structure of the incident particles. In order to calculate the track structure of ionising particles at a nano-metric level, the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit was used. Geant4 (Object Oriented Programming Architecture in C++) offers a common platform, available free to all users and relatively easy to use. Nevertheless, the current low-energy threshold for electromagnetic processes in GEANT4 is set to 1 keV (250 eV using the Livermore processes), which is an unsuitable value for nano-metric applications. To lower this energy threshold, the necessary interaction processes and models were identified, and the corresponding available cross sections collected from the literature. They are mostly based on the plane-wave Born approximation (first Born approximation, or FBA) for inelastic interactions and on semi-empirical models for energies where the FBA fails (at low energies). In this paper, the extensions that have been introduced into the 9.3 release of the Geant4 toolkit are described, the so-called Geant4-DNA extension, including a set of processes and models adapted in this study and permitting the simulation of electron (8 eV -1 MeV), proton (100 eV-100 MeV) and alpha particle (1 keV-10 MeV) interactions in liquid water. (authors)

Status of the physics validation studies using Geant4 in ATLAS

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(CDS)2108477

2003-01-01

The new simulation for the ATLAS detector at LHC is performed using Geant4 in a complete OO/C++ environment. In this framework the simulation of the various test beams for the different ATLAS subdetectors offers an excellent opportunity to perform physics validation studies over a wide range of physics domains: the electromagnetic processes, the individual hadronic interactions, the electromagnetic and hadronic signals in calorimeters. The simulation is implemented by paying special attention to all details of the experimental layout and by testing all possible physics processes which may be of relevance to the specific detector under test: the resulting simulation programs are often more detailed than the corresponding Geant3-based simulation suites. In this paper we present relevant features of muon, electron and pion signals in various ATLAS detectors. All remaining discrepancies between Geant4 and test-beam data are currently being addressed and progress is continuous. This work shows that Geant4 is becom...

A Compton camera application for the GAMOS GEANT4-based framework

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harkness, L.J., E-mail: ljh@ns.ph.liv.ac.uk [Oliver Lodge Laboratory, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE (United Kingdom); Arce, P. [Department of Basic Research, CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Judson, D.S.; Boston, A.J.; Boston, H.C.; Cresswell, J.R.; Dormand, J.; Jones, M.; Nolan, P.J.; Sampson, J.A.; Scraggs, D.P.; Sweeney, A. [Oliver Lodge Laboratory, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE (United Kingdom); Lazarus, I.; Simpson, J. [STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom)

2012-04-11

Compton camera systems can be used to image sources of gamma radiation in a variety of applications such as nuclear medicine, homeland security and nuclear decommissioning. To locate gamma-ray sources, a Compton camera employs electronic collimation, utilising Compton kinematics to reconstruct the paths of gamma rays which interact within the detectors. The main benefit of this technique is the ability to accurately identify and locate sources of gamma radiation within a wide field of view, vastly improving the efficiency and specificity over existing devices. Potential advantages of this imaging technique, along with advances in detector technology, have brought about a rapidly expanding area of research into the optimisation of Compton camera systems, which relies on significant input from Monte-Carlo simulations. In this paper, the functionality of a Compton camera application that has been integrated into GAMOS, the GEANT4-based Architecture for Medicine-Oriented Simulations, is described. The application simplifies the use of GEANT4 for Monte-Carlo investigations by employing a script based language and plug-in technology. To demonstrate the use of the Compton camera application, simulated data have been generated using the GAMOS application and acquired through experiment for a preliminary validation, using a Compton camera configured with double sided high purity germanium strip detectors. Energy spectra and reconstructed images for the data sets are presented.

Geant4 2005 10. user conference and collaboration workshop. Slides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maire, M.; Amako, K.; Agapov, I.; Allison, J.; Amako, K.; Anah, J.; Apostolakis, J.; Asai, M.; Aso, T.; Barrand, G.; Becheva, E.; Berthoumieux, E.; Bongrand, M.; Boudard, A.; Canchel, G.; Capra, R.; Carlier, Th.; Chambon, P.; Chipaux, R.; Cognet, M.A.; Cornelius, I.; Cosmo, G.; Beenhouwer, J. de; Derreumaux, S.; Desbree, A.; Descourt, P.; Dridi, W.; Ersmark, T.; Faddegon, B.; Ferrer, L.; Flacco, A.; Folger, G.; Francis, S.; Giovinazzo, J.; Glinec, Y.; Godart, J.; Goncalves, P.; Gottschlag, H.; Grichine, V.; Guatelli, S.; Gudowska, I.; Guemnie Tafo, A.; Gueye, P.; Gumplinger, P.; Gurriaran, R.; Hannachi, F.; Heikkinen, A.; Hill, D.; Honore, P.F.; Howard, A.; Hrivnacova, I.; Hubert, X.; Incerti, S.; Ivanchenko, V.; Jacquemier, J.; Jones, F.; Kerhoas-Cavata, S.; Klem, J.; Koi, T.; Kosov, M.; Labalme, M.; Lang, N.; Lemercier, M.; Lemiere, Y.; Leroy, P.; Link, O.; Liu, B.; Lydon, J.; Maire, M.; Marchand, D.; Marquet, Ch.; Mascialino, B.; Matea, I.; Mccormick, J.; Mclaren, I.; Merchant, M.; Miceli, A.; Mine, Ph.; Moretto, Ph.; Mount, R.; Murakami, K.; Nachab, H.; Nehmeh, S.; Nieminen, P.; Paganetti, H.; Pallon, J.; Pandola, L.; Perl, J.; Perrot, F.; Pia Maria, G.; Piqueras, I.; Pouthier, Th.; Pshenichnov, I.; Raaijmakers, A.; Raaymakers, B.; Reuillon, R.; Ribon, A.; Rodrigues, P.; Rogel, G.; Salehzahi, F.; Santin, G.; Sasaki, T.; Schubert, M.; Seznec, H.; Shipley, D.; Skaza, F.; Thiam Cheick, O.; Tome, B.; Traneus, E.; Trindade, A.; Truscott, P.; Vacanti, G.; Verderi, M.; Watase, Y.; Wright, D.; Yarba, J.; Yoshida, H.; Zacharatou-Jarlskog, Ch.; Zhang, Q.

2005-01-01

Originally developed for the simulation of large scale particle physics experiments, the field of applications of the conferences Geant4 is growing fast worldwide especially at the physics medicine biology frontier. In this framework the 2005 Geant4 conference was dedicated to simulations with a strong interest at the physics medicine biology frontier. In particular the following topics were discussed: review of simulation applications for medicine, validation of Geant4 models for medical physics, simulation of radiotherapy and irradiation setups, treatment planning in radiotherapy, dosimetry, parallelization, imaging techniques, data handling, related GRID developments and applications and the Geant4 DNA project with related Monte Carlo tools. Slides are provided. (A.L.B.)

Geant4 2005 10. user conference and collaboration workshop. Slides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maire, M; Amako, K; Agapov, I; Allison, J; Amako, K; Anah, J; Apostolakis, J; Asai, M; Aso, T; Barrand, G; Becheva, E; Berthoumieux, E; Bongrand, M; Boudard, A; Canchel, G; Capra, R; Carlier, Th; Chambon, P; Chipaux, R; Cognet, M A; Cornelius, I; Cosmo, G; Beenhouwer, J de; Derreumaux, S; Desbree, A; Descourt, P; Dridi, W; Ersmark, T; Faddegon, B; Ferrer, L; Flacco, A; Folger, G; Francis, S; Giovinazzo, J; Glinec, Y; Godart, J; Goncalves, P; Gottschlag, H; Grichine, V; Guatelli, S; Gudowska, I; Guemnie Tafo, A; Gueye, P; Gumplinger, P; Gurriaran, R; Hannachi, F; Heikkinen, A; Hill, D; Honore, P F; Howard, A; Hrivnacova, I; Hubert, X; Incerti, S; Ivanchenko, V; Jacquemier, J; Jones, F; Kerhoas-Cavata, S; Klem, J; Koi, T; Kosov, M; Labalme, M; Lang, N; Lemercier, M; Lemiere, Y; Leroy, P; Link, O; Liu, B; Lydon, J; Maire, M; Marchand, D; Marquet, Ch; Mascialino, B; Matea, I; Mccormick, J; Mclaren, I; Merchant, M; Miceli, A; Mine, Ph; Moretto, Ph; Mount, R; Murakami, K; Nachab, H; Nehmeh, S; Nieminen, P; Paganetti, H; Pallon, J; Pandola, L; Perl, J; Perrot, F; Pia Maria, G; Piqueras, I; Pouthier, Th; Pshenichnov, I; Raaijmakers, A; Raaymakers, B; Reuillon, R; Ribon, A; Rodrigues, P; Rogel, G; Salehzahi, F; Santin, G; Sasaki, T; Schubert, M; Seznec, H; Shipley, D; Skaza, F; Thiam Cheick, O; Tome, B; Traneus, E; Trindade, A; Truscott, P; Vacanti, G; Verderi, M; Watase, Y; Wright, D; Yarba, J; Yoshida, H; Zacharatou-Jarlskog, Ch; Zhang, Q

2005-07-01

Originally developed for the simulation of large scale particle physics experiments, the field of applications of the conferences Geant4 is growing fast worldwide especially at the physics medicine biology frontier. In this framework the 2005 Geant4 conference was dedicated to simulations with a strong interest at the physics medicine biology frontier. In particular the following topics were discussed: review of simulation applications for medicine, validation of Geant4 models for medical physics, simulation of radiotherapy and irradiation setups, treatment planning in radiotherapy, dosimetry, parallelization, imaging techniques, data handling, related GRID developments and applications and the Geant4 DNA project with related Monte Carlo tools. Slides are provided. (A.L.B.)

Object-oriented approach to preequilibrium and equilibrium decays in Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lara, V.

2001-01-01

The Geant4 simulation toolkit provides a set of parameterized models that allow to model hadronic showers. However, in order to allow extrapolation beyond the experimental data and to offer an alternative set of models at conventional energies, Geant4 also provides a set of theory based hadronic shower models. We present the Object Oriented Design of a semiclassical exciton model for preequilibrium decays and a set of statistical models for deexcitation of compound nuclei. Our design follows the philosophy of hadronic models in Geant4, allowing for maximum of extendibility and customizability of the underlying physics by means of the use of abstract interfaces. We exploit advanced Software Engineering techniques and Object Oriented technology to achieve those goals. We present also a series of comparisons against experimental data being made in order to test the model. (orig.)

Geant4 hadronic and electromagnetic validation tests in LHCb

CERN Document Server

Griffith, Peter Noel

2016-01-01

LHCb uses Geant4 to simulate the interactions of particles with the detector material and components. The simulation response can vary significantly due to modification of material description, of detector geometry, or of the Geant4 toolkit itself. Therefore, an extensive variety of tools have been developed to study the effects of Geant4 modification on the LHCb simulation framework and on stand-alone environments within the LHCb software infrastructure. These tools have proven to be very effective for investigating new and alternative models provided by Geant4, and also in identifying and fixing anomalous behaviours that arise from changes. The next goal is to have these validation tests run autonomously and periodically, alerting the relevant users when problems are detected. Quick and easy comparison of the results from different software versions and simulation models will be made possible through the web interface of the LHCb Performance and Regression testing system, LHCbPR.

Parallel Geometries in Geant4 foundation and recent enhancements

CERN Document Server

Apostolakis, J; Cosmo, G; Howard, A; Ivanchenko, V; Verderi, M

2009-01-01

The Geant4 software toolkit simulates the passage of particles through matter. It is utilized in high energy and nuclear physics experiments, in medical physics and space applications. For many applications it is necessary to measure particle fluxes and radiation doses in parts of the setup where there are complex structures. To undertake this in a flexible way, Geant4 has tools to create and use additional, parallel, geometrical hierarchies within a single application. A separate, parallel geometry can be used for each one amongst shower parameterization, event biasing, scoring of radiation, and/or the creation of hits in detailed readout structures. We describe the existing basic capabilities of the Geant4 toolkit to create multiple geometries and the recent major enhancements undertaken to streamline, enhance and extend these. New functionality enables Geant4 developers to offer new embedded schemes for scoring (requiring no user C++ code); has simplified the implementation of processes or capabilities usi...

Test of GEANT3 and GEANT4 nuclear models for 160 MeV protons stopping in CH2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paganetti, H.; Gottschalk, B.

2003-01-01

Monte Carlo simulations are used for many problems in proton radiation therapy, some of which are sensitive to the nuclear interaction model. The available models have been little tested in the regime of interest, namely in their ability to predict the secondary particle yield, including their angle and energy, when 70-250 MeV protons stop in various materials. The present study provides one such test in carbon, complementing a previous one in copper. Using a multilayer Faraday cup we have measured the projected range distribution of charged nuclear secondaries from 160 MeV protons stopping in polyethylene (CH 2 ). To test the popular GEANT Monte Carlo we have simulated the experiment with GEANT3 using the 'Gheisha' (default) and 'Fluka' models and with GEANT4.5 using the 'low-energy' and 'precompound' models. The GEANT3/Fluka and GEANT4/precompound simulations agree moderately well with the observed range distribution. The data are given in a convenient form for testing other Monte Carlo programs

Performance Evaluation of Multithreaded Geant4 Simulations Using an Intel Xeon Phi Cluster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Schweitzer

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to evaluate the performances of Intel Xeon Phi hardware accelerators for Geant4 simulations, especially for multithreaded applications. We present the complete methodology to guide users for the compilation of their Geant4 applications on Phi processors. Then, we propose series of benchmarks to compare the performance of Xeon CPUs and Phi processors for a Geant4 example dedicated to the simulation of electron dose point kernels, the TestEm12 example. First, we compare a distributed execution of a sequential version of the Geant4 example on both architectures before evaluating the multithreaded version of the Geant4 example. If Phi processors demonstrated their ability to accelerate computing time (till a factor 3.83 when distributing sequential Geant4 simulations, we do not reach the same level of speedup when considering the multithreaded version of the Geant4 example.

MCNPX and GEANT4 simulation of γ-ray polymeric shields

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

However, both methods need benchmarking with experimental or standard data. Monte ... elements as it was defined for MCNPX and GEANT4 input materials. ... In GEANT4, photon and neutron libraries were implemented using EMLOW6.19.

artG4: A Generic Framework for Geant4 Simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arvanitis, Tasha [Harvey Mudd Coll.; Lyon, Adam [Fermilab

2014-01-01

A small experiment must devote its limited computing expertise to writing physics code directly applicable to the experiment. A software 'framework' is essential for providing an infrastructure that makes writing the physics-relevant code easy. In this paper, we describe a highly modular and easy to use framework for writing Geant4 based simulations called 'artg4'. This framework is a layer on top of the art framework.

GAMOS: A framework to do GEANT4 simulations in different physics fields with an user-friendly interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arce, Pedro; Ignacio Lagares, Juan; Harkness, Laura; Pérez-Astudillo, Daniel; Cañadas, Mario; Rato, Pedro; Prado, María de; Abreu, Yamiel; Lorenzo, Gianluca de; Kolstein, Machiel; Díaz, Angelina

2014-01-01

GAMOS is a software system for GEANT4-based simulation. It comprises a framework, a set of components providing functionality to simulation applications on top of the GEANT4 toolkit, and a collection of ready-made applications. It allows to perform GEANT4-based simulations using a scripting language, without requiring the writing of C++ code. Moreover, GAMOS design allows the extension of the existing functionality through user-supplied C++ classes. The main characteristics of GAMOS and its embedded functionality are described

An XML description of detector geometries for GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Figgins, J.; Walker, B.; Comfort, J.R.

2006-01-01

A code has been developed that enables the geometry of detectors to be specified easily and flexibly in the XML language, for use in the Monte Carlo program GEANT4. The user can provide clear documentation of the geometry without being proficient in the C++ language of GEANT4. The features and some applications are discussed

GEANT 4: an Object-Oriented toolkit for simulation in HEP

CERN Multimedia

Kent, P; Sirotenko, V; Komogorov, M; Pavliouk, A; Greeniaus, G L; Kayal, P I; Routenburg, P; Tanaka, S; Duellmann, D; Innocente, V; Paoli, S; Ranjard, F; Riccardi, F; Ruggier, M; Shiers, J; Egli, S; Kimura, A; Urban, P; Prior, S; Walkden, A; Forti, A; Magni, S; Strahl, K; Kokoulin, R; Braune, K; Volcker, C; Ullrich, T; Takahata, M; Nieminen, P; Ballocchi, G; Mora De Freitas, P; Verderi, M; Rybine, A; Langeveld, W; Nagamatsu, M; Hamatsu, R; Katayama, N; Chuma, J; Felawka, L; Gumplinger, P; Axen, D

2002-01-01

%RD44 %title\\\\ \\\\The GEANT4 software has been developed by a world-wide collaboration of about 100 scientists from over 40 institutions and laboratories participating in more than 10 experiments in Europe, Russia, Japan, Canada, and the United States. The GEANT4 detector simulation toolkit has been designed for the next generation of High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments, with primary requirements from the LHC, the CP violation, and the heavy ions experiments. In addition, GEANT4 also meets the requirements from the space and medical communities, thanks to very low energy extensions developed in a joint project with the European Space Agency (ESA). GEANT4 has exploited advanced software engineering techniques (for example PSS-05) and Object-Oriented technology to improve the validation process of the physics results, and in the same time to make possible the distributed software design and development in the world-wide collaboration. Fifteen specialised working groups have been responsible for fields as diver...

Progress in Geant4 Electromagnetic Physics Modelling and Validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apostolakis, J; Burkhardt, H; Ivanchenko, V N; Asai, M; Bagulya, A; Grichine, V; Brown, J M C; Chikuma, N; Cortes-Giraldo, M A; Elles, S; Jacquemier, J; Guatelli, S; Incerti, S; Kadri, O; Maire, M; Urban, L; Pandola, L; Sawkey, D; Toshito, T; Yamashita, T

2015-01-01

In this work we report on recent improvements in the electromagnetic (EM) physics models of Geant4 and new validations of EM physics. Improvements have been made in models of the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, gamma conversion to electron and muon pairs, fluctuations of energy loss, multiple scattering, synchrotron radiation, and high energy positron annihilation. The results of these developments are included in the new Geant4 version 10.1 and in patches to previous versions 9.6 and 10.0 that are planned to be used for production for run-2 at LHC. The Geant4 validation suite for EM physics has been extended and new validation results are shown in this work. In particular, the effect of gamma-nuclear interactions on EM shower shape at LHC energies is discussed. (paper)

Electro and gamma nuclear physics in Geant4

CERN Document Server

Wellisch, J P; Degtyarenko, P V

2003-01-01

Adequate description of electro and gamma nuclear physics is of utmost importance in studies of electron beam-dumps and intense electron beam accelerators. I also is mandatory to describe neutron backgrounds and activation in linear colliders. This physics was elaborated in Geant4 over the last year, and now entered into the stage of practical application. In the {\\sc Geant4} Photo-nuclear data base there are at present about 50 nuclei for which the Photo-nuclear absorption cross sections have been measured. Of these, data on 14 nuclei are used to parametrize the gamma nuclear reaction cross-section The resulting cross section is a complex, factorized function of $A$ and $e = log(E_\\gamma)$, where $E_\\gamma$ is the energy of the incident photon. Electro-nuclear reactions are so closely connected with Photo-nuclear reactions that sometimes they are often called ``Photo-nuclear''. The one-photon exchange mechanism dominates in Electro-nuclear reactions, and the electron can be substituted by a flux of photons. ...

Geant4-related R&D for new particle transport methods

CERN Document Server

Augelli, M; Evans, T; Gargioni, E; Hauf, S; Kim, C H; Kuster, M; Pia, M G; Filho, P Queiroz; Quintieri, L; Saracco, P; Santos, D Souza; Weidenspointner, G; Zoglauer, A

2009-01-01

A R&D project has been launched in 2009 to address fundamental methods in radiation transport simulation and revisit Geant4 kernel design to cope with new experimental requirements. The project focuses on simulation at different scales in the same experimental environment: this set of problems requires new methods across the current boundaries of condensed-random-walk and discrete transport schemes. An exploration is also foreseen about exploiting and extending already existing Geant4 features to apply Monte Carlo and deterministic transport methods in the same simulation environment. An overview of this new R&D associated with Geant4 is presented, together with the first developments in progress.

PDB4DNA: Implementation of DNA geometry from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) description for Geant4-DNA Monte-Carlo simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Delage, E.; Pham, Q. T.; Karamitros, M.; Payno, H.; Stepan, V.; Incerti, S.; Maigne, L.; Perrot, Y.

2015-07-01

This paper describes PDB4DNA, a new Geant4 user application, based on an independent, cross-platform, free and open source C++ library, so-called PDBlib, which enables use of atomic level description of DNA molecule in Geant4 Monte Carlo particle transport simulations. For the evaluation of direct damage induced on the DNA molecule by ionizing particles, the application makes use of an algorithm able to determine the closest atom in the DNA molecule to energy depositions. Both the PDB4DNA application and the PDBlib library are available as free and open source under the Geant4 license.

Beam Tools for Geant4 (User's Guide)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

V.Daniel Elvira, Paul Lebrun and Panagiotis Spentzouris email daniel@fnal.gov

2002-01-01

Geant4 is a tool kit developed by a collaboration of physicists and computer professionals in the high energy physics field for simulation of the passage of particles through matter. The motivation for the development of the Beam Tools is to extend the Geant4 applications to accelerator physics. The Beam Tools are a set of C++ classes designed to facilitate the simulation of accelerator elements: r.f. cavities, magnets, absorbers, etc. These elements are constructed from Geant4 solid volumes like boxes, tubes, trapezoids, or spheers. There are many computer programs for beam physics simulations, but Geant4 is ideal to model a beam through a material or to integrate a beam line with a complex detector. There are many such examples in the current international High Energy Physics programs. For instance, an essential part of the RandD associated with the Neutrino Source/Muon Collider accelerator is the ionization cooling channel, which is a section of the system aimed to reduce the size of the muon beam in phase space. The ionization cooling technique uses a combination of linacs and light absorbers to reduce the transverse momentum and size of the beam, while keeping the longitudinal momentum constant. The MuCool/MICE (muon cooling) experiments need accurate simulations of the beam transport through the cooling channel in addition to a detailed simulation of the detectors designed to measure the size of the beam. The accuracy of the models for physics processes associated with muon ionization and multiple scattering is critical in this type of applications. Another example is the simulation of the interaction region in future accelerators. The high luminosity and background environments expected in the Next Linear Collider (NLC) and the Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC) pose great demand on the detectors, which may be optimized by means of a simulation of the detector-accelerator interface

Neutron transport simulation in high speed moving media using Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Li, G.; Ciungu, B.; Harrisson, G.; Rogge, R. B.; Tun, Z.; van der Ende, B. M.; Zwiers, I.

2017-12-01

A method using Geant4 to simulate neutron transport in moving media is described. The method is implanted in the source code of the software since Geant4 does not intrinsically support a moving object. The simulation utilizes the existing physical model and data library in Geant4, combined with frame transformations to account for the effect of relative velocity between neutrons and the moving media. An example is presented involving a high speed rotating cylinder to verify this method and show the effect of moving media on neutron transport.

Recent developments in GEANT4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allison, J. [Geant4 Associates International Ltd., 9 Royd Terrace, Hebden Bridge HX7 7BT (United Kingdom); The University of Manchester, School of Physics and Astronomy, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Amako, K. [KEK, 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Geant4 Associates International Ltd., 9 Royd Terrace, Hebden Bridge HX7 7BT (United Kingdom); Apostolakis, J. [CERN, 1211 Genéve 23 (Switzerland); Arce, P. [CIEMAT, Medical Applications Unit, Avenida Complutense 40, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Asai, M. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Aso, T. [National Institute of Technology, Toyama College, 1-2 Ebie Neriya, Imizu, Toyama 9330293 (Japan); Bagli, E. [INFN Sezione di Ferrara, Via Saragat 1, 44122 Ferrara (Italy); Bagulya, A. [Lebedev Physical Institute, Leninskii Pr. 53, Moscow 119991 (Russian Federation); Banerjee, S. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Barrand, G. [IN2P3/LAL, Universite Paris-Sud, Orsay (France); Beck, B.R. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Bogdanov, A.G. [National Research Nuclear University (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Kashirskoe shosse 31, Moscow 115409 (Russian Federation); Brandt, D. [SSW Trading, Am Knick 4, Oststeinbek (Germany); Brown, J.M.C. [Queen' s University Belfast, School of Mathematics and Physics, University Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT7 1NN (United Kingdom); Burkhardt, H. [CERN, 1211 Genéve 23 (Switzerland); Canal, Ph. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Cano-Ott, D. [CIEMAT, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnólogicas, Avenida Complutense 40, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Chauvie, S. [Sante Croce e Carle Hospital, Via Coppino 26, I-12100 Cuneo (Italy); and others

2016-11-01

GEANT4 is a software toolkit for the simulation of the passage of particles through matter. It is used by a large number of experiments and projects in a variety of application domains, including high energy physics, astrophysics and space science, medical physics and radiation protection. Over the past several years, major changes have been made to the toolkit in order to accommodate the needs of these user communities, and to efficiently exploit the growth of computing power made available by advances in technology. The adaptation of GEANT4 to multithreading, advances in physics, detector modeling and visualization, extensions to the toolkit, including biasing and reverse Monte Carlo, and tools for physics and release validation are discussed here. - Highlights: • Multithreading resulted in a smaller memory footprint and nearly linear speed-up. • Scoring options, faster geometry primitives, more versatile visualization were added. • Improved electromagnetic and hadronic models and cross sections were developed. • Reverse Monte Carlo and general biasing methods were added. • Physics validation efforts were expanded and new validation tools were added.

Beam simulation tools for GEANT4 (and neutrino source applications)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

V.Daniel Elvira, Paul Lebrun and Panagiotis Spentzouris email daniel@fnal.gov

2002-01-01

Geant4 is a tool kit developed by a collaboration of physicists and computer professionals in the High Energy Physics field for simulation of the passage of particles through matter. The motivation for the development of the Beam Tools is to extend the Geant4 applications to accelerator physics. Although there are many computer programs for beam physics simulations, Geant4 is ideal to model a beam going through material or a system with a beam line integrated to a complex detector. There are many examples in the current international High Energy Physics programs, such as studies related to a future Neutrino Factory, a Linear Collider, and a very Large Hadron Collider

GEANT4 Tuning For pCT Development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yevseyeva, Olga; Assis, Joaquim T. de; Evseev, Ivan; Schelin, Hugo R.; Paschuk, Sergei A.; Milhoretto, Edney; Setti, Joao A. P.; Diaz, Katherin S.; Hormaza, Joel M.; Lopes, Ricardo T.

2011-01-01

Proton beams in medical applications deal with relatively thick targets like the human head or trunk. Thus, the fidelity of proton computed tomography (pCT) simulations as a tool for proton therapy planning depends in the general case on the accuracy of results obtained for the proton interaction with thick absorbers. GEANT4 simulations of proton energy spectra after passing thick absorbers do not agree well with existing experimental data, as showed previously. Moreover, the spectra simulated for the Bethe-Bloch domain showed an unexpected sensitivity to the choice of low-energy electromagnetic models during the code execution. These observations were done with the GEANT4 version 8.2 during our simulations for pCT. This work describes in more details the simulations of the proton passage through aluminum absorbers with varied thickness. The simulations were done by modifying only the geometry in the Hadrontherapy Example, and for all available choices of the Electromagnetic Physics Models. As the most probable reasons for these effects is some specific feature in the code, or some specific implicit parameters in the GEANT4 manual, we continued our study with version 9.2 of the code. Some improvements in comparison with our previous results were obtained. The simulations were performed considering further applications for pCT development.

New evaluated neutron cross section libraries for the GEANT4 code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendoza, E.; Cano-Ott, D.; Guerrero, C.; Capote, R.

2012-04-01

The so-called High Precision neutron physics model implemented in the GEANT4 simulation package allows simulating the transport of neutrons with energies up to 20 MeV. It relies on the G4NDL cross section libraries, prepared by the GEANT4 collaboration from evaluated cross section files and distributed freely together with the code. Even though the performance of the G4NDL library has been improved over the time, users running complex simulations which involve the transport of neutrons do need more flexibility, in particular when assessing the uncertainties in the simulation results due to the neutron (and hence the nuclear) data library used. For this reason, a software tool has been developed for transforming any evaluated neutron cross section library in the ENDF-6 format into the G4NDL format. Furthermore, eight different releases of ENDF-B, JEFF, JENDL, CENDL and BROND national libraries have been translated into the G4NDL format and are distributed by the IAEA nuclear data service at www-nds.iaea.org/geant4. In this way, GEANT4 users have access to the complete list of standard evaluated neutron data libraries when performing Monte Carlo simulations with GEANT4. Consistency checks and a first validation of the libraries have been made following the methods described in this report. (author)

GGEMS-Brachy: GPU GEant4-based Monte Carlo simulation for brachytherapy applications

Science.gov (United States)

Lemaréchal, Yannick; Bert, Julien; Falconnet, Claire; Després, Philippe; Valeri, Antoine; Schick, Ulrike; Pradier, Olivier; Garcia, Marie-Paule; Boussion, Nicolas; Visvikis, Dimitris

2015-07-01

In brachytherapy, plans are routinely calculated using the AAPM TG43 formalism which considers the patient as a simple water object. An accurate modeling of the physical processes considering patient heterogeneity using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) methods is currently too time-consuming and computationally demanding to be routinely used. In this work we implemented and evaluated an accurate and fast MCS on Graphics Processing Units (GPU) for brachytherapy low dose rate (LDR) applications. A previously proposed Geant4 based MCS framework implemented on GPU (GGEMS) was extended to include a hybrid GPU navigator, allowing navigation within voxelized patient specific images and analytically modeled 125I seeds used in LDR brachytherapy. In addition, dose scoring based on track length estimator including uncertainty calculations was incorporated. The implemented GGEMS-brachy platform was validated using a comparison with Geant4 simulations and reference datasets. Finally, a comparative dosimetry study based on the current clinical standard (TG43) and the proposed platform was performed on twelve prostate cancer patients undergoing LDR brachytherapy. Considering patient 3D CT volumes of 400  × 250  × 65 voxels and an average of 58 implanted seeds, the mean patient dosimetry study run time for a 2% dose uncertainty was 9.35 s (≈500 ms 10-6 simulated particles) and 2.5 s when using one and four GPUs, respectively. The performance of the proposed GGEMS-brachy platform allows envisaging the use of Monte Carlo simulation based dosimetry studies in brachytherapy compatible with clinical practice. Although the proposed platform was evaluated for prostate cancer, it is equally applicable to other LDR brachytherapy clinical applications. Future extensions will allow its application in high dose rate brachytherapy applications.

GGEMS-Brachy: GPU GEant4-based Monte Carlo simulation for brachytherapy applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemaréchal, Yannick; Bert, Julien; Schick, Ulrike; Pradier, Olivier; Garcia, Marie-Paule; Boussion, Nicolas; Visvikis, Dimitris; Falconnet, Claire; Després, Philippe; Valeri, Antoine

2015-01-01

In brachytherapy, plans are routinely calculated using the AAPM TG43 formalism which considers the patient as a simple water object. An accurate modeling of the physical processes considering patient heterogeneity using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) methods is currently too time-consuming and computationally demanding to be routinely used. In this work we implemented and evaluated an accurate and fast MCS on Graphics Processing Units (GPU) for brachytherapy low dose rate (LDR) applications. A previously proposed Geant4 based MCS framework implemented on GPU (GGEMS) was extended to include a hybrid GPU navigator, allowing navigation within voxelized patient specific images and analytically modeled 125 I seeds used in LDR brachytherapy. In addition, dose scoring based on track length estimator including uncertainty calculations was incorporated. The implemented GGEMS-brachy platform was validated using a comparison with Geant4 simulations and reference datasets. Finally, a comparative dosimetry study based on the current clinical standard (TG43) and the proposed platform was performed on twelve prostate cancer patients undergoing LDR brachytherapy. Considering patient 3D CT volumes of 400  × 250  × 65 voxels and an average of 58 implanted seeds, the mean patient dosimetry study run time for a 2% dose uncertainty was 9.35 s (≈500 ms 10 −6 simulated particles) and 2.5 s when using one and four GPUs, respectively. The performance of the proposed GGEMS-brachy platform allows envisaging the use of Monte Carlo simulation based dosimetry studies in brachytherapy compatible with clinical practice. Although the proposed platform was evaluated for prostate cancer, it is equally applicable to other LDR brachytherapy clinical applications. Future extensions will allow its application in high dose rate brachytherapy applications. (paper)

SU-E-T-565: RAdiation Resistance of Cancer CElls Using GEANT4 DNA: RACE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perrot, Y; Payno, H; Delage, E; Maigne, L [Clermont Universite, CNRS/IN2P3, Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire de Clermont-Ferrand, Aubiere (France); Incerti, S [Universite Bordeaux 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Centres d' Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux-Gradignan, Gradignan (France); Debiton, E; Peyrode, C; Chezal, J; Miot-Noirault, E; Degoul, F [Clermont Universite, Universite d' Auvergne, Imagerie Moleculaire et Therapie Vectorisee, INSERM U990, Centre Jean Perrin, Clermont-Ferrand (France)

2014-06-01

Purpose: The objective of the RACE project is to develop a comparison between Monte Carlo simulation using the Geant4-DNA toolkit and measurements of radiation damage on 3D melanoma and chondrosarcoma culture cells coupled with gadolinium nanoparticles. We currently expose the status of the developments regarding simulations. Methods: Monte Carlo studies are driven using the Geant4 toolkit and the Geant4-DNA extension. In order to model the geometry of a cell population, the opensource CPOP++ program is being developed for the geometrical representation of 3D cell populations including a specific cell mesh coupled with a multi-agent system. Each cell includes cytoplasm and nucleus. The correct modeling of the cell population has been validated with confocal microscopy images of spheroids. The Geant4 Livermore physics models are used to simulate the interactions of a 250 keV X-ray beam and the production of secondaries from gadolinium nanoparticles supposed to be fixed on the cell membranes. Geant4-DNA processes are used to simulate the interactions of charged particles with the cells. An atomistic description of the DNA molecule, from PDB (Protein Data Bank) files, is provided by the so-called PDB4DNA Geant4 user application we developed to score energy depositions in DNA base pairs and sugar-phosphate groups. Results: At the microscopic level, our simulations enable assessing microscopic energy distribution in each cell compartment of a realistic 3D cell population. Dose enhancement factors due to the presence of gadolinium nanoparticles can be estimated. At the nanometer scale, direct damages on nuclear DNA are also estimated. Conclusion: We successfully simulated the impact of direct radiations on a realistic 3D cell population model compatible with microdosimetry calculations using the Geant4-DNA toolkit. Upcoming validation and the future integration of the radiochemistry module of Geant4-DNA will propose to correlate clusters of ionizations with in vitro

Gamma-gamma density and lithology tools simulation based on GEANT4 advanced low energy Compton scattering (GALECS) package

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esmaeili-sani, Vahid; Moussavi-zarandi, Ali; Boghrati, Behzad; Afarideh, Hossein

2012-01-01

Geophysical bore-hole data represent the physical properties of rocks, such as density and formation lithology, as a function of depth in a well. Properties of rocks are obtained from gamma ray transport logs. Transport of gamma rays, from a 137 Cs point gamma source situated in a bore-hole tool, through rock media to detectors, has been simulated using a GEANT4 radiation transport code. The advanced Compton scattering concepts were used to gain better analyses about well formation. The simulation and understanding of advanced Compton scattering highly depends on how accurately the effects of Doppler broadening and Rayleigh scattering are taken into account. A Monte Carlo package that simulates the gamma-gamma well logging tools based on GEANT4 advanced low energy Compton scattering (GALECS).

GEANT4 simulations for Proton computed tomography applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yevseyeva, Olga; Assis, Joaquim T. de; Evseev, Ivan; Schelin, Hugo R.; Shtejer Diaz, Katherin; Lopes, Ricardo T.

2011-01-01

Proton radiation therapy is a highly precise form of cancer treatment. In existing proton treatment centers, dose calculations are performed based on X-ray computed tomography (CT). Alternatively, one could image the tumor directly with proton CT (pCT). Proton beams in medical applications deal with relatively thick targets like the human head or trunk. Thus, the fidelity of proton computed tomography (pCT) simulations as a tool for proton therapy planning depends in the general case on the accuracy of results obtained for the proton interaction with thick absorbers. GEANT4 simulations of proton energy spectra after passing thick absorbers do not agree well with existing experimental data, as showed previously. The spectra simulated for the Bethe-Bloch domain showed an unexpected sensitivity to the choice of low-energy electromagnetic models during the code execution. These observations were done with the GEANT4 version 8.2 during our simulations for pCT. This work describes in more details the simulations of the proton passage through gold absorbers with varied thickness. The simulations were done by modifying only the geometry in the Hadron therapy Example, and for all available choices of the Electromagnetic Physics Models. As the most probable reasons for these effects is some specific feature in the code or some specific implicit parameters in the GEANT4 manual, we continued our study with version 9.2 of the code. Some improvements in comparison with our previous results were obtained. The simulations were performed considering further applications for pCT development. The authors want to thank CNPq, CAPES and 'Fundacao Araucaria' for financial support of this work. (Author)

Simulating response functions and pulse shape discrimination for organic scintillation detectors with Geant4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hartwig, Zachary S., E-mail: hartwig@psfc.mit.edu [Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT, Cambridge MA (United States); Gumplinger, Peter [TRIUMF, Vancouver, BC (Canada)

2014-02-11

We present new capabilities of the Geant4 toolkit that enable the precision simulation of organic scintillation detectors within a comprehensive Monte Carlo code for the first time. As of version 10.0-beta, the Geant4 toolkit models the data-driven photon production from any user-defined scintillator, photon transportation through arbitrarily complex detector geometries, and time-resolved photon detection at the light readout device. By fully specifying the optical properties and geometrical configuration of the detector, the user can simulate response functions, photon transit times, and pulse shape discrimination. These capabilities enable detector simulation within a larger experimental environment as well as computationally evaluating novel scintillators, detector geometry, and light readout configurations. We demonstrate agreement of Geant4 with the NRESP7 code and with experiments for the spectroscopy of neutrons and gammas in the ranges 0–20 MeV and 0.511–1.274 MeV, respectively, using EJ301-based organic scintillation detectors. We also show agreement between Geant4 and experimental modeling of the particle-dependent detector pulses that enable simulated pulse shape discrimination. -- Highlights: • New capabilities enable the modeling of organic scintillation detectors in Geant4. • Detector modeling of complex scintillators, geometries, and light readout. • Enables particle- and energy-dependent production of scintillation photons. • Provides ability to generate response functions with precise optical physics. • Provides ability to computationally evaluate pulse shape discrimination.

Low-energy electron dose-point kernel simulations using new physics models implemented in Geant4-DNA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bordes, Julien, E-mail: julien.bordes@inserm.fr [CRCT, UMR 1037 INSERM, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse (France); UMR 1037, CRCT, Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, F-31037 (France); Incerti, Sébastien, E-mail: incerti@cenbg.in2p3.fr [Université de Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); Lampe, Nathanael, E-mail: nathanael.lampe@gmail.com [Université de Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); Bardiès, Manuel, E-mail: manuel.bardies@inserm.fr [CRCT, UMR 1037 INSERM, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse (France); UMR 1037, CRCT, Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, F-31037 (France); Bordage, Marie-Claude, E-mail: marie-claude.bordage@inserm.fr [CRCT, UMR 1037 INSERM, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31037 Toulouse (France); UMR 1037, CRCT, Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, F-31037 (France)

2017-05-01

When low-energy electrons, such as Auger electrons, interact with liquid water, they induce highly localized ionizing energy depositions over ranges comparable to cell diameters. Monte Carlo track structure (MCTS) codes are suitable tools for performing dosimetry at this level. One of the main MCTS codes, Geant4-DNA, is equipped with only two sets of cross section models for low-energy electron interactions in liquid water (“option 2” and its improved version, “option 4”). To provide Geant4-DNA users with new alternative physics models, a set of cross sections, extracted from CPA100 MCTS code, have been added to Geant4-DNA. This new version is hereafter referred to as “Geant4-DNA-CPA100”. In this study, “Geant4-DNA-CPA100” was used to calculate low-energy electron dose-point kernels (DPKs) between 1 keV and 200 keV. Such kernels represent the radial energy deposited by an isotropic point source, a parameter that is useful for dosimetry calculations in nuclear medicine. In order to assess the influence of different physics models on DPK calculations, DPKs were calculated using the existing Geant4-DNA models (“option 2” and “option 4”), newly integrated CPA100 models, and the PENELOPE Monte Carlo code used in step-by-step mode for monoenergetic electrons. Additionally, a comparison was performed of two sets of DPKs that were simulated with “Geant4-DNA-CPA100” – the first set using Geant4′s default settings, and the second using CPA100′s original code default settings. A maximum difference of 9.4% was found between the Geant4-DNA-CPA100 and PENELOPE DPKs. Between the two Geant4-DNA existing models, slight differences, between 1 keV and 10 keV were observed. It was highlighted that the DPKs simulated with the two Geant4-DNA’s existing models were always broader than those generated with “Geant4-DNA-CPA100”. The discrepancies observed between the DPKs generated using Geant4-DNA’s existing models and “Geant4-DNA-CPA100” were

Research in Geant4 electromagnetic physics design, and its effects on computational performance and quality assurance

CERN Document Server

Augelli, M; Hauf, S; Kim, C H; Kuster, M; Pia, M G; Filho, P Queiroz; Quintieri, L; Saracco, P; Santos, D Souza; Weidenspointner, G; Zoglauer, A

2009-01-01

The Geant4 toolkit offers a rich variety of electromagnetic physics models; so far the evaluation of this Geant4 domain has been mostly focused on its physics functionality, while the features of its design and their impact on simulation accuracy, computational performance and facilities for verification and validation have not been the object of comparable attention yet, despite the critical role they play in many experimental applications. A new project is in progress to study the application of new design concepts and software techniques in Geant4 electromagnetic physics, and to evaluate how they can improve on the current simulation capabilities. The application of a policy-based class design is investigated as a means to achieve the objective of granular decomposition of processes; this design technique offers various advantages in terms of flexibility of configuration and computational performance. The current Geant4 physics models have been re-implemented according to the new design as a pilot project....

Gamma-gamma density and lithology tools simulation based on GEANT4 advanced low energy Compton scattering (GALECS) package

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Esmaeili-sani, Vahid, E-mail: vaheed_esmaeely80@yahoo.com [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Physics, Amirkabir University of Technology, P.O. Box 4155-4494, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Moussavi-zarandi, Ali; Boghrati, Behzad; Afarideh, Hossein [Department of Nuclear Engineering and Physics, Amirkabir University of Technology, P.O. Box 4155-4494, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2012-02-01

Geophysical bore-hole data represent the physical properties of rocks, such as density and formation lithology, as a function of depth in a well. Properties of rocks are obtained from gamma ray transport logs. Transport of gamma rays, from a {sup 137}Cs point gamma source situated in a bore-hole tool, through rock media to detectors, has been simulated using a GEANT4 radiation transport code. The advanced Compton scattering concepts were used to gain better analyses about well formation. The simulation and understanding of advanced Compton scattering highly depends on how accurately the effects of Doppler broadening and Rayleigh scattering are taken into account. A Monte Carlo package that simulates the gamma-gamma well logging tools based on GEANT4 advanced low energy Compton scattering (GALECS).

SU-E-J-72: Geant4 Simulations of Spot-Scanned Proton Beam Treatment Plans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kanehira, T; Sutherland, K; Matsuura, T; Umegaki, K; Shirato, H [Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido (Japan)

2014-06-01

Purpose: To evaluate density inhomogeneities which can effect dose distributions for real-time image gated spot-scanning proton therapy (RGPT), a dose calculation system, using treatment planning system VQA (Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo) spot position data, was developed based on Geant4. Methods: A Geant4 application was developed to simulate spot-scanned proton beams at Hokkaido University Hospital. A CT scan (0.98 × 0.98 × 1.25 mm) was performed for prostate cancer treatment with three or four inserted gold markers (diameter 1.5 mm, volume 1.77 mm3) in or near the target tumor. The CT data was read into VQA. A spot scanning plan was generated and exported to text files, specifying the beam energy and position of each spot. The text files were converted and read into our Geant4-based software. The spot position was converted into steering magnet field strength (in Tesla) for our beam nozzle. Individual protons were tracked from the vacuum chamber, through the helium chamber, steering magnets, dose monitors, etc., in a straight, horizontal line. The patient CT data was converted into materials with variable density and placed in a parametrized volume at the isocenter. Gold fiducial markers were represented in the CT data by two adjacent voxels (volume 2.38 mm3). 600,000 proton histories were tracked for each target spot. As one beam contained about 1,000 spots, approximately 600 million histories were recorded for each beam on a blade server. Two plans were considered: two beam horizontal opposed (90 and 270 degree) and three beam (0, 90 and 270 degree). Results: We are able to convert spot scanning plans from VQA and simulate them with our Geant4-based code. Our system can be used to evaluate the effect of dose reduction caused by gold markers used for RGPT. Conclusion: Our Geant4 application is able to calculate dose distributions for spot scanned proton therapy.

Estimation of the dose deposited by electron beams in radiotherapy in voxelised phantoms using the Monte Carlo simulation platform GATE based on GEANT4 in a grid environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perrot, Y.

2011-01-01

Radiation therapy treatment planning requires accurate determination of absorbed dose in the patient. Monte Carlo simulation is the most accurate method for solving the transport problem of particles in matter. This thesis is the first study dealing with the validation of the Monte Carlo simulation platform GATE (GEANT4 Application for Tomographic Emission), based on GEANT4 (Geometry And Tracking) libraries, for the computation of absorbed dose deposited by electron beams. This thesis aims at demonstrating that GATE/GEANT4 calculations are able to reach treatment planning requirements in situations where analytical algorithms are not satisfactory. The goal is to prove that GATE/GEANT4 is useful for treatment planning using electrons and competes with well validated Monte Carlo codes. This is demonstrated by the simulations with GATE/GEANT4 of realistic electron beams and electron sources used for external radiation therapy or targeted radiation therapy. The computed absorbed dose distributions are in agreement with experimental measurements and/or calculations from other Monte Carlo codes. Furthermore, guidelines are proposed to fix the physics parameters of the GATE/GEANT4 simulations in order to ensure the accuracy of absorbed dose calculations according to radiation therapy requirements. (author)

GEANT4: simulation for the next generation of HEP experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simone, Giani

1996-01-01

GEANT4 (RD44) is a world-wide collaboration of scientists aiming to create the detector simulation tool kit necessary for the next generation of HEP experiments. A large variety of requirements also come from heavy ions physics, CP violation physics, cosmic rays physics, medical applications and space science applications. In order to meet such requirements, a large degree of functionality and flexibility has to provided. GEANT4 is exploiting Object Oriented Technology to achieve these goals. The most relevant Object Oriented methodologies have been studied and a large number of tools and libraries have been investigated and evaluated. An overview of the GEANT4 analysis and design model will be given and the main components of the object models discussed. The main functionality of a first prototype will also be described. An overall view of the collaboration's structure and strategy will also be given. (author)

Comparative analysis of the sensitivity of the scanner rSPECT: using GAMOS: a Geant4-based framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez Turtos, Rosana; Diaz Garcia, Angelina; Abreu Alfonso, Yamiel; Arteche, Jossue; Leyva Pernia, Diana

2012-01-01

The molecular imaging of cellular processes in vivo using preclinical animal studies and SPECT technique is one of the main reasons for the design of new devices with high spatial resolution. As an auxiliary tool, Monte Carlo simulation has allowed the characterization and optimization of those medical imaging systems effectively. At present there is a new simulation framework called GAMOS (GEANT4-based Architecture for Medicine-Oriented Simulations); which code, libraries and particle transport method correspond to those developed by GEANT4 and contains specific applications for nuclear medicine. This tool has been already validated for PET technique by comparison with experimental data, while not yet been done the correct evaluation of GAMOS for SPECT systems. Present work have demonstrated the potential of GAMOS in obtaining simulated realistic data using this nuclear imaging technique. For this purpose, simulation of a novel installation 'rSPECT' ,dedicated to the study of rodents, has been done. The study comprises the collimation and detection geometries and the fundamental characteristics of the previous published experimental measurements for rSPECT installation. Studies have been done using 99mTc and 20% energy window. Sensitivity values obtained by simulation revealed an acceptable agreement with experimental values. Therefore we can conclude that simulation results have shown good agreement with the real data. This fact allowed to estimate the behavior of the new GEANT4 simulation platform 'GAMOS' in SPECT applications and have demonstrated the feasibility of reproducing experimental data. (author)

Dose calculation on voxels phantoms using the GEANT4 code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martins, Maximiano C.; Santos, Denison S.; Queiroz Filho, Pedro P.; Begalli, Marcia

2009-01-01

This work implemented an anthropomorphic phantom of voxels on the structure of Monte Carlo GEANT4, for utilization by professionals from the radioprotection, external dosimetry and medical physics. This phantom allows the source displacement that can be isotropic punctual, plain beam, linear or radioactive gas, in order to obtain diverse irradiation geometries. In them, the radioactive sources exposure is simulated viewing the determination of effective dose or the dose in each organ of the human body. The Zubal head and body trunk phantom was used, and we can differentiate the organs and tissues by the chemical constitution in soft tissue, lung tissue, bone tissue, water and air. The calculation method was validated through the comparison with other well established method, the Visual Monte Carlo (VMC). Besides, a comparison was done with the international recommendation for the evaluation of dose by exposure to punctual sources, described in the document TECDOC - 1162- Generic Procedures for Assessment and Response During a Radiological Emergency, where analytical expressions for this calculation are given. Considerations are made on the validity limits of these expressions for various irradiation geometries, including linear sources, immersion into clouds and contaminated soils

Geant4-based simulations of charge collection in CMOS Active Pixel Sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esposito, M.; Allinson, N.M.; Price, T.; Anaxagoras, T.

2017-01-01

Geant4 is an object-oriented toolkit for the simulation of the interaction of particles and radiation with matter. It provides a snapshot of the state of a simulated particle in time, as it travels through a specified geometry. One important area of application is the modelling of radiation detector systems. Here, we extend the abilities of such modelling to include charge transport and sharing in pixelated CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APSs); though similar effects occur in other pixel detectors. The CMOS APSs discussed were developed in the framework of the PRaVDA consortium to assist the design of custom sensors to be used in an energy-range detector for proton Computed Tomography (pCT). The development of ad-hoc classes, providing a charge transport model for a CMOS APS and its integration into the standard Geant4 toolkit, is described. The proposed charge transport model includes, charge generation, diffusion, collection, and sharing across adjacent pixels, as well as the full electronic chain for a CMOS APS. The proposed model is validated against experimental data acquired with protons in an energy range relevant for pCT.

Parameterized Shower Simulation in Lelaps: a Comparison with Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langeveld, Willy G.J.

2003-01-01

The detector simulation toolkit Lelaps[1] simulates electromagnetic and hadronic showers in calorimetric detector elements of high-energy particle detectors using a parameterization based on the algorithms originally developed by Grindhammer and Peters[2] and Bock et al.[3]. The primary motivations of the present paper are to verify the implementation of the parameterization, to explore regions of energy where the parameterization is valid and to serve as a basis for further improvement of the algorithm. To this end, we compared the Lelaps simulation to a detailed simulation provided by Geant4[4]. A number of different calorimeters, both electromagnetic and hadronic, were implemented in both programs. Longitudinal and radial shower profiles and their fluctuations were obtained from Geant4 over a wide energy range and compared with those obtained from Lelaps. Generally the longitudinal shower profiles are found to be in good agreement in a large part of the energy range, with poorer results at energies below about 300 MeV. Radial profiles agree well in homogeneous detectors, but are somewhat deficient in segmented ones. These deficiencies are discussed

Software aspects of the Geant4 validation repository

Science.gov (United States)

Dotti, Andrea; Wenzel, Hans; Elvira, Daniel; Genser, Krzysztof; Yarba, Julia; Carminati, Federico; Folger, Gunter; Konstantinov, Dmitri; Pokorski, Witold; Ribon, Alberto

2017-10-01

The Geant4, GeantV and GENIE collaborations regularly perform validation and regression tests for simulation results. DoSSiER (Database of Scientific Simulation and Experimental Results) is being developed as a central repository to store the simulation results as well as the experimental data used for validation. DoSSiER is easily accessible via a web application. In addition, a web service allows for programmatic access to the repository to extract records in JSON or XML exchange formats. In this article, we describe the functionality and the current status of various components of DoSSiER as well as the technology choices we made.

Software Aspects of the Geant4 Validation Repository

CERN Document Server

Dotti, Andrea; Elvira, Daniel; Genser, Krzysztof; Yarba, Julia; Carminati, Federico; Folger, Gunter; Konstantinov, Dmitri; Pokorski, Witold; Ribon, Alberto

2016-01-01

The Geant4, GeantV and GENIE collaborations regularly perform validation and regression tests for simulation results. DoSSiER (Database of Scientic Simulation and Experimental Results) is being developed as a central repository to store the simulation results as well as the experimental data used for validation. DoSSiER is easily accessible via a web application. In addition, a web service allows for programmatic access to the repository to extract records in JSON or XML exchange formats. In this article, we describe the functionality and the current status of various components of DoSSiER as well as the technology choices we made.

ALGEBRA: ALgorithm for the heterogeneous dosimetry based on GEANT4 for BRAchytherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Afsharpour, H; Landry, G; D'Amours, M; Enger, S; Reniers, B; Poon, E; Carrier, J-F; Verhaegen, F; Beaulieu, L

2012-06-07

Task group 43 (TG43)-based dosimetry algorithms are efficient for brachytherapy dose calculation in water. However, human tissues have chemical compositions and densities different than water. Moreover, the mutual shielding effect of seeds on each other (interseed attenuation) is neglected in the TG43-based dosimetry platforms. The scientific community has expressed the need for an accurate dosimetry platform in brachytherapy. The purpose of this paper is to present ALGEBRA, a Monte Carlo platform for dosimetry in brachytherapy which is sufficiently fast and accurate for clinical and research purposes. ALGEBRA is based on the GEANT4 Monte Carlo code and is capable of handling the DICOM RT standard to recreate a virtual model of the treated site. Here, the performance of ALGEBRA is presented for the special case of LDR brachytherapy in permanent prostate and breast seed implants. However, the algorithm is also capable of handling other treatments such as HDR brachytherapy.

GEANT 4.8.2, 9.2 and 9.4 simulations versus experimental proton energy loss in thick absorbers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evseev, Ivan; Schelin, Hugo R.; Ahmann, Francielle; Milhoretto, Edney; Paschuk, Sergei A., E-mail: evseev@utfpr.edu.b, E-mail: schelin@utfpr.edu.b, E-mail: sergei@utfpr.edu.b [Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana (UTFPR), Curitiba, PR (Brazil); Yevseyeva, Olga; Assis, Joaquim T. de; Ievsieieva, Ievgeniia, E-mail: yevseveva@iprj.uerj.b, E-mail: joaquim@iprj.uerj.b [Instituto Politecnico do Rio de Janeiro (IPRJ/UERJ), Nova Friburgo, RJ (Brazil). Dept. de Modelagem Computacional; Hormaza, Joel M., E-mail: jmesa@ibb.unesp.b [Universidade Estadual Paulista (IBB/UNESP), Botucatu, SP (Brazil). Inst. de Biociencias; Diaz, Katherin S. [Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnologicas y Desarrollo Nuclear, Havana (Cuba); Lopes, Ricardo T. [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao de Engenharia (LIN/COPPE/UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Lab. de Instrumentacao Nuclear

2011-07-01

Monte Carlo simulations are a powerful tool to estimate the proton energy loss and straggling in medical applications. The physics of proton interaction with matter for thick absorbers (like a human body) has a well-established theory for the so-called Bethe-Bloch domain, and the basic principles of Monte Carlo simulation for such processes are well known since the middle of the past century. However, in spite of GEANT4 has been validated against proton stopping powers from the NIST PSTAR, the evolution of the code leads to some result instability within the various code releases. In this work, we present the recent results for the comparison of our GEANT4 simulations against experimental proton energy loss for some thick absorbers. All the simulations were performed using the GEANT4 Hadrontherapy Advanced Example. The GEANT4 versions 4.8.2, 4.9.2, and 4.9.4 were tested with different simulation parameters, such as varied cut values. In addition to the Standard model, some other models for the electromagnetic processes from the GEANT4 Low Energy Extension Pack were tested as well. Experimental data were taken from for polyethylene, and from for aluminum and gold absorbers. The theoretical predictions for the spectra were calculated using the self-consistent Gaussian solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation in the Fokker-Plank form. In order to compare the GEANT4 simulations with other popular codes, the same spectra were simulated by TRIM/SRIM2011 and MCNPX2.4.0. The simultaneous comparison of the results obtained for different materials at various initial proton energies were done using the reduced calibration curve approach. (author)

Proton and electron deep dose profiles for retinoblastoma based on GEANT 4 code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braga, Flavia V.; Campos, Tarcisio P.R. de; Ribeiro, Kilder L.

2009-01-01

Herein, the dosimetry responses to a retinoblastoma proton and electron radiation therapy were investigated. The computational tool applied to this simulation was the Geant4 code, version 4.9.1. The code allows simulating the charge particle interaction with eyeball tissue. In the present simulation, a box of 4 cm side water filled had represented the human eye. The simulation was performed considering mono energetic beams of protons and electrons with spectra of 57 to 70 MeV for protons and 2 to 8 MeV for electrons. The simulation was guide by the advanced hadron therapy example distributed with the Geant4 code. The phantom was divided in voxels with 0.2 mm side. The energy deposited in each voxel was evaluated taken the direct beam at one face. The simulation results show the delivery energy and therefore the dose deposited in each voxel. The deep dose profiles to proton and electron were plotted. The well known Bragg peak was reproduced for protons. The maximum delivered dose defined the position at the proton stopped. However, to electrons, the absorbed energies were delivered along its path producing a more continuous distribution following the water depth, but also being stopped in the end of its path. (author)

Proton and electron deep dose profiles for retinoblastoma based on GEANT 4 code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Braga, Flavia V., E-mail: flaviafisica@gmail.co [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Programa de Pos-graduacao em Ciencias e Tecnicas Nucleares; Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil); Campos, Tarcisio P.R. de [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Programa de Pos-graduacao em Ciencias e Tecnicas Nucleares; Ribeiro, Kilder L., E-mail: kilderlr@gmail.co [Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (UEFS), BA (Brazil). Dept. de Fisica

2009-07-01

Herein, the dosimetry responses to a retinoblastoma proton and electron radiation therapy were investigated. The computational tool applied to this simulation was the Geant4 code, version 4.9.1. The code allows simulating the charge particle interaction with eyeball tissue. In the present simulation, a box of 4 cm side water filled had represented the human eye. The simulation was performed considering mono energetic beams of protons and electrons with spectra of 57 to 70 MeV for protons and 2 to 8 MeV for electrons. The simulation was guide by the advanced hadron therapy example distributed with the Geant4 code. The phantom was divided in voxels with 0.2 mm side. The energy deposited in each voxel was evaluated taken the direct beam at one face. The simulation results show the delivery energy and therefore the dose deposited in each voxel. The deep dose profiles to proton and electron were plotted. The well known Bragg peak was reproduced for protons. The maximum delivered dose defined the position at the proton stopped. However, to electrons, the absorbed energies were delivered along its path producing a more continuous distribution following the water depth, but also being stopped in the end of its path. (author)

Optimization of GEANT4 settings for Proton Pencil Beam Scanning simulations using GATE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grevillot, Loic, E-mail: loic.grevillot@gmail.co [Universite de Lyon, F-69622 Lyon (France); Creatis, CNRS UMR 5220, F-69622 Villeurbanne (France); Centre de Lutte Contre le Cancer Leon Berard, F-69373 Lyon (France); IBA, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium); Frisson, Thibault [Universite de Lyon, F-69622 Lyon (France); Creatis, CNRS UMR 5220, F-69622 Villeurbanne (France); Centre de Lutte Contre le Cancer Leon Berard, F-69373 Lyon (France); Zahra, Nabil [Universite de Lyon, F-69622 Lyon (France); IPNL, CNRS UMR 5822, F-69622 Villeurbanne (France); Centre de Lutte Contre le Cancer Leon Berard, F-69373 Lyon (France); Bertrand, Damien; Stichelbaut, Frederic [IBA, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium); Freud, Nicolas [Universite de Lyon, F-69622 Lyon (France); CNDRI, INSA-Lyon, F-69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France); Sarrut, David [Universite de Lyon, F-69622 Lyon (France); Creatis, CNRS UMR 5220, F-69622 Villeurbanne (France); Centre de Lutte Contre le Cancer Leon Berard, F-69373 Lyon (France)

2010-10-15

This study reports the investigation of different GEANT4 settings for proton therapy applications in the context of Treatment Planning System comparisons. The GEANT4.9.2 release was used through the GATE platform. We focused on the Pencil Beam Scanning delivery technique, which allows for intensity modulated proton therapy applications. The most relevant options and parameters (range cut, step size, database binning) for the simulation that influence the dose deposition were investigated, in order to determine a robust, accurate and efficient simulation environment. In this perspective, simulations of depth-dose profiles and transverse profiles at different depths and energies between 100 and 230 MeV have been assessed against reference measurements in water and PMMA. These measurements were performed in Essen, Germany, with the IBA dedicated Pencil Beam Scanning system, using Bragg-peak chambers and radiochromic films. GEANT4 simulations were also compared to the PHITS.2.14 and MCNPX.2.5.0 Monte Carlo codes. Depth-dose simulations reached 0.3 mm range accuracy compared to NIST CSDA ranges, with a dose agreement of about 1% over a set of five different energies. The transverse profiles simulated using the different Monte Carlo codes showed discrepancies, with up to 15% difference in beam widening between GEANT4 and MCNPX in water. A 8% difference between the GEANT4 multiple scattering and single scattering algorithms was observed. The simulations showed the inability of reproducing the measured transverse dose spreading with depth in PMMA, corroborating the fact that GEANT4 underestimates the lateral dose spreading. GATE was found to be a very convenient simulation environment to perform this study. A reference physics-list and an optimized parameters-list have been proposed. Satisfactory agreement against depth-dose profiles measurements was obtained. The simulation of transverse profiles using different Monte Carlo codes showed significant deviations. This point

A Software Toolkit to Study Systematic Uncertainties of the Physics Models of the Geant4 Simulation Package

Science.gov (United States)

Genser, Krzysztof; Hatcher, Robert; Kelsey, Michael; Perdue, Gabriel; Wenzel, Hans; Wright, Dennis H.; Yarba, Julia

2017-10-01

The Geant4 simulation toolkit is used to model interactions between particles and matter. Geant4 employs a set of validated physics models that span a wide range of interaction energies. These models rely on measured cross-sections and phenomenological models with the physically motivated parameters that are tuned to cover many application domains. To study what uncertainties are associated with the Geant4 physics models we have designed and implemented a comprehensive, modular, user-friendly software toolkit that allows the variation of one or more parameters of one or more Geant4 physics models involved in simulation studies. It also enables analysis of multiple variants of the resulting physics observables of interest in order to estimate the uncertainties associated with the simulation model choices. Based on modern event-processing infrastructure software, the toolkit offers a variety of attractive features, e.g. flexible run-time configurable workflow, comprehensive bookkeeping, easy to expand collection of analytical components. Design, implementation technology, and key functionalities of the toolkit are presented in this paper and illustrated with selected results.

Implementation of the n-body Monte-Carlo event generator into the Geant4 toolkit for photonuclear studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luo, Wen, E-mail: wenluo-ok@163.com [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China, Hengyang 421001 (China); Lan, Hao-yang [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China, Hengyang 421001 (China); Xu, Yi; Balabanski, Dimiter L. [Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics, “Horia Hulubei” National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), 30 Reactorului, 077125 Bucharest-Magurele (Romania)

2017-03-21

A data-based Monte Carlo simulation algorithm, Geant4-GENBOD, was developed by coupling the n-body Monte-Carlo event generator to the Geant4 toolkit, aiming at accurate simulations of specific photonuclear reactions for diverse photonuclear physics studies. Good comparisons of Geant4-GENBOD calculations with reported measurements of photo-neutron production cross-sections and yields, and with reported energy spectra of the {sup 6}Li(n,α)t reaction were performed. Good agreements between the calculations and experimental data were found and the validation of the developed program was verified consequently. Furthermore, simulations for the {sup 92}Mo(γ,p) reaction of astrophysics relevance and photo-neutron production of {sup 99}Mo/{sup 99m}Tc and {sup 225}Ra/{sup 225}Ac radioisotopes were investigated, which demonstrate the applicability of this program. We conclude that the Geant4-GENBOD is a reliable tool for study of the emerging experiment programs at high-intensity γ-beam laboratories, such as the Extreme Light Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics facility and the High Intensity Gamma-Ray Source at Duke University.

GePEToS: A Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation package for positron emission tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jan, Sebastien; Collot, Johann; Gallin-Martel, Marie-Laure; Martin, Philippe; Mayet, Frederic; Tournefier, Edwige

2003-01-01

GePEToS is a simulation framework developed over the last few years for assessing the instrumental performance of future PET scanners. It is based on Geant4, written in Object- Oriented C++ and runs on Linux platforms. The validity of GePEToS has been tested on the well-known Siemens ECAT EXACT HR+ camera. The results of two application examples are presented: the design optimization of a liquid Xe μPET camera dedicated to small animal imaging as well as the evaluation of the effect of a strong axial magnetic field on the image resolution of a Concorde P4 μPET camera. Index Terms-Positron Emission Tomography, Monte Carlo Simulation, Geant 4. (authors)

The study on the import of the geometric body by GDML in GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Baodong; Liu Huilan; Sun Dawang; Xie Zhaoyang; Song Yushou

2014-01-01

Geometry Description Markup Language (GDML) can be used as an application interface program to import the geometric body into GEANT4. It greatly simplifies the detector construction work with high reliability. With this mechanism the geometric data of a detector is described in an XML file and read by the XML parser embedded in GEANT4. The geometric structure of a detector is designed in CAD toolkit Solidworks and saved as a standard STEP file. Then, by FastRad the STEP file is transformed into XML script, which is readable for GEANT4. In comparison with the detectors constructed by Constructed Solid Geometry (CSG) provided by GEANT4, those imported by GDML also satisfies the requests of general simulation application. At the same time, some solutions and tips for several common problems during the progress constructing the detectors by GDML are given. (authors)

Geant4-DNA track-structure simulations for gold nanoparticles: The importance of electron discrete models in nanometer volumes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakata, Dousatsu; Kyriakou, Ioanna; Okada, Shogo; Tran, Hoang N; Lampe, Nathanael; Guatelli, Susanna; Bordage, Marie-Claude; Ivanchenko, Vladimir; Murakami, Koichi; Sasaki, Takashi; Emfietzoglou, Dimitris; Incerti, Sebastien

2018-05-01

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are known to enhance the absorbed dose in their vicinity following photon-based irradiation. To investigate the therapeutic effectiveness of GNPs, previous Monte Carlo simulation studies have explored GNP dose enhancement using mostly condensed-history models. However, in general, such models are suitable for macroscopic volumes and for electron energies above a few hundred electron volts. We have recently developed, for the Geant4-DNA extension of the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit, discrete physics models for electron transport in gold which include the description of the full atomic de-excitation cascade. These models allow event-by-event simulation of electron tracks in gold down to 10 eV. The present work describes how such specialized physics models impact simulation-based studies on GNP-radioenhancement in a context of x-ray radiotherapy. The new discrete physics models are compared to the Geant4 Penelope and Livermore condensed-history models, which are being widely used for simulation-based NP radioenhancement studies. An ad hoc Geant4 simulation application has been developed to calculate the absorbed dose in liquid water around a GNP and its radioenhancement, caused by secondary particles emitted from the GNP itself, when irradiated with a monoenergetic electron beam. The effect of the new physics models is also quantified in the calculation of secondary particle spectra, when originating in the GNP and when exiting from it. The new physics models show similar backscattering coefficients with the existing Geant4 Livermore and Penelope models in large volumes for 100 keV incident electrons. However, in submicron sized volumes, only the discrete models describe the high backscattering that should still be present around GNPs at these length scales. Sizeable differences (mostly above a factor of 2) are also found in the radial distribution of absorbed dose and secondary particles between the new and the existing Geant4

Design and construction of a graphical interface for automatic generation of simulation code GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Driss, Mozher; Bouzaine Ismail

2007-01-01

This work is set in the context of the engineering studies final project; it is accomplished in the center of nuclear sciences and technologies in Sidi Thabet. This project is about conceiving and developing a system based on graphical user interface which allows an automatic codes generation for simulation under the GEANT4 engine. This system aims to facilitate the use of GEANT4 by scientific not necessary expert in this engine and to be used in different areas: research, industry and education. The implementation of this project uses Root library and several programming languages such as XML and XSL. (Author). 5 refs

CHIPS_TPT models for exclusive Geant4 simulation of neutron-nuclear reactions at low energies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kosov Mikhail V.

2014-03-01

Full Text Available A novel TPT code (Toolkit for Particle Transport, which is included in CHIPS_TPT physics list for Geant4 simulations, is briefly overviewed. Underlying concept of exclusive modelling is introduced and its beneficial features are illustrated with several examples. Widely used neutron Monte Carlo codes, MCNP and Geant4/HP, are based on inclusive algorithms that independently model neutron state change and secondary particles production while tracking. The exclusive approach implemented in TPT overcomes this unphysical separation and makes it possible to allow for kinematic restrictions as well as correlated emission of gamma-rays and secondaries.

Comparison of scattering experiments using synchrotron radiation with Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerlach, M.; Krumrey, M.; Cibik, L.; Mueller, P.; Ulm, G.

2009-01-01

Monte Carlo techniques are powerful tools to simulate the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter. One of the most widespread simulation program packages is Geant4. Almost all physical interaction processes can be included. However, it is not evident what accuracy can be obtained by a simulation. In this work, results of scattering experiments using monochromatized synchrotron radiation in the X-ray regime are quantitatively compared to the results of simulations using Geant4. Experiments were performed for various scattering foils made of different materials such as copper and gold. For energy-dispersive measurements of the scattered radiation, a cadmium telluride detector was used. The detector was fully characterized and calibrated with calculable undispersed as well as monochromatized synchrotron radiation. The obtained quantum efficiency and the response functions are in very good agreement with the corresponding Geant4 simulations. At the electron storage ring BESSY II the number of incident photons in the scattering experiments was measured with a photodiode that had been calibrated against a cryogenic radiometer, so that a direct comparison of scattering experiments with Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4 was possible. It was shown that Geant4 describes the photoeffect, including fluorescence as well as the Compton and Rayleigh scattering, with high accuracy, resulting in a deviation of typically less than 20%. Even polarization effects are widely covered by Geant4, and for Doppler broadening of Compton-scattered radiation the extension G4LECS can be included, but the fact that both features cannot be combined is a limitation. For most polarization-dependent simulations, good agreement with the experimental results was found, except for some orientations where Rayleigh scattering was overestimated in the simulation.

Comparison of scattering experiments using synchrotron radiation with Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Gerlach, M.; Krumrey, M.; Cibik, L.; Müller, P.; Ulm, G.

2009-09-01

Monte Carlo techniques are powerful tools to simulate the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter. One of the most widespread simulation program packages is Geant4. Almost all physical interaction processes can be included. However, it is not evident what accuracy can be obtained by a simulation. In this work, results of scattering experiments using monochromatized synchrotron radiation in the X-ray regime are quantitatively compared to the results of simulations using Geant4. Experiments were performed for various scattering foils made of different materials such as copper and gold. For energy-dispersive measurements of the scattered radiation, a cadmium telluride detector was used. The detector was fully characterized and calibrated with calculable undispersed as well as monochromatized synchrotron radiation. The obtained quantum efficiency and the response functions are in very good agreement with the corresponding Geant4 simulations. At the electron storage ring BESSY II the number of incident photons in the scattering experiments was measured with a photodiode that had been calibrated against a cryogenic radiometer, so that a direct comparison of scattering experiments with Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4 was possible. It was shown that Geant4 describes the photoeffect, including fluorescence as well as the Compton and Rayleigh scattering, with high accuracy, resulting in a deviation of typically less than 20%. Even polarization effects are widely covered by Geant4, and for Doppler broadening of Compton-scattered radiation the extension G4LECS can be included, but the fact that both features cannot be combined is a limitation. For most polarization-dependent simulations, good agreement with the experimental results was found, except for some orientations where Rayleigh scattering was overestimated in the simulation.

Comparison of scattering experiments using synchrotron radiation with Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerlach, M. [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany); Krumrey, M. [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany)], E-mail: Michael.Krumrey@ptb.de; Cibik, L.; Mueller, P.; Ulm, G. [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany)

2009-09-11

Monte Carlo techniques are powerful tools to simulate the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter. One of the most widespread simulation program packages is Geant4. Almost all physical interaction processes can be included. However, it is not evident what accuracy can be obtained by a simulation. In this work, results of scattering experiments using monochromatized synchrotron radiation in the X-ray regime are quantitatively compared to the results of simulations using Geant4. Experiments were performed for various scattering foils made of different materials such as copper and gold. For energy-dispersive measurements of the scattered radiation, a cadmium telluride detector was used. The detector was fully characterized and calibrated with calculable undispersed as well as monochromatized synchrotron radiation. The obtained quantum efficiency and the response functions are in very good agreement with the corresponding Geant4 simulations. At the electron storage ring BESSY II the number of incident photons in the scattering experiments was measured with a photodiode that had been calibrated against a cryogenic radiometer, so that a direct comparison of scattering experiments with Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4 was possible. It was shown that Geant4 describes the photoeffect, including fluorescence as well as the Compton and Rayleigh scattering, with high accuracy, resulting in a deviation of typically less than 20%. Even polarization effects are widely covered by Geant4, and for Doppler broadening of Compton-scattered radiation the extension G4LECS can be included, but the fact that both features cannot be combined is a limitation. For most polarization-dependent simulations, good agreement with the experimental results was found, except for some orientations where Rayleigh scattering was overestimated in the simulation.

Monte Carlo simulation of the electron transport through thin slabs: A comparative study of PENELOPE, GEANT3, GEANT4, EGSnrc and MCNPX

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vilches, M. [Servicio de Fisica y Proteccion Radiologica, Hospital Regional Universitario ' Virgen de las Nieves' , Avda. de las Fuerzas Armadas, 2, E-18014 Granada (Spain)]. E-mail: mvilches@ugr.es; Garcia-Pareja, S. [Servicio de Radiofisica Hospitalaria, Hospital Regional Universitario ' Carlos Haya' , Avda. Carlos Haya, s/n, E-29010 Malaga (Spain)]. E-mail: garciapareja@gmail.com; Guerrero, R. [Servicio de Radiofisica, Hospital Universitario ' San Cecilio' , Avda. Dr. Oloriz, 16, E-18012 Granada (Spain)]. E-mail: rafael.guerrero.alcalde.sspa@juntadeandalucia.es; Anguiano, M. [Departamento de Fisica Atomica, Molecular y Nuclear, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada (Spain)]. E-mail: mangui@ugr.es; Lallena, A.M. [Departamento de Fisica Atomica, Molecular y Nuclear, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada (Spain)]. E-mail: lallena@ugr.es

2007-01-15

The Monte Carlo simulation of the electron transport through thin slabs is studied with five general purpose codes: PENELOPE, GEANT3, GEANT4, EGSnrc and MCNPX. The different material foils analyzed in the old experiments of Kulchitsky and Latyshev [L.A. Kulchitsky, G.D. Latyshev, Phys. Rev. 61 (1942) 254] and Hanson et al. [A.O. Hanson, L.H. Lanzl, E.M. Lyman, M.B. Scott, Phys. Rev. 84 (1951) 634] are used to perform the comparison between the Monte Carlo codes. Non-negligible differences are observed in the angular distributions of the transmitted electrons obtained with the some of the codes. The experimental data are reasonably well described by EGSnrc, PENELOPE (v.2005) and GEANT4. A general good agreement is found for EGSnrc and PENELOPE (v.2005) in all the cases analyzed.

Monte Carlo simulation of the electron transport through thin slabs: A comparative study of PENELOPE, GEANT3, GEANT4, EGSnrc and MCNPX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vilches, M.; Garcia-Pareja, S.; Guerrero, R.; Anguiano, M.; Lallena, A.M.

2007-01-01

The Monte Carlo simulation of the electron transport through thin slabs is studied with five general purpose codes: PENELOPE, GEANT3, GEANT4, EGSnrc and MCNPX. The different material foils analyzed in the old experiments of Kulchitsky and Latyshev [L.A. Kulchitsky, G.D. Latyshev, Phys. Rev. 61 (1942) 254] and Hanson et al. [A.O. Hanson, L.H. Lanzl, E.M. Lyman, M.B. Scott, Phys. Rev. 84 (1951) 634] are used to perform the comparison between the Monte Carlo codes. Non-negligible differences are observed in the angular distributions of the transmitted electrons obtained with the some of the codes. The experimental data are reasonably well described by EGSnrc, PENELOPE (v.2005) and GEANT4. A general good agreement is found for EGSnrc and PENELOPE (v.2005) in all the cases analyzed

Use of GEANT4 vs. MCNPX for the characterization of a boron-lined neutron detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ende, B.M. van der; Atanackovic, J.; Erlandson, A.; Bentoumi, G.

2016-06-01

This work compares GEANT4 with MCNPX in the characterization of a boron-lined neutron detector. The neutron energy ranges simulated in this work (0.025 eV to 20 MeV) are the traditional domain of MCNP simulations. This paper addresses the question, how well can GEANT4 and MCNPX be employed for detailed thermal neutron detector characterization? To answer this, GEANT4 and MCNPX have been employed to simulate detector response to a {sup 252}Cf energy spectrum point source, as well as to simulate mono-energetic parallel beam source geometries. The {sup 252}Cf energy spectrum simulation results demonstrate agreement in detector count rate within 3% between the two packages, with the MCNPX results being generally closer to experiment than are those from GEANT4. The mono-energetic source simulations demonstrate agreement in detector response within 5% between the two packages for all neutron energies, and within 1% for neutron energies between 100 eV and 5 MeV. Cross-checks between the two types of simulations using ISO-8529 {sup 252}Cf energy bins demonstrates that MCNPX results are more self-consistent than are GEANT4 results, by 3–4%.

SU-E-T-427: Feasibility Study for Evaluation of IMRT Dose Distribution Using Geant4-Based Automated Algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, H; Shin, W; Testa, M; Min, C; Kim, J

2015-01-01

Purpose: For intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment planning validation using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, a precise and automated procedure is necessary to evaluate the patient dose distribution. The aim of this study is to develop an automated algorithm for IMRT simulations using DICOM files and to evaluate the patient dose based on 4D simulation using the Geant4 MC toolkit. Methods: The head of a clinical linac (Varian Clinac 2300 IX) was modeled in Geant4 along with particular components such as the flattening filter and the multi-leaf collimator (MLC). Patient information and the position of the MLC were imported from the DICOM-RT interface. For each position of the MLC, a step- and-shoot technique was adopted. PDDs and lateral profiles were simulated in a water phantom (50×50×40 cm 3 ) and compared to measurement data. We used a lung phantom and MC-dose calculations were compared to the clinical treatment planning used at the Seoul National University Hospital. Results: In order to reproduce the measurement data, we tuned three free parameters: mean and standard deviation of the primary electron beam energy and the beam spot size. These parameters for 6 MV were found to be 5.6 MeV, 0.2378 MeV and 1 mm FWHM respectively. The average dose difference between measurements and simulations was less than 2% for PDDs and radial profiles. The lung phantom study showed fairly good agreement between MC and planning dose despite some unavoidable statistical fluctuation. Conclusion: The current feasibility study using the lung phantom shows the potential for IMRT dose validation using 4D MC simulations using Geant4 tool kits. This research was supported by Korea Institute of Nuclear safety and Development of Measurement Standards for Medical Radiation funded by Korea research Institute of Standards and Science. (KRISS-2015-15011032)

Comparison of GEANT4 very low energy cross section models with experimental data in water

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Incerti, S; Ivanchenko, A; Karamitros, M

2010-01-01

The GEANT4 general-purpose Monte Carlo simulation toolkit is able to simulate physical interaction processes of electrons, hydrogen and helium atoms with charge states (H0, H+) and (He0, He+, He2+), respectively, in liquid water, the main component of biological systems, down to the electron volt...... of electromagnetic interactions within the GEANT4 toolkit framework (since GEANT4 version 9.3 beta). This work presents a quantitative comparison of these physics models with a collection of experimental data in water collected from the literature....

Setup of HDRK-Man voxel model in Geant4 Monte Carlo code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, Jong Hwi; Cho, Sung Koo; Kim, Chan Hyeong [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Sang Hyoun [Inha Univ., Incheon (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Kun Woo [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2008-10-15

Many different voxel models, developed using tomographic images of human body, are used in various fields including both ionizing and non-ionizing radiation fields. Recently a high-quality voxel model/ named HDRK-Man, was constructed at Hanyang University and used to calculate the dose conversion coefficients (DCC) values for external photon and neutron beams using the MCNPX Monte Carlo code. The objective of the present study is to set up the HDRK-Man model in Geant4 in order to use it in more advanced calculations such as 4-D Monte Carlo simulations and space dosimetry studies involving very high energy particles. To that end, the HDRK-Man was ported to Geant4 and used to calculate the DCC values for external photon beams. The calculated values were then compared with the results of the MCNPX code. In addition, a computational Linux cluster was built to improve the computing speed in Geant4.

A Toolkit to Study Sensitivity of the Geant4 Predictions to the Variations of the Physics Model Parameters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fields, Laura [Fermilab; Genser, Krzysztof [Fermilab; Hatcher, Robert [Fermilab; Kelsey, Michael [SLAC; Perdue, Gabriel [Fermilab; Wenzel, Hans [Fermilab; Wright, Dennis H. [SLAC; Yarba, Julia [Fermilab

2017-08-21

Geant4 is the leading detector simulation toolkit used in high energy physics to design detectors and to optimize calibration and reconstruction software. It employs a set of carefully validated physics models to simulate interactions of particles with matter across a wide range of interaction energies. These models, especially the hadronic ones, rely largely on directly measured cross-sections and phenomenological predictions with physically motivated parameters estimated by theoretical calculation or measurement. Because these models are tuned to cover a very wide range of possible simulation tasks, they may not always be optimized for a given process or a given material. This raises several critical questions, e.g. how sensitive Geant4 predictions are to the variations of the model parameters, or what uncertainties are associated with a particular tune of a Geant4 physics model, or a group of models, or how to consistently derive guidance for Geant4 model development and improvement from a wide range of available experimental data. We have designed and implemented a comprehensive, modular, user-friendly software toolkit to study and address such questions. It allows one to easily modify parameters of one or several Geant4 physics models involved in the simulation, and to perform collective analysis of multiple variants of the resulting physics observables of interest and comparison against a variety of corresponding experimental data. Based on modern event-processing infrastructure software, the toolkit offers a variety of attractive features, e.g. flexible run-time configurable workflow, comprehensive bookkeeping, easy to expand collection of analytical components. Design, implementation technology, and key functionalities of the toolkit are presented and illustrated with results obtained with Geant4 key hadronic models.

Calibration of the radiation monitor onboard Akebono using Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Asai, Keiko; Takashima, Takeshi; Koi, Tatsumi; Nagai, Tsugunobu

Natural high-energy electrons and protons (keV-MeV) in the space contaminate the data re-ciprocally. In order to calibrate the energy ranges and to remove data contamination on the radiation monitor (RDM) onboard the Japanese satellite, Akebono (EXOS-D), the detector is investigated using the Geant4 simulation toolkit of computational particle tracing. The semi-polar orbiting Akebono, launched in February 1989, is active now. This satellite has been observed the space environment at altitudes of several thousands km. The RDM instrument onboard Akebono monitors energetic particles in the Earth's radiation belt and gives important data accumulated for about two solar cycles. The data from RDM are for electrons in three energy channels of 0.3 MeV, protons in three energy channels of ¿ 30 MeV, and alpha particles in one energy channels of 15-45 MeV. The energy ranges are however based on information of about 20 years ago so that the data seem to include some errors actuary. In addition, these data include contamination of electrons and protons reciprocally. Actuary it is noticed that the electron data are contaminated by the solar protons but unknown quantitative amount of the contamination. Therefore we need data calibration in order to correct the energy ranges and to remove data contamination. The Geant4 simulation gives information of trajectories of incident and secondary particles whose are interacted with materials. We examine the RDM monitor using the Geant4 simulation. We find from the results that relativistic electrons of MeV behave quite complicatedly because of particle-material interaction in the instrument. The results indicate that efficiencies of detection and contamination are dependent on energy. This study compares the electron data from Akebono RDM with the simultaneous observation of CRRES and tries to lead the values of correction for each of the energy channels.

An algorithm for computing screened Coulomb scattering in GEANT4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendenhall, Marcus H. [Vanderbilt University Free Electron Laser Center, P.O. Box 351816 Station B, Nashville, TN 37235-1816 (United States)]. E-mail: marcus.h.mendenhall@vanderbilt.edu; Weller, Robert A. [Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, P.O. Box 351821 Station B, Nashville, TN 37235-1821 (United States)]. E-mail: robert.a.weller@vanderbilt.edu

2005-01-01

An algorithm has been developed for the GEANT4 Monte-Carlo package for the efficient computation of screened Coulomb interatomic scattering. It explicitly integrates the classical equations of motion for scattering events, resulting in precise tracking of both the projectile and the recoil target nucleus. The algorithm permits the user to plug in an arbitrary screening function, such as Lens-Jensen screening, which is good for backscattering calculations, or Ziegler-Biersack-Littmark screening, which is good for nuclear straggling and implantation problems. This will allow many of the applications of the TRIM and SRIM codes to be extended into the much more general GEANT4 framework where nuclear and other effects can be included.

An algorithm for computing screened Coulomb scattering in GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendenhall, Marcus H.; Weller, Robert A.

2005-01-01

An algorithm has been developed for the GEANT4 Monte-Carlo package for the efficient computation of screened Coulomb interatomic scattering. It explicitly integrates the classical equations of motion for scattering events, resulting in precise tracking of both the projectile and the recoil target nucleus. The algorithm permits the user to plug in an arbitrary screening function, such as Lens-Jensen screening, which is good for backscattering calculations, or Ziegler-Biersack-Littmark screening, which is good for nuclear straggling and implantation problems. This will allow many of the applications of the TRIM and SRIM codes to be extended into the much more general GEANT4 framework where nuclear and other effects can be included

Estimated Visualization of Dose Calculation with GEANT4 in Medical Linac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jhin Kee; Kim, Bu Gil; Lee, Jeong Ok; Kang, Jeong Ku; Oh, Young Kee; Jeong, Dong Hyeok; Kim, Jeong Kee

2011-01-01

Geant4 is a toolkit used to simulate the pass age of particles through matter. Recently, it has been used in many medical physics applications. In radiotherapy, positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance tomography, Geant4 has been applied to accurately simulate the propagation of particles and the interaction of particles, not only with medical devices, but also with patient's phantoms.1,2 Many researchers try to use patient's image data to calculate the dose. The use of DICOM images files to simulate is desired. We construct detector with parameterized volume for Geant4 simulations, which can be applied to simulations using DICOM data as the input.We try to apply this code to the patient's DICOM images to simulate the propagation and interaction of the particles. So we can calculate the absorbed dose of the patient. In this study, the used visualization tool is called gMocren. The purpose of the present paper is to verify a volume visualization tool that simultaneously displays both the complex patient data and the simulated dose distribution with real patient's DICOM data. We applied a volume visualization tool for GEANT4 simulation. We developed to create the each voxel's dose tables of the every slices and review the distribution with DICOM file, gMocren is very convenience tool but provide only qualitative analysis. We need more enhanced functions to display contour like RTP and utility program to create dose table in every points.

Comparison of CdZnTe neutron detector models using MCNP6 and Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Emma; Anderson, Mike; Prendergasty, David; Cheneler, David

2018-01-01

The production of accurate detector models is of high importance in the development and use of detectors. Initially, MCNP and Geant were developed to specialise in neutral particle models and accelerator models, respectively; there is now a greater overlap of the capabilities of both, and it is therefore useful to produce comparative models to evaluate detector characteristics. In a collaboration between Lancaster University, UK, and Innovative Physics Ltd., UK, models have been developed in both MCNP6 and Geant4 of Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe) detectors developed by Innovative Physics Ltd. Herein, a comparison is made of the relative strengths of MCNP6 and Geant4 for modelling neutron flux and secondary γ-ray emission. Given the increasing overlap of the modelling capabilities of MCNP6 and Geant4, it is worthwhile to comment on differences in results for simulations which have similarities in terms of geometries and source configurations.

How to create an interface between UrQMD and Geant4 toolkit

CERN Document Server

Abdel-Waged, Khaled; Uzhinskii, V.V.

2012-01-01

An interface between the UrQMD-1.3cr model (version 1.3 for cosmic air showers) and the Geant4 transport toolkit has been developed. Compared to the current Geant4 (hybrid) hadronic models, this provides the ability to simulate at the microscopic level hadron, nucleus, and anti-nucleus interactions with matter from 0 to 1 TeV with a single transport code. This document provides installation requirements and instructions, as well as class and member function descriptions of the software.

Automatic modeling for the Monte Carlo transport code Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nie Fanzhi; Hu Liqin; Wang Guozhong; Wang Dianxi; Wu Yican; Wang Dong; Long Pengcheng; FDS Team

2015-01-01

Geant4 is a widely used Monte Carlo transport simulation package. Its geometry models could be described in Geometry Description Markup Language (GDML), but it is time-consuming and error-prone to describe the geometry models manually. This study implemented the conversion between computer-aided design (CAD) geometry models and GDML models. This method has been Studied based on Multi-Physics Coupling Analysis Modeling Program (MCAM). The tests, including FDS-Ⅱ model, demonstrated its accuracy and feasibility. (authors)

Preliminary assessment of Geant4 HP models and cross section libraries by reactor criticality benchmark calculations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cai, Xiao-Xiao; Llamas-Jansa, Isabel; Mullet, Steven

2013-01-01

Geant4 is an open source general purpose simulation toolkit for particle transportation in matter. Since the extension of the thermal scattering model in Geant4.9.5 and the availability of the IAEA HP model cross section libraries, it is now possible to extend the application area of Geant4......, U and O in uranium dioxide, Al metal, Be metal, and Fe metal. The native HP cross section library G4NDL does not include data for elements with atomic number larger than 92. Therefore, transuranic elements, which have impacts for a realistic reactor, can not be simulated by the combination of the HP...... models and the G4NDL library. However, cross sections of those missing isotopes were made available recently through the IAEA project “new evaluated neutron cross section libraries for Geant4”....

GEANT4 simulation study of a gamma-ray detector for neutron resonance densitometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuchiya, Harufumi; Harada, Hideo; Koizumi, Mitsuo; Kitatani, Fumito; Takamine, Jun; Kureta, Masatoshi; Iimura, Hideki

2013-01-01

A design study of a gamma-ray detector for neutron resonance densitometry was made with GEANT4. The neutron resonance densitometry, combining neutron resonance transmission analysis and neutron resonance capture analysis, is a non-destructive technique to measure amounts of nuclear materials in melted fuels of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants. In order to effectively quantify impurities in the melted fuels via prompt gamma-ray measurements, a gamma-ray detector for the neutron resonance densitometry consists of cylindrical and well type LaBr 3 scintillators. The present simulation showed that the proposed gamma-ray detector suffices to clearly detect the gamma rays emitted by 10 B(n, αγ) reaction in a high environmental background due to 137 Cs radioactivity with its Compton edge suppressed at a considerably small level. (author)

Diffusion-controlled reactions modeling in Geant4-DNA

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Karamitros, M.; Luan, S.; Bernal, M. A.; Allison, J.; Baldacchino, G.; Davídková, Marie; Francis, Z.; Friedland, W.; Ivanchenko, A.; Ivanchenko, V.; Mantero, A.; Nieminen, P.; Santin, G.; Tran, H. N.; Stepan, V.; Incerti, S.

2014-01-01

Roč. 274, OCT (2014), s. 841-882 ISSN 0021-9991 Institutional support: RVO:61389005 Keywords : chemical kinetics simulation * radiation chemistry * Fokker-Planck equation * Smoluchowski diffusion equation * Brownian bridge * dynamical time steps * k-d tree * radiolysis * radiobiology * Geant4-DNA * Brownian dynamics Subject RIV: BO - Biophysics Impact factor: 2.434, year: 2014

Geant4-DNA coupling and validation in the GATE Monte Carlo platform for DNA molecules irradiation in a calculation grid environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pham, Quang Trung

2014-01-01

The Monte Carlo simulation methods are successfully being used in various areas of medical physics but also at different scales, for example, from the radiation therapy treatment planning systems to the prediction of the effects of radiation in cancer cells. The Monte Carlo simulation platform GATE based on the Geant4 tool-kit offers features dedicated to simulations in medical physics (nuclear medicine and radiotherapy). For radiobiology applications, the Geant4-DNA physical models are implemented to track particles till very low energy (eV) and are adapted for estimation of micro-dosimetric quantities. In order to implement a multi-scale Monte Carlo platform, we first validated the physical models of Geant4-DNA, and integrated them into GATE. Finally, we validated this implementation in the context of radiation therapy and proton therapy. In order to validate the Geant4-DNA physical models, dose point kernels for monoenergetic electrons (10 keV to 100 keV) were simulated using the physical models of Geant4-DNA and were compared to those simulated with Geant4 Standard physical models and another Monte Carlo code EGSnrc. The range and the stopping powers of electrons (7.4 eV to 1 MeV) and protons (1 keV to 100 MeV) calculated with GATE/Geant4-DNA were then compared with literature. We proposed to simulate with the GATE platform the impact of clinical and preclinical beams on cellular DNA. We modeled a clinical proton beam of 193.1 MeV, 6 MeV clinical electron beam and a X-ray irradiator beam. The beams models were validated by comparing absorbed dose computed and measured in liquid water. Then, the beams were used to calculate the frequency of energy deposits in DNA represented by different geometries. First, the DNA molecule was represented by small cylinders: 2 nm x 2 nm (∼10 bp), 5 nm x 10 nm (nucleosome) and 25 nm x 25 nm (chromatin fiber). All these cylinders were placed randomly in a sphere of liquid water (500 nm radius). Then we reconstructed the DNA

A Customizable GeantV Calorimeter Application

CERN Document Server

Schmitz, Ryan; Vallecorsa, Sofia; Novak, Mihaly; CERN. Geneva. EP Department

2017-01-01

A customizable calorimeter application was written in GeantV. This application includes a GeantV-native detector construction file as well as GeantV-native physics models and new data collection structures. Including these features makes this one of the first examples of a completely standalone GeantV application. A comparison to Geant4 was made which showed the consistency of the GeantV-native physics models included in this example. Finally, the workflow improvements made by the creation of this application are described.

The Inner Detector software moves to Geant4

CERN Multimedia

Elsing, M

2004-01-01

2004 is a year of change and of several major milestones for the Inner Detector software. The first of these milestones was met in March when a set of test events was successfully processed through Geant4 and afterwards through the full Inner Detector offline software chain. In the picture, a reconstructed single muon event from this test sample is displayed in different projections. Even though this looks almost trivial, it required the successful integration of several new software components besides Geant4 into the Inner Detector code. A new ATLAS wide Detector Description software package called GeoModel has been fully deployed in the Inner Detector as the single source of geometry information for both the simulation and the reconstruction. New code to emulate the digitization for all detectors and a new data model have been put in place to cope with the new simulation input. And finally the two major offline reconstruction packages, namely xKalman and iPatRec, were migrated to use the new Inner Detector ...

Extension of PENELOPE to protons: Simulation of nuclear reactions and benchmark with Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sterpin, E.; Sorriaux, J.; Vynckier, S.

2013-01-01

Purpose: Describing the implementation of nuclear reactions in the extension of the Monte Carlo code (MC) PENELOPE to protons (PENH) and benchmarking with Geant4.Methods: PENH is based on mixed-simulation mechanics for both elastic and inelastic electromagnetic collisions (EM). The adopted differential cross sections for EM elastic collisions are calculated using the eikonal approximation with the Dirac–Hartree–Fock–Slater atomic potential. Cross sections for EM inelastic collisions are computed within the relativistic Born approximation, using the Sternheimer–Liljequist model of the generalized oscillator strength. Nuclear elastic and inelastic collisions were simulated using explicitly the scattering analysis interactive dialin database for 1 H and ICRU 63 data for 12 C, 14 N, 16 O, 31 P, and 40 Ca. Secondary protons, alphas, and deuterons were all simulated as protons, with the energy adapted to ensure consistent range. Prompt gamma emission can also be simulated upon user request. Simulations were performed in a water phantom with nuclear interactions switched off or on and integral depth–dose distributions were compared. Binary-cascade and precompound models were used for Geant4. Initial energies of 100 and 250 MeV were considered. For cases with no nuclear interactions simulated, additional simulations in a water phantom with tight resolution (1 mm in all directions) were performed with FLUKA. Finally, integral depth–dose distributions for a 250 MeV energy were computed with Geant4 and PENH in a homogeneous phantom with, first, ICRU striated muscle and, second, ICRU compact bone.Results: For simulations with EM collisions only, integral depth–dose distributions were within 1%/1 mm for doses higher than 10% of the Bragg-peak dose. For central-axis depth–dose and lateral profiles in a phantom with tight resolution, there are significant deviations between Geant4 and PENH (up to 60%/1 cm for depth–dose distributions). The agreement is much

Extension of PENELOPE to protons: simulation of nuclear reactions and benchmark with Geant4.

Science.gov (United States)

Sterpin, E; Sorriaux, J; Vynckier, S

2013-11-01

Describing the implementation of nuclear reactions in the extension of the Monte Carlo code (MC) PENELOPE to protons (PENH) and benchmarking with Geant4. PENH is based on mixed-simulation mechanics for both elastic and inelastic electromagnetic collisions (EM). The adopted differential cross sections for EM elastic collisions are calculated using the eikonal approximation with the Dirac-Hartree-Fock-Slater atomic potential. Cross sections for EM inelastic collisions are computed within the relativistic Born approximation, using the Sternheimer-Liljequist model of the generalized oscillator strength. Nuclear elastic and inelastic collisions were simulated using explicitly the scattering analysis interactive dialin database for (1)H and ICRU 63 data for (12)C, (14)N, (16)O, (31)P, and (40)Ca. Secondary protons, alphas, and deuterons were all simulated as protons, with the energy adapted to ensure consistent range. Prompt gamma emission can also be simulated upon user request. Simulations were performed in a water phantom with nuclear interactions switched off or on and integral depth-dose distributions were compared. Binary-cascade and precompound models were used for Geant4. Initial energies of 100 and 250 MeV were considered. For cases with no nuclear interactions simulated, additional simulations in a water phantom with tight resolution (1 mm in all directions) were performed with FLUKA. Finally, integral depth-dose distributions for a 250 MeV energy were computed with Geant4 and PENH in a homogeneous phantom with, first, ICRU striated muscle and, second, ICRU compact bone. For simulations with EM collisions only, integral depth-dose distributions were within 1%/1 mm for doses higher than 10% of the Bragg-peak dose. For central-axis depth-dose and lateral profiles in a phantom with tight resolution, there are significant deviations between Geant4 and PENH (up to 60%/1 cm for depth-dose distributions). The agreement is much better with FLUKA, with deviations within

Validation of recent Geant4 physics models for application in carbon ion therapy

CERN Document Server

Lechner, A; Ivanchenko, V N

2010-01-01

Cancer treatment with energetic carbon ions has distinct advantages over proton or photon irradiation. In this paper we present a simulation model integrated into the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit (version 9.3) which enables the use of ICRU 73 stopping powers for ion transport calculations. For a few materials, revised ICRU 73 stopping power tables recently published by ICRU (P. Sigmund, A. Schinner, H. Paul, Errata and Addenda: ICRU Report 73 (Stopping of Ions Heavier than Helium), International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, 2009) were incorporated into Geant4, also covering media like water which are of importance in radiotherapeutical applications. We examine, with particular attention paid to the recent developments, the accuracy of current Geant4 models for simulating Bragg peak profiles of C-12 ions incident on water and polyethylene targets. Simulated dose distributions are validated against experimental data available in the literature, where the focus is on beam energies relevant to io...

Microdosimetry calculations for monoenergetic electrons using Geant4-DNA combined with a weighted track sampling algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Famulari, Gabriel; Pater, Piotr; Enger, Shirin A

2017-07-07

The aim of this study was to calculate microdosimetric distributions for low energy electrons simulated using the Monte Carlo track structure code Geant4-DNA. Tracks for monoenergetic electrons with kinetic energies ranging from 100 eV to 1 MeV were simulated in an infinite spherical water phantom using the Geant4-DNA extension included in Geant4 toolkit version 10.2 (patch 02). The microdosimetric distributions were obtained through random sampling of transfer points and overlaying scoring volumes within the associated volume of the tracks. Relative frequency distributions of energy deposition f(>E)/f(>0) and dose mean lineal energy ([Formula: see text]) values were calculated in nanometer-sized spherical and cylindrical targets. The effects of scoring volume and scoring techniques were examined. The results were compared with published data generated using MOCA8B and KURBUC. Geant4-DNA produces a lower frequency of higher energy deposits than MOCA8B. The [Formula: see text] values calculated with Geant4-DNA are smaller than those calculated using MOCA8B and KURBUC. The differences are mainly due to the lower ionization and excitation cross sections of Geant4-DNA for low energy electrons. To a lesser extent, discrepancies can also be attributed to the implementation in this study of a new and fast scoring technique that differs from that used in previous studies. For the same mean chord length ([Formula: see text]), the [Formula: see text] calculated in cylindrical volumes are larger than those calculated in spherical volumes. The discrepancies due to cross sections and scoring geometries increase with decreasing scoring site dimensions. A new set of [Formula: see text] values has been presented for monoenergetic electrons using a fast track sampling algorithm and the most recent physics models implemented in Geant4-DNA. This dataset can be combined with primary electron spectra to predict the radiation quality of photon and electron beams.

A Student Project to use Geant4 Simulations for a TMS-PET combination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Altamirano, A.; Chamorro, A.; Hurtado, K.; Romero, C.; Wahl, D.; Zamudio, A.; Rueda, A.; Solano Salinas, C. J.

2007-01-01

Geant4 is one of the most powerful tools for MC simulation of detectors and their applications. We present a student project to simulate a combined Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation-Positron Emission Tomography (TMS-PET) system using Geant4. This project aims to study PET-TMS systems by implementing a model for the brain response to the TMS pulse and studying the simulated PET response. In order to increase the speed of the simulations we parallelise our programs and investigate the possibility of using GRID computing

A Student Project to use Geant4 Simulations for a TMS-PET combination

Science.gov (United States)

Altamirano, A.; Chamorro, A.; Hurtado, K.; Romero, C.; Rueda, A.; Solano Salinas, C. J.; Wahl, D.; Zamudio, A.

2007-10-01

Geant4 is one of the most powerful tools for MC simulation of detectors and their applications. We present a student project to simulate a combined Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation-Positron Emission Tomography (TMS-PET) system using Geant4. This project aims to study PET-TMS systems by implementing a model for the brain response to the TMS pulse and studying the simulated PET response. In order to increase the speed of the simulations we parallelise our programs and investigate the possibility of using GRID computing.

Implementation of mathematical phantom of hand and forearm in GEANT4 Monte Carlo code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pessanha, Paula Rocha; Queiroz Filho, Pedro Pacheco de; Santos, Denison de Souza

2014-01-01

In this work, the implementation of a hand and forearm Geant4 phantom code, for further evaluation of occupational exposure of ends of the radionuclides decay manipulated during procedures involving the use of injection syringe. The simulation model offered by Geant4 includes a full set of features, with the reconstruction of trajectories, geometries and physical models. For this work, the values calculated in the simulation are compared with the measurements rates by thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) in physical phantom REMAB®. From the analysis of the data obtained through simulation and experimentation, of the 14 points studied, there was a discrepancy of only 8.2% of kerma values found, and these figures are considered compatible. The geometric phantom implemented in Geant4 Monte Carlo code was validated and can be used later for the evaluation of doses at ends

Molecular scale track structure simulations in liquid water using the Geant4-DNA Monte-Carlo processes

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Francis, Z.; Incerti, S.; Capra, R.; Mascialino, B.; Montarou, G.; Štěpán, Václav; Villagrasa, C.

2011-01-01

Roč. 69, č. 1 (2011), s. 220-226 ISSN 0969-8043 R&D Projects: GA MŠk OC09012 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10480505 Keywords : Monte Carlo * Geant4 * Geant4 DNA * microdosimetry * cross sections Subject RIV: BO - Biophysics Impact factor: 1.172, year: 2011

Track structure modeling in liquid water: A review of the Geant4-DNA very low energy extension of the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bernal, M. A.; Bordage, M. C.; Brown, J. M. C.; Davídková, Marie; Delage, E.; El Bitar, Z.; Enger, S. A.; Francis, Z.; Guatelli, S.; Ivanchenko, V.; Karamitros, M.; Kyriakou, I.; Maigne, L.; Meylan, S.; Murakami, K.; Okada, S.; Payno, H.; Perrot, Y.; Petrovic, I.; Pham, Q. T.; Ristic-Fira, A.; Sasaki, T.; Štěpán, Václav; Tran, H. N.; Villagrasa, C.; Incerti, S.

2015-01-01

Roč. 31, č. 8 (2015), s. 861-874 ISSN 1120-1797 Institutional support: RVO:61389005 Keywords : Monte Carlo * Geant4-DNA * radiolysis * radiobiology * ionizing radiation Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 1.763, year: 2015

Geant4.10 simulation of geometric model for metaphase chromosome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rafat-Motavalli, L., E-mail: rafat@um.ac.ir; Miri-Hakimabad, H.; Bakhtiyari, E.

2016-04-01

In this paper, a geometric model of metaphase chromosome is explained. The model is constructed according to the packing ratio and dimension of the structure from nucleosome up to chromosome. A B-DNA base pair is used to construct 200 base pairs of nucleosomes. Each chromatin fiber loop, which is the unit of repeat, has 49,200 bp. This geometry is entered in Geant4.10 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit and can be extended to the whole metaphase chromosomes and any application in which a DNA geometrical model is needed. The chromosome base pairs, chromosome length, and relative length of chromosomes are calculated. The calculated relative length is compared to the relative length of human chromosomes.

Geant4.10 simulation of geometric model for metaphase chromosome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafat-Motavalli, L.; Miri-Hakimabad, H.; Bakhtiyari, E.

2016-01-01

In this paper, a geometric model of metaphase chromosome is explained. The model is constructed according to the packing ratio and dimension of the structure from nucleosome up to chromosome. A B-DNA base pair is used to construct 200 base pairs of nucleosomes. Each chromatin fiber loop, which is the unit of repeat, has 49,200 bp. This geometry is entered in Geant4.10 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit and can be extended to the whole metaphase chromosomes and any application in which a DNA geometrical model is needed. The chromosome base pairs, chromosome length, and relative length of chromosomes are calculated. The calculated relative length is compared to the relative length of human chromosomes.

Monte Carlo calculations of thermal neutron capture in gadolinium: a comparison of GEANT4 and MCNP with measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Enger, Shirin A; Munck af Rosenschöld, Per; Rezaei, Arash; Lundqvist, Hans

2006-02-01

GEANT4 is a Monte Carlo code originally implemented for high-energy physics applications and is well known for particle transport at high energies. The capacity of GEANT4 to simulate neutron transport in the thermal energy region is not equally well known. The aim of this article is to compare MCNP, a code commonly used in low energy neutron transport calculations and GEANT4 with experimental results and select the suitable code for gadolinium neutron capture applications. To account for the thermal neutron scattering from chemically bound atoms [S(alpha,beta)] in biological materials a comparison of thermal neutron fluence in tissue-like poly(methylmethacrylate) phantom is made with MCNP4B, GEANT4 6.0 patch1, and measurements from the neutron capture therapy (NCT) facility at the Studsvik, Sweden. The fluence measurements agreed with MCNP calculated results considering S(alpha,beta). The location of the thermal neutron peak calculated with MCNP without S(alpha,beta) and GEANT4 is shifted by about 0.5 cm towards a shallower depth and is 25%-30% lower in amplitude. Dose distribution from the gadolinium neutron capture reaction is then simulated by MCNP and compared with measured data. The simulations made by MCNP agree well with experimental results. As long as thermal neutron scattering from chemically bound atoms are not included in GEANT4 it is not suitable for NCT applications.

Comparison of GEANT4 Simulations with Experimental Data for Thick Al Absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yevseyeva, Olga; Assis, Joaquim de; Evseev, Ivan; Schelin, Hugo; Paschuk, Sergei; Milhoretto, Edney; Setti, Joao; Diaz, Katherin; Lopes, Ricardo; Hormaza, Joel

2009-01-01

Proton beams in medical applications deal with relatively thick targets like the human head or trunk. Therefore, relatively small differences in the total proton stopping power given, for example, by the different models provided by GEANT4 can lead to significant disagreements in the final proton energy spectra when integrated along lengthy proton trajectories. This work presents proton energy spectra obtained by GEANT4.8.2 simulations using ICRU49, Ziegler1985 and Ziegler2000 models for 19.68 MeV protons passing through a number of Al absorbers with various thicknesses. The spectra were compared with the experimental data, with TRIM/SRIM2008 and MCNPX2.4.0 simulations, and with the Payne analytical solution for the transport equation in the Fokker-Plank approximation. It is shown that the MCNPX simulations reasonably reproduce well all experimental spectra. For the relatively thin targets all the methods give practically identical results but this is not the same for the thick absorbers. It should be noted that all the spectra were measured at the proton energies significantly above 2 MeV, i.e., in the so-called 'Bethe-Bloch region'. Therefore the observed disagreements in GEANT4 results, simulated with different models, are somewhat unexpected. Further studies are necessary for better understanding and definitive conclusions.

A Geant4 simulation package for the SAGE spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papadakis, P; Cox, D M; Butler, P A; Herzberg, R-D; Pakarinen, J; Konki, J; Greenlees, P T; Hauschild, K; Rahkila, P; Sandzelius, M; Sorri, J

2012-01-01

A comprehensive Geant4 simulation was built for the SAGE spectrometer. The simulation package includes the silicon and germanium detectors, the mechanical structure and the electromagnetic fields present in SAGE. This simulation can be used for making predictions through simulating experiments and for comparing simulated and experimental data to better understand the underlying physics.

Efficiency transfer using the GEANT4 code of CERN for HPGe gamma spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chagren, S.; Tekaya, M.Ben; Reguigui, N.; Gharbi, F.

2016-01-01

spectrometry. • The usual procedure of efficiency transfer based on the Moens concept has been adopted for the efficiency transfer. • A new method of efficiency transfer based on a “virtual” reference point detection configuration has been developed and used. • The GEANT4 code has been used to perform direct calculation of the peak efficiencies. • The two used efficiency transfer procedures were in agreement with experimental results.

A Software Toolkit to Study Systematic Uncertainties of the Physics Models of the Geant4 Simulation Package

CERN Document Server

Genser, Krzysztof; Perdue, Gabriel; Wenzel, Hans; Yarba, Julia; Kelsey, Michael; Wright, Dennis H

2016-01-01

The Geant4 toolkit is used to model interactions between particles and matter. Geant4 employs a set of validated physics models that span a wide range of interaction energies. These models are tuned to cover a large variety of possible applications. This raises the critical question of what uncertainties are associated with the Geant4 physics model, or group of models, involved in a simulation project. To address the challenge, we have designed and implemented a comprehen- sive, modular, user-friendly software toolkit that allows the variation of one or more parameters of one or more Geant4 physics models involved in simulation studies. It also enables analysis of multiple variants of the resulting physics observables of interest in order to estimate the uncertain- ties associated with the simulation model choices. Key functionalities of the toolkit are presented in this paper and are illustrated with selected results.

Design and performance evaluations of generic programming techniques in a R and D prototype of Geant4 physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pia, M G; Saracco, P; Sudhakar, M [INFN Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova (Italy); Zoglauer, A [University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450 (United States); Augelli, M [CNES, 18 Av. Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse (France); Gargioni, E [University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, D-20246 Hamburg (Germany); Kim, C H [Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Quintieri, L [INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 40, I-00044 Frascati (Italy); Filho, P P de Queiroz; Santos, D de Souza [IRD, Av. Salvador Allende, s/n. 22780-160, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Weidenspointner, G [MPI fuer extraterrestrische Physik Postfach 1603, D-85740 Garching (Germany); Begalli, M, E-mail: mariagrazia.pia@ge.infn.i [UERJ, R. Sao Francisco Xavier, 524. 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2010-04-01

A R and D project has been recently launched to investigate Geant4 architectural design in view of addressing new experimental issues in HEP and other related physics disciplines. In the context of this project the use of generic programming techniques besides the conventional object oriented is investigated. Software design features and preliminary results from a new prototype implementation of Geant4 electromagnetic physics are illustrated. Performance evaluations are presented. Issues related to quality assurance in Geant4 physics modelling are discussed.

Reanimation of the RICH Test Beam Simulation in GEANT4

CERN Document Server

Arzymatov, Kenenbek

2017-01-01

This test was originally developed by Sajan Easo (LHCb) ten years ago mostly for the purpose of testing the behavior of photomultipliers, but it wasn’t used in regression testing in Gauss/Geant4 famework. The goal of project is to revive simulation of cherenkov radiaton test by completing.

The study of response of wide band gap semiconductor detectors using the Geant4

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hussain Riaz

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The energy dependence on the intrinsic efficiency, absolute efficiency, full energy peak absolute efficiency and peak-to-total ratio have been studied for various wide band gap semiconductor detectors using the Geant4 based Monte Carlo simulations. The detector thickness of 1-4 mm and the area in 16-100 mm2 range were considered in this work. In excellent agreement with earlier work (Rybka et al., [20], the Geant4 simulated values of detector efficiencies have been found to decrease with incident g-ray energy. Both for the detector thickness and the detector area, the increasing trends have been observed for total efficiency as well as for full-energy peak efficiency in 0.1 MeV-50 MeV range. For Cd1-xZnxTe, the detector response remained insensitive to changes in relative proportions of Zn. For various wide band gap detectors studied in this work, the detection efficiency of TlBr was found highest over the entire range of energy, followed by the HgI2, CdTe, and then by CZT.

Validation of Neutrons in Geant4 Using TARC Data - production, interaction and transportation

CERN Document Server

Howard, A

2007-01-01

The TARC (Transmutation by Adiabatic Resonance Crossing) experiment has been simulated with the Geant4 toolkit. The experiment measured neutron production from 2.5 GeV/c and 3.5 GeV/c protons incident on high purity lead. The Geant4 simulation utilised either the Bertini or Binary nuclear cascade models together with the low energy neutron HP extension. The neutron time-energy correlation and relative fluence spectrum is compared between data and simulation. A thin target comparison was undertaken for incident protons of energy 800-1600 MeV and for pre-compound evaporation and nuclear de-excitation in the energy range 24-52 MeV.

The local skin dose conversion coefficients of electrons, protons and alpha particles calculated using the Geant4 code.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Bintuan; Dang, Bingrong; Wang, Zhuanzi; Wei, Wei; Li, Wenjian

2013-10-01

The skin tissue-equivalent slab reported in the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 116 to calculate the localised skin dose conversion coefficients (LSDCCs) was adopted into the Monte Carlo transport code Geant4. The Geant4 code was then utilised for computation of LSDCCs due to a circular parallel beam of monoenergetic electrons, protons and alpha particles electrons and alpha particles are found to be in good agreement with the results using the MCNPX code of ICRP 116 data. The present work thus validates the LSDCC values for both electrons and alpha particles using the Geant4 code.

Performance study of a cluster calculation; parallelization and application under geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trabelsi, Abir

2007-01-01

This work concretizes the final studies project for engineering computer sciences, it is archived within the national center of nuclear sciences and technology. The project consists in studying the performance of a set of machines in order to determine the best architecture to assemble them in a cluster. As well as the parallelism and the parallel implementation of GEANT4, as a tool of simulation. The realisation of this project consists on : 1) programming with C++ and executing the two benchmarks P MV and PMM on each station; 2) Interpreting this result in order to show the best architecture of the cluster; 3) parallelism with TOP-C the two benchmarks; 4) Executing the two Top-C versions on the cluster; 5) Generalizing this results; 6)parallelism et executing the parallel version of GEANT4. (Author). 14 refs

GEANT4 simulations of the n{sub T}OF spallation source and their benchmarking

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lo Meo, S. [Research Centre ' ' Ezio Clementel' ' , ENEA, Bologna (Italy); Section of Bologna, INFN, Bologna (Italy); Cortes-Giraldo, M.A.; Lerendegui-Marco, J.; Guerrero, C.; Quesada, J.M. [Universidad de Sevilla, Facultad de Fisica, Sevilla (Spain); Massimi, C.; Vannini, G. [Section of Bologna, INFN, Bologna (Italy); University of Bologna, Physics and Astronomy Dept. ' ' Alma Mater Studiorum' ' , Bologna (Italy); Barbagallo, M.; Colonna, N. [INFN, Section of Bari, Bari (Italy); Mancusi, D. [CEA-Saclay, DEN, DM2S, SERMA, LTSD, Gif-sur-Yvette CEDEX (France); Mingrone, F. [Section of Bologna, INFN, Bologna (Italy); Sabate-Gilarte, M. [Universidad de Sevilla, Facultad de Fisica, Sevilla (Spain); European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva (Switzerland); Vlachoudis, V. [European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva (Switzerland); Collaboration: The n_TOF Collaboration

2015-12-15

Neutron production and transport in the spallation target of the n{sub T}OF facility at CERN has been simulated with GEANT4. The results obtained with different models of high-energy nucleon-nucleus interaction have been compared with the measured characteristics of the neutron beam, in particular the flux and its dependence on neutron energy, measured in the first experimental area. The best agreement at present, within 20% for the absolute value of the flux, and within few percent for the energy dependence in the whole energy range from thermal to 1 GeV, is obtained with the INCL++ model coupled with the GEANT4 native de-excitation model. All other available models overestimate by a larger factor, of up to 70%, the n{sub T}OF neutron flux. The simulations are also able to accurately reproduce the neutron beam energy resolution function, which is essentially determined by the moderation time inside the target/moderator assembly. The results here reported provide confidence on the use of GEANT4 for simulations of spallation neutron sources. (orig.)

Development of a Geant4 application to characterise a prototype neutron detector based on three orthogonal 3He tubes inside an HDPE sphere.

Science.gov (United States)

Gracanin, V; Guatelli, S; Prokopovich, D; Rosenfeld, A B; Berry, A

2017-01-01

The Bonner Sphere Spectrometer (BSS) system is a well-established technique for neutron dosimetry that involves detection of thermal neutrons within a range of hydrogenous moderators. BSS detectors are often used to perform neutron field surveys in order to determine the ambient dose equivalent H*(10) and estimate health risk to personnel. There is a potential limitation of existing neutron survey techniques, since some detectors do not consider the direction of the neutron field, which can result in overly conservative estimates of dose in neutron fields. This paper shows the development of a Geant4 simulation application to characterise a prototype neutron detector based on three orthogonal 3 He tubes inside a single HDPE sphere built at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The Geant4 simulation has been validated with respect to experimental measurements performed with an Am-Be source. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling a gamma spectroscopy system and predicting spectra with Geant-4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahin, D.; Uenlue, K.

2009-01-01

An activity predictor software was previously developed to foresee activities, exposure rates and gamma spectra of activated samples for Radiation Science and Engineering Center (RSEC), Penn State Breazeale Reactor (PSBR), Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) measurements. With Activity Predictor it has been demonstrated that the predicted spectra were less than satisfactory. In order to obtain better predicted spectra, a new detailed model for the RSEC NAA spectroscopy system with High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector is developed using Geant-4. The model was validated with a National Bureau of Standards certified 60 Co source and tree activated high purity samples at PSBR. The predicted spectra agreed well with measured spectra. Error in net photo peak area values were 8.6-33.6%. Along with the previously developed activity predictor software, this new model in Geant-4 provided realistic spectra prediction for NAA experiments at RSEC PSBR. (author)

Visualization drivers for Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beretvas, Andy

2005-01-01

This document is on Geant 4 visualization tools (drivers), evaluating pros and cons of each option, including recommendations on which tools to support at Fermilab for different applications. Four visualization drivers are evaluated. They re OpenGL, HepRep, DAWN and VRML. They all have good features, OpenGL provides graphic output with out an intermediate file. HepRep provides menus to assist the user. DAWN provides high quality plots and even for large files produces output quickly. VRML uses the smallest disk space for intermediate files. Large experiments at Fermilab will want to write their own display. They should proceed to make this display graphics independent. Medium experiment will probably want to use HepRep because of it's menu support. Smaller scale experiments will want to use OpenGL in the spirit of having immediate response, good quality output and keeping things simple

Assessment of Geant4 Prompt-Gamma Emission Yields in the Context of Proton Therapy Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto, Marco; Dauvergne, Denis; Freud, Nicolas; Krimmer, Jochen; Létang, Jean M.; Testa, Etienne

2016-01-01

Monte Carlo tools have been long used to assist the research and development of solutions for proton therapy monitoring. The present work focuses on the prompt-gamma emission yields by comparing experimental data with the outcomes of the current version of Geant4 using all applicable proton inelastic models. For the case in study and using the binary cascade model, it was found that Geant4 overestimates the prompt-gamma emission yields by 40.2 ± 0.3%, even though it predicts the prompt-gamma profile length of the experimental profile accurately. In addition, the default implementations of all proton inelastic models show an overestimation in the number of prompt gammas emitted. Finally, a set of built-in options and physically sound Geant4 source code changes have been tested in order to try to improve the discrepancy observed. A satisfactory agreement was found when using the QMD model with a wave packet width equal to 1.3 fm2. PMID:26858937

Calculation of neutron fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients using GEANT4; Calculo de coeficientes de fluencia de neutrons para equivalente de dose individual utilizando o GEANT4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ribeiro, Rosane M.; Santos, Denison de S.; Queiroz Filho, Pedro P. de; Mauricio, CLaudia L.P.; Silva, Livia K. da; Pessanha, Paula R., E-mail: rosanemribeiro@oi.com.br [Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2014-07-01

Fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients provide the basis for the calculation of area and personal monitors. Recently, the ICRP has started a revision of these coefficients, including new Monte Carlo codes for benchmarking. So far, little information is available about neutron transport below 10 MeV in tissue-equivalent (TE) material performed with Monte Carlo GEANT4 code. The objective of this work is to calculate neutron fluence to personal dose equivalent conversion coefficients, H{sub p} (10)/Φ, with GEANT4 code. The incidence of monoenergetic neutrons was simulated as an expanded and aligned field, with energies ranging between thermal neutrons to 10 MeV on the ICRU slab of dimension 30 x 30 x 15 cm{sup 3}, composed of 76.2% of oxygen, 10.1% of hydrogen, 11.1% of carbon and 2.6% of nitrogen. For all incident energy, a cylindrical sensitive volume is placed at a depth of 10 mm, in the largest surface of the slab (30 x 30 cm{sup 2}). Physic process are included for neutrons, photons and charged particles, and calculations are made for neutrons and secondary particles which reach the sensitive volume. Results obtained are thus compared with values published in ICRP 74. Neutron fluence in the sensitive volume was calculated for benchmarking. The Monte Carlo GEANT4 code was found to be appropriate to calculate neutron doses at energies below 10 MeV correctly. (author)

Comparison of the thermal neutron scattering treatment in MCNP6 and GEANT4 codes

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, H. N.; Marchix, A.; Letourneau, A.; Darpentigny, J.; Menelle, A.; Ott, F.; Schwindling, J.; Chauvin, N.

2018-06-01

To ensure the reliability of simulation tools, verification and comparison should be made regularly. This paper describes the work performed in order to compare the neutron transport treatment in MCNP6.1 and GEANT4-10.3 in the thermal energy range. This work focuses on the thermal neutron scattering processes for several potential materials which would be involved in the neutron source designs of Compact Accelerator-based Neutrons Sources (CANS), such as beryllium metal, beryllium oxide, polyethylene, graphite, para-hydrogen, light water, heavy water, aluminium and iron. Both thermal scattering law and free gas model, coming from the evaluated data library ENDF/B-VII, were considered. It was observed that the GEANT4.10.03-patch2 version was not able to account properly the coherent elastic process occurring in crystal lattice. This bug is treated in this work and it should be included in the next release of the code. Cross section sampling and integral tests have been performed for both simulation codes showing a fair agreement between the two codes for most of the materials except for iron and aluminium.

Optimisation of a dual head semiconductor Compton camera using Geant4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harkness, L.J. [Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, Liverpool L697ZE (United Kingdom)], E-mail: ljh@ns.ph.liv.ac.uk; Boston, A.J.; Boston, H.C.; Cooper, R.J.; Cresswell, J.R.; Grint, A.N.; Nolan, P.J.; Oxley, D.C.; Scraggs, D.P. [Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, Liverpool L697ZE (United Kingdom); Beveridge, T.; Gillam, J. [School of Physics and Materials Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne (Australia); Lazarus, I. [STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, Cheshire (United Kingdom)

2009-06-01

Conventional medical gamma-ray camera systems utilise mechanical collimation to provide information on the position of an incident gamma-ray photon. Systems that use electronic collimation utilising Compton image reconstruction techniques have the potential to offer huge improvements in sensitivity. Position sensitive high purity germanium (HPGe) detector systems are being evaluated as part of a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) Compton camera system. Data have been acquired from the orthogonally segmented planar SmartPET detectors, operated in Compton camera mode. The minimum gamma-ray energy which can be imaged by the current system in Compton camera configuration is 244 keV due to the 20 mm thickness of the first scatter detector which causes large gamma-ray absorption. A simulation package for the optimisation of a new semiconductor Compton camera has been developed using the Geant4 toolkit. This paper will show results of preliminary analysis of the validated Geant4 simulation for gamma-ray energies of SPECT, 141 keV.

The GEANT-CALOR interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeitnitz, C.; Gabriel, T.A.

1994-01-01

The simulation of large scale high energy physics experiments is based mainly on the GEANT package. In the current version 3.15 the simulation of hadronic interacting particles is based on GHEISHA or FLUKA. Both programs miss an accurate simulation of the interaction of low energy neutrons (E kin < 20 MeV) with the materials of the detector. The CALOR89 program package contains a low energetic neutron code. An interface between the CALOR program parts and the GEANT package has been developed

Calculation of neutron fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients using GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ribeiro, Rosane M.; Santos, Denison de S.; Queiroz Filho, Pedro P. de; Mauricio, CLaudia L.P.; Silva, Livia K. da; Pessanha, Paula R.

2014-01-01

Fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients provide the basis for the calculation of area and personal monitors. Recently, the ICRP has started a revision of these coefficients, including new Monte Carlo codes for benchmarking. So far, little information is available about neutron transport below 10 MeV in tissue-equivalent (TE) material performed with Monte Carlo GEANT4 code. The objective of this work is to calculate neutron fluence to personal dose equivalent conversion coefficients, H p (10)/Φ, with GEANT4 code. The incidence of monoenergetic neutrons was simulated as an expanded and aligned field, with energies ranging between thermal neutrons to 10 MeV on the ICRU slab of dimension 30 x 30 x 15 cm 3 , composed of 76.2% of oxygen, 10.1% of hydrogen, 11.1% of carbon and 2.6% of nitrogen. For all incident energy, a cylindrical sensitive volume is placed at a depth of 10 mm, in the largest surface of the slab (30 x 30 cm 2 ). Physic process are included for neutrons, photons and charged particles, and calculations are made for neutrons and secondary particles which reach the sensitive volume. Results obtained are thus compared with values published in ICRP 74. Neutron fluence in the sensitive volume was calculated for benchmarking. The Monte Carlo GEANT4 code was found to be appropriate to calculate neutron doses at energies below 10 MeV correctly. (author)

Comparison of GATE/GEANT4 with EGSnrc and MCNP for electron dose calculations at energies between 15 keV and 20 MeV.

Science.gov (United States)

Maigne, L; Perrot, Y; Schaart, D R; Donnarieix, D; Breton, V

2011-02-07

The GATE Monte Carlo simulation platform based on the GEANT4 toolkit has come into widespread use for simulating positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging devices. Here, we explore its use for calculating electron dose distributions in water. Mono-energetic electron dose point kernels and pencil beam kernels in water are calculated for different energies between 15 keV and 20 MeV by means of GATE 6.0, which makes use of the GEANT4 version 9.2 Standard Electromagnetic Physics Package. The results are compared to the well-validated codes EGSnrc and MCNP4C. It is shown that recent improvements made to the GEANT4/GATE software result in significantly better agreement with the other codes. We furthermore illustrate several issues of general interest to GATE and GEANT4 users who wish to perform accurate simulations involving electrons. Provided that the electron step size is sufficiently restricted, GATE 6.0 and EGSnrc dose point kernels are shown to agree to within less than 3% of the maximum dose between 50 keV and 4 MeV, while pencil beam kernels are found to agree to within less than 4% of the maximum dose between 15 keV and 20 MeV.

Geant4 - A Simulation Toolkit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Geant4 is a toolkit for simulating the passage of particles through matter. It includes a complete range of functionality including tracking, geometry, physics models and hits. The physics processes offered cover a comprehensive range, including electromagnetic, hadronic and optical processes, a large set of long-lived particles, materials and elements, over a wide energy range starting, in some cases, from 250 eV and extending in others to the TeV energy range. it has been designed and constructed to expose the physics models utilized, to handle complex geometries, and to enable its easy adaptation for optimal use in different sets of applications. The toolkit is the result of a worldwide collaboration of physicists and software engineers. It has been created exploiting software engineering and object-oriented technology and implemented in the C++ programming language. It has been used in applications in particle physics, nuclear physics, accelerator design, space engineering and medical physics

GEANT4 A Simulation toolkit

CERN Document Server

Agostinelli, S; Amako, K; Apostolakis, John; Araújo, H M; Arce, P; Asai, M; Axen, D A; Banerjee, S; Barrand, G; Behner, F; Bellagamba, L; Boudreau, J; Broglia, L; Brunengo, A; Chauvie, S; Chuma, J; Chytracek, R; Cooperman, G; Cosmo, G; Degtyarenko, P V; Dell'Acqua, A; De Paola, G O; Dietrich, D D; Enami, R; Feliciello, A; Ferguson, C; Fesefeldt, H S; Folger, G; Foppiano, F; Forti, A C; Garelli, S; Giani, S; Giannitrapani, R; Gibin, D; Gómez-Cadenas, J J; González, I; Gracía-Abríl, G; Greeniaus, L G; Greiner, W; Grichine, V M; Grossheim, A; Gumplinger, P; Hamatsu, R; Hashimoto, K; Hasui, H; Heikkinen, A M; Howard, A; Hutton, A M; Ivanchenko, V N; Johnson, A; Jones, F W; Kallenbach, Jeff; Kanaya, N; Kawabata, M; Kawabata, Y; Kawaguti, M; Kelner, S; Kent, P; Kodama, T; Kokoulin, R P; Kossov, M; Kurashige, H; Lamanna, E; Lampen, T; Lara, V; Lefébure, V; Lei, F; Liendl, M; Lockman, W; Longo, F; Magni, S; Maire, M; Mecking, B A; Medernach, E; Minamimoto, K; Mora de Freitas, P; Morita, Y; Murakami, K; Nagamatu, M; Nartallo, R; Nieminen, P; Nishimura, T; Ohtsubo, K; Okamura, M; O'Neale, S W; O'Ohata, Y; Perl, J; Pfeiffer, A; Pia, M G; Ranjard, F; Rybin, A; Sadilov, S; Di Salvo, E; Santin, G; Sasaki, T; Savvas, N; Sawada, Y; Scherer, S; Sei, S; Sirotenko, V I; Smith, D; Starkov, N; Stöcker, H; Sulkimo, J; Takahata, M; Tanaka, S; Chernyaev, E; Safai-Tehrani, F; Tropeano, M; Truscott, P R; Uno, H; Urbàn, L; Urban, P; Verderi, M; Walkden, A; Wander, W; Weber, H; Wellisch, J P; Wenaus, T; Williams, D C; Wright, D; Yamada, T; Yoshida, H; Zschiesche, D

2003-01-01

Geant4 is a toolkit for simulating the passage of particles through matter. It includes a complete range of functionality including tracking, geometry, physics models and hits. The physics processes offered cover a comprehensive range, including electromagnetic, hadronic and optical processes, a large set of long-lived particles, materials and elements, over a wide energy range starting, in some cases, from 250 eV and extending in others to the TeV energy range. It has been designed and constructed to expose the physics models utilised, to handle complex geometries, and to enable its easy adaptation for optimal use in different sets of applications. The toolkit is the result of a worldwide collaboration of physicists and software engineers. It has been created exploiting software engineering and object-oriented technology and implemented in the C++ programming language. It has been used in applications in particle physics, nuclear physics, accelerator design, space engineering and medical physics.

Geant4 - A Simulation Toolkit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wright, Dennis H

2002-08-09

GEANT4 is a toolkit for simulating the passage of particles through matter. it includes a complete range of functionality including tracking, geometry, physics models and hits. The physics processes offered cover a comprehensive range, including electromagnetic, hadronic and optical processes, a large set of long-lived particles, materials and elements, over a wide energy range starting, in some cases, from 250 eV and extending in others to the TeV energy range. it has been designed and constructed to expose the physics models utilized, to handle complex geometries, and to enable its easy adaptation for optimal use in different sets of applications. The toolkit is the result of a worldwide collaboration of physicists and software engineers. It has been created exploiting software engineering and object-oriented technology and implemented in the C++ programming language. It has been used in applications in particle physics, nuclear physics, accelerator design, space engineering and medical physics.

A Geant4 evaluation of the Hornyak button and two candidate detectors for the TREAT hodoscope

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Wenkai; Ghosh, Priyarshini; Harrison, Mark J.; McGregor, Douglas S.; Roberts, Jeremy A.

2018-05-01

The performance of traditional Hornyak buttons and two proposed variants for fast-neutron hodoscope applications was evaluated using Geant4. The Hornyak button is a ZnS(Ag)-based device previously deployed at the Idaho National Laboratory's TRansient REActor Test Facility (better known as TREAT) for monitoring fast neutrons emitted during pulsing of fissile fuel samples. Past use of these devices relied on pulse-shape discrimination to reduce the significant levels of background Cherenkov radiation. Proposed are two simple designs that reduce the overall light guide mass (here, polymethyl methacrylate or PMMA), employ silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), and can be operated using pulse-height discrimination alone to eliminate background noise to acceptable levels. Geant4 was first used to model a traditional Hornyak button, and for assumed, hodoscope-like conditions, an intrinsic efficiency of 0.35% for mono-directional fission neutrons was predicted. The predicted efficiency is in reasonably good agreement with experimental data from the literature and, hence, served to validate the physics models and approximations employed. Geant4 models were then developed to optimize the materials and geometries of two alternatives to the Hornyak button, one based on a homogeneous mixture of ZnS(Ag) and PMMA, and one based on alternating layers of ZnS(Ag) and PMMA oriented perpendicular to the incident neutron beam. For the same radiation environment, optimized, 5-cm long (along the beam path) devices of the homogeneous and layered designs were predicted to have efficiencies of approximately 1.3% and 3.3%, respectively. For longer devices, i.e., lengths larger than 25 cm, these efficiencies were shown to peak at approximately 2.2% and 5.9%, respectively. Moreover, both designs were shown to discriminate Cherenkov noise intrinsically by using an appropriate pulse-height discriminator level, i.e., pulse-shape discrimination is not needed for these devices.

Monte Carlo simulation and scatter correction of the GE Advance PET scanner with SimSET and Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barret, Olivier; Carpenter, T Adrian; Clark, John C; Ansorge, Richard E; Fryer, Tim D

2005-01-01

For Monte Carlo simulations to be used as an alternative solution to perform scatter correction, accurate modelling of the scanner as well as speed is paramount. General-purpose Monte Carlo packages (Geant4, EGS, MCNP) allow a detailed description of the scanner but are not efficient at simulating voxel-based geometries (patient images). On the other hand, dedicated codes (SimSET, PETSIM) will perform well for voxel-based objects but will be poor in their capacity of simulating complex geometries such as a PET scanner. The approach adopted in this work was to couple a dedicated code (SimSET) with a general-purpose package (Geant4) to have the efficiency of the former and the capabilities of the latter. The combined SimSET+Geant4 code (SimG4) was assessed on the GE Advance PET scanner and compared to the use of SimSET only. A better description of the resolution and sensitivity of the scanner and of the scatter fraction was obtained with SimG4. The accuracy of scatter correction performed with SimG4 and SimSET was also assessed from data acquired with the 20 cm NEMA phantom. SimG4 was found to outperform SimSET and to give slightly better results than the GE scatter correction methods installed on the Advance scanner (curve fitting and scatter modelling for the 300-650 keV and 375-650 keV energy windows, respectively). In the presence of a hot source close to the edge of the field of view (as found in oxygen scans), the GE curve-fitting method was found to fail whereas SimG4 maintained its performance

Benchmarking nuclear models of FLUKA and GEANT4 for carbon ion therapy

CERN Document Server

Bohlen, TT; Quesada, J M; Bohlen, T T; Cerutti, F; Gudowska, I; Ferrari, A; Mairani, A

2010-01-01

As carbon ions, at therapeutic energies, penetrate tissue, they undergo inelastic nuclear reactions and give rise to significant yields of secondary fragment fluences. Therefore, an accurate prediction of these fluences resulting from the primary carbon interactions is necessary in the patient's body in order to precisely simulate the spatial dose distribution and the resulting biological effect. In this paper, the performance of nuclear fragmentation models of the Monte Carlo transport codes, FLUKA and GEANT4, in tissue-like media and for an energy regime relevant for therapeutic carbon ions is investigated. The ability of these Monte Carlo codes to reproduce experimental data of charge-changing cross sections and integral and differential yields of secondary charged fragments is evaluated. For the fragment yields, the main focus is on the consideration of experimental approximations and uncertainties such as the energy measurement by time-of-flight. For GEANT4, the hadronic models G4BinaryLightIonReaction a...

Monte Carlo simulation in nuclear medicine, radiotherapy-brachytherapy with a simulation platform GATE based on Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, L.; Breton, V.; Donnarieix, D.; Elbitar, Z.; Gisclon, D.; Lazaro, D.; Maigne, L.; Reuillon, R.; Thiam, C.O.; Donnarieix, D.

2003-01-01

The totality of simulations made with the G.A.T.E. software gives extremely conclusive results. Its easiness to use and the power of the G.E.A.N.T.4. simulation code make of it a performing tool. The works made to parallel the simulation code reduce considerably the calculation time for a given simulation. A public version is planned for may 2004. (N.C.)

Simulation of AntiMatter–Matter Interactions in Geant4

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galoyan Aida

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Cross sections of antiproton and antinucleus interactions with nuclei are calculated using stochastic averaging method. A new implementation of the Quark-Gluon-String Model (QGSM is proposed for simulation of multi-particle production in antinucleus-nucleus collisions. A combination of the cross sections and the new implementation of QGSM allows experimental data on antiproton and antinucleus interactions with nuclei to be described. The combination is included in the well-known Geant4 simulation toolkit.

NaI(Tl) detectors modeling in MCNP-X and Gate/Geant4 codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Affonso, Renato Raoni Werneck; Silva, Ademir Xavier da, E-mail: raoniwa@yahoo.com.br, E-mail: ademir@nuclear.ufrj.br [Coordenacao de Pos-Graduacao e Pesquisa de Engenharia (PEN/COPPE/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Programa de Engenharia Nuclear; Salgado, Cesar Marques, E-mail: otero@ien.gov.br [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2017-07-01

NaI (Tl) detectors are widely used in gamma-ray densitometry, but their modeling in Monte Carlo codes, such as MCNP-X and Gate/Geant4, needs a lot of work and does not yield comparable results with experimental arrangements, possibly due to non-simulated physical phenomena, such as light transport within the scintillator. Therefore, it is necessary a methodology that positively impacts the results of the simulations while maintaining the real dimensions of the detectors and other objects to allow validating a modeling that matches up with the experimental arrangement. Thus, the objective of this paper is to present the studies conducted with the MCNPX and Gate/Geant4 codes, in which the comparisons of their results were satisfactory, showing that both can be used for the same purposes. (author)

Recent progress of GEANT4 electromagnetic physics for LHC and other applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bagulya, A.; Brown, J.M.C.; Burkhardt, H.; Grichine, V.; Guatelli, S.; Incerti, S.; Ivanchenko, V. N.; Kadri, O.; Karamitros, M.; Maire, M.; Mashtakov, K.; Novak, M; Pandola, L.; Rancoita, P. G.; Sawkey, D.; Tacconi, M.; Urban, L.

2017-01-01

We report on the recent progress within the Geant4 electromagnetic physics subpackages. Several new interfaces and models recently introduced are already used in LHC applications and may be useful for any type of simulation. Significant developments were carried out to improve the user interface,

Monte-Carlo Modelling and Verification of Photoluminescence of Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}:Eu Scintillator by Using the GEANT4 Simulation Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Gyu-Seok; Kim, Kum-Bae; Choi, Sang-Hyoun [Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Science, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Song, Yong-Keun [Inje University, Gimhae (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Soon-Sung [University of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2017-01-15

Recently, Monte Carlo methods have been used to optimize the design and modeling of radiation detectors. However, most Monte Carlo codes have a fixed and simple optical physics, and the effect of the signal readout devices is not considered because of the limitations of the geometry function. Therefore, the disadvantages of the codes prevent the modeling of the scintillator detector. The modeling of a comprehensive and extensive detector system has been reported to be feasible when the optical physics model of the GEomerty ANd Tracking 4 (GEANT 4) simulation code is used. In this study, we performed a Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}:Eu scintillator modelling by using the GEANT4 simulation code and compared the results with the measurement data. To obtain the measurement data for the scintillator, we synthesized the Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}:Eu scintillator by using solution combustion method and we evaluated the characteristics of the scintillator by using X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence. We imported the measured data into the GEANT4 code because GEANT4 cannot simulate a fluorescence phenomenon. The imported data were used as an energy distribution for optical photon generation based on the energy deposited in the scintillator. As a result of the simulation, a strong emission peak consistent with the measured data was observed at 611 nm, and the overall trends of the spectrum agreed with the measured data. This result is significant because the characteristics of the scintillator are equally implemented in the simulation, indicating a valuable improvement in the modeling of scintillator-based radiation detectors.

Comparison of Geant4-DNA simulation of S-values with other Monte Carlo codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

André, T.; Morini, F.; Karamitros, M.; Delorme, R.; Le Loirec, C.; Campos, L.; Champion, C.; Groetz, J.-E.; Fromm, M.; Bordage, M.-C.; Perrot, Y.; Barberet, Ph.

2014-01-01

Monte Carlo simulations of S-values have been carried out with the Geant4-DNA extension of the Geant4 toolkit. The S-values have been simulated for monoenergetic electrons with energies ranging from 0.1 keV up to 20 keV, in liquid water spheres (for four radii, chosen between 10 nm and 1 μm), and for electrons emitted by five isotopes of iodine (131, 132, 133, 134 and 135), in liquid water spheres of varying radius (from 15 μm up to 250 μm). The results have been compared to those obtained from other Monte Carlo codes and from other published data. The use of the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test has allowed confirming the statistical compatibility of all simulation results

An Algorithm for Computing Screened Coulomb Scattering in Geant4

OpenAIRE

Mendenhall, Marcus H.; Weller, Robert A.

2004-01-01

An algorithm has been developed for the Geant4 Monte-Carlo package for the efficient computation of screened Coulomb interatomic scattering. It explicitly integrates the classical equations of motion for scattering events, resulting in precise tracking of both the projectile and the recoil target nucleus. The algorithm permits the user to plug in an arbitrary screening function, such as Lens-Jensen screening, which is good for backscattering calculations, or Ziegler-Biersack-Littmark screenin...

Simulation of ALTEA calibration data with PHITS, FLUKA and GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

La Tessa, C.; Di Fino, L.; Larosa, M.; Lee, K.; Mancusi, D.; Matthiae, D.; Narici, L.; Zaconte, V.

2009-01-01

The ALTEA-Space detector has been calibrated by testing its response to several monochromatic beams. These measurements provided energy-deposition spectra in silicon of 100, 600 and 1000 MeV/nucleon 12 C and 200 and 600 MeV/nucleon 48 Ti. The results have been compared to three Monte Carlo transport codes, namely PHITS, GEANT4 and FLUKA. Median, full width at half maximum (FWHM) and interquartile range (IQR) have been calculated for all datasets to characterize location, width and asymmetry of the energy-deposition spectra. Particular attention has been devoted to the influence of δ rays on the shape of the energy-deposition spectrum, both with the help of analytical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. The two approaches proved that, in this range of projectile charge, projectile energy and detector size, the leakage of secondary electrons might introduce a difference between the energy-loss and energy-deposition spectrum, in particular by changing the location, width and symmetry of the distribution. The overall agreement between the Monte Carlo predictions and the measurements is fair and makes PHITS, FLUKA and GEANT4 all possible candidates for simulating ALTEA-Space experiment.

Monte Carlo simulation of a photodisintegration of 3 H experiment in Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Isaiah

2013-10-01

An upcoming experiment involving photodisintegration of 3 H at the High Intensity Gamma-Ray Source facility at Duke University has been simulated in the software package Geant4. CAD models of silicon detectors and wire chambers were imported from Autodesk Inventor using the program FastRad and the Geant4 GDML importer. Sensitive detectors were associated with the appropriate logical volumes in the exported GDML file so that changes in detector geometry will be easily manifested in the simulation. Probability distribution functions for the energy and direction of outgoing protons were generated using numerical tables from previous theory, and energies and directions were sampled from these distributions using a rejection sampling algorithm. The simulation will be a useful tool to optimize detector geometry, estimate background rates, and test data analysis algorithms. This work was supported by the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory REU program at Duke University.

SU-E-T-05: Comparing DNA Strand Break Yields for Photons under Different Irradiation Conditions with Geant4-DNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Pater, P; Bernal, M; Naqa, I El; Seuntjens, J

2012-06-01

To validate and scrutinize published DNA strand break data with Geant4-DNA and a probabilistic model. To study the impact of source size, electronic equilibrium and secondary electron tracking cutoff on direct relative biological effectiveness (DRBE). Geant4 (v4.9.5) was used to simulate a cylindrical region of interest (ROI) with r = 15 nm and length = 1.05 mm, in a slab of liquid water of 1.06 g/cm 3 density. The ROI was irradiated with mono-energetic photons, with a uniformly distributed volumetric isotropic source (0.28, 1.5 keV) or a plane beam (0.662, 1.25 MeV), of variable size. Electrons were tracked down to 50 or 10 eV, with G4-DNA processes and energy transfer greater than 10.79 eV was scored. Based on volume ratios, each scored event had a 0.0388 probability of happening on either DNA helix (break). Clusters of at least one break on each DNA helix within 3.4 nm were found using a DBSCAN algorithm and categorized as double strand breaks (DSB). All other events were categorized as single strand breaks (SSB). Geant4-DNA is able to reproduce strand break yields previously published. Homogeneous irradiation conditions should be present throughout the ROI for DRBE comparisons. SSB yields seem slightly dependent on the primary photon energy. DRBEs show a significant increasing trend for lower energy incident photons. A lower electron cutoff produces higher SSB yields, but decreases the SSB/DSB yields ratio. The probabilistic and geometrical DNA models can predict equivalent results. Using Geant4, we were able to reproduce previously published results on the direct strand break yields of photon and study the importance of irradiation conditions. We also show an ascending trend for DRBE with lower incident photon energies. A probabilistic model coupled with track structure analysis can be used to simulate strand break yields. NSERC, CIHR. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Influence of thyroid volume reduction on absorbed dose in "1"3"1I therapy studied by using Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, Ziaur; Arshed, Waheed; Ahmed, Waheed; Mirza, Sikander M.; Mirza, Nasir M.

2014-01-01

A simulation study has been performed to quantify the effect of volume reduction on the thyroid absorbed dose per decay and to investigate the variation of energy deposition per decay due to β- and γ-activity of "1"3"1I with volume/mass of thyroid, for water, ICRP- and ICRU-soft tissue taken as thyroid material. A Monte Carlo model of the thyroid, in the Geant4 radiation transport simulation toolkit was constructed to compute the β- and γ-absorbed dose in the simulated thyroid phantom for various values of its volume. The effect of the size and shape of the thyroid on energy deposition per decay has also been studied by using spherical, ellipsoidal and cylindrical models for the thyroid and varying its volume in 1-25 cm"3 range. The relative differences of Geant4 results for different models with each other and MCNP results lie well below 1.870%. The maximum relative difference among the Geant4 estimated results for water with ICRP and ICRU soft tissues is not more than 0.225%. S-values for ellipsoidal, spherical and cylindrical thyroid models were estimated and the relative difference with published results lies within 3.095%. The absorbed fraction values for beta particles show a good agreement with published values within 2.105% deviation. The Geant4 based simulation results of absorbed fractions for gammas again show a good agreement with the corresponding MCNP and EGS4 results (± 6.667%) but have 29.032% higher values than that of MIRD calculated values. Consistent with previous studies, the reduction of the thyroid volume is found to have a substantial effect on the absorbed dose. Geant4 simulations confirm dose dependence on the volume/mass of thyroid in agreement with MCNP and EGS4 computed values but are substantially different from MIRD8 data. Therefore, inclusion of size/mass dependence is indicated for "1"3"1I radiotherapy of the thyroid. (authors)

Design and optimization of an energy degrader with a multi-wedge scheme based on Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Zhikai; Liu, Kaifeng; Qin, Bin; Chen, Wei; Liu, Xu; Li, Dong; Xiong, Yongqian

2018-05-01

A proton therapy facility based on an isochronous superconducting cyclotron is under construction in Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). To meet the clinical requirements, an energy degrader is essential in the beamline to modulate the fixed beam energy extracted from the cyclotron. Because of the multiple Coulomb scattering in the degrader, the beam emittance and the energy spread will be considerably increased during the energy degradation process. Therefore, a set of collimators is designed to restrict the increase in beam emittance after the energy degradation. The energy spread will be reduced in the following beam line which is not discussed in this paper. In this paper, the design considerations of an energy degrader and collimators are introduced, and the properties of the degrader material, degrader structure and the initial beam parameters are discussed using the Geant4 Monte-Carlo toolkit, with the main purpose of improving the overall performance of the degrader by multiple parameter optimization.

Refactoring, reengineering and evolution: paths to Geant4 uncertainty quantification and performance improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batič, M; Hoff, G; Pia, M G; Saracco, P; Begalli, M; Han, M; Kim, C H; Seo, H; Hauf, S; Kuster, M; Weidenspointner, G; Zoglauer, A

2012-01-01

Ongoing investigations for the improvement of Geant4 accuracy and computational performance resulting by refactoring and reengineering parts of the code are discussed. Issues in refactoring that are specific to the domain of physics simulation are identified and their impact is elucidated. Preliminary quantitative results are reported.

Analysis of GEANT4 Physics List Properties in the 12 GeV MOLLER Simulation Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Haufe, Christopher; Moller Collaboration

2013-10-01

To determine the validity of new physics beyond the scope of the electroweak theory, nuclear physicists across the globe have been collaborating on future endeavors that will provide the precision needed to confirm these speculations. One of these is the MOLLER experiment - a low-energy particle experiment that will utilize the 12 GeV upgrade of Jefferson Lab's CEBAF accelerator. The motivation of this experiment is to measure the parity-violating asymmetry of scattered polarized electrons off unpolarized electrons in a liquid hydrogen target. This measurement would allow for a more precise determination of the electron's weak charge and weak mixing angle. While still in its planning stages, the MOLLER experiment requires a detailed simulation framework in order to determine how the project should be run in the future. The simulation framework for MOLLER, called ``remoll'', is written in GEANT4 code. As a result, the simulation can utilize a number of GEANT4 coded physics lists that provide the simulation with a number of particle interaction constraints based off of different particle physics models. By comparing these lists with one another using the data-analysis application ROOT, the most optimal physics list for the MOLLER simulation can be determined and implemented. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 714001.

Geant4 and Fano cavity test: where are we?

CERN Document Server

Elles, S; Maire, M; Urbàn, L

2008-01-01

The electron transport algorithm implemented in Geant4 has been recently revised. The modifications concern several physics aspects of the simulation model: the step limitation, the energy loss along a step and the multiple scattering. The Fano cavity setup was used to test these developments. The upgrades increase significantly the accuracy of the electron transport simulation. The ratio of simulated to theoretical dose deposition in the cavity is stable to ~1% while varying several parameters and within ~1.5% of the expected value for water and graphite. Work is underway to identify and resolve the remaining shift.

Simulations of GCR interactions within planetary bodies using GEANT4

Science.gov (United States)

Mesick, K.; Feldman, W. C.; Stonehill, L. C.; Coupland, D. D. S.

2017-12-01

On planetary bodies with little to no atmosphere, Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) can hit the body and produce neutrons primarily through nuclear spallation within the top few meters of the surfaces. These neutrons undergo further nuclear interactions with elements near the planetary surface and some will escape the surface and can be detected by landed or orbiting neutron radiation detector instruments. The neutron leakage signal at fast neutron energies provides a measure of average atomic mass of the near-surface material and in the epithermal and thermal energy ranges is highly sensitive to the presence of hydrogen. Gamma-rays can also escape the surface, produced at characteristic energies depending on surface composition, and can be detected by gamma-ray instruments. The intra-nuclear cascade (INC) that occurs when high-energy GCRs interact with elements within a planetary surface to produce the leakage neutron and gamma-ray signals is highly complex, and therefore Monte Carlo based radiation transport simulations are commonly used for predicting and interpreting measurements from planetary neutron and gamma-ray spectroscopy instruments. In the past, the simulation code that has been widely used for this type of analysis is MCNPX [1], which was benchmarked against data from the Lunar Neutron Probe Experiment (LPNE) on Apollo 17 [2]. In this work, we consider the validity of the radiation transport code GEANT4 [3], another widely used but open-source code, by benchmarking simulated predictions of the LPNE experiment to the Apollo 17 data. We consider the impact of different physics model options on the results, and show which models best describe the INC based on agreement with the Apollo 17 data. The success of this validation then gives us confidence in using GEANT4 to simulate GCR-induced neutron leakage signals on Mars in relevance to a re-analysis of Mars Odyssey Neutron Spectrometer data. References [1] D.B. Pelowitz, Los Alamos National Laboratory, LA-CP-05

Diffusion-controlled reactions modeling in Geant4-DNA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karamitros, M., E-mail: matkara@gmail.com [CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); CNRS, INCIA, UMR 5287, F-33400 Talence (France); Luan, S. [University of New Mexico, Department of Computer Science, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Bernal, M.A. [Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil); Allison, J. [Geant4 Associates International Ltd (United Kingdom); Baldacchino, G. [CEA Saclay, IRAMIS, LIDYL, Radiation Physical Chemistry Group, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex (France); CNRS, UMR3299, SIS2M, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex (France); Davidkova, M. [Nuclear Physics Institute of the ASCR, Prague (Czech Republic); Francis, Z. [Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics, Mkalles, Beirut (Lebanon); Friedland, W. [Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Radiation Protection, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg (Germany); Ivantchenko, V. [Ecoanalytica, 119899 Moscow (Russian Federation); Geant4 Associates International Ltd (United Kingdom); Ivantchenko, A. [Geant4 Associates International Ltd (United Kingdom); Mantero, A. [SwHaRD s.r.l., via Buccari 9, 16153 Genova (Italy); Nieminem, P.; Santin, G. [ESA-ESTEC, 2200 AG Noordwijk (Netherlands); Tran, H.N. [Division of Nuclear Physics and Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Stepan, V. [CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); Nuclear Physics Institute of the ASCR, Prague (Czech Republic); Incerti, S., E-mail: incerti@cenbg.in2p3.fr [CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France)

2014-10-01

Context Under irradiation, a biological system undergoes a cascade of chemical reactions that can lead to an alteration of its normal operation. There are different types of radiation and many competing reactions. As a result the kinetics of chemical species is extremely complex. The simulation becomes then a powerful tool which, by describing the basic principles of chemical reactions, can reveal the dynamics of the macroscopic system. To understand the dynamics of biological systems under radiation, since the 80s there have been on-going efforts carried out by several research groups to establish a mechanistic model that consists in describing all the physical, chemical and biological phenomena following the irradiation of single cells. This approach is generally divided into a succession of stages that follow each other in time: (1) the physical stage, where the ionizing particles interact directly with the biological material; (2) the physico-chemical stage, where the targeted molecules release their energy by dissociating, creating new chemical species; (3) the chemical stage, where the new chemical species interact with each other or with the biomolecules; (4) the biological stage, where the repairing mechanisms of the cell come into play. This article focuses on the modeling of the chemical stage. Method This article presents a general method of speeding-up chemical reaction simulations in fluids based on the Smoluchowski equation and Monte-Carlo methods, where all molecules are explicitly simulated and the solvent is treated as a continuum. The model describes diffusion-controlled reactions. This method has been implemented in Geant4-DNA. The keys to the new algorithm include: (1) the combination of a method to compute time steps dynamically with a Brownian bridge process to account for chemical reactions, which avoids costly fixed time step simulations; (2) a k–d tree data structure for quickly locating, for a given molecule, its closest reactants. The

GeantV: from CPU to accelerators

Science.gov (United States)

Amadio, G.; Ananya, A.; Apostolakis, J.; Arora, A.; Bandieramonte, M.; Bhattacharyya, A.; Bianchini, C.; Brun, R.; Canal, P.; Carminati, F.; Duhem, L.; Elvira, D.; Gheata, A.; Gheata, M.; Goulas, I.; Iope, R.; Jun, S.; Lima, G.; Mohanty, A.; Nikitina, T.; Novak, M.; Pokorski, W.; Ribon, A.; Sehgal, R.; Shadura, O.; Vallecorsa, S.; Wenzel, S.; Zhang, Y.

2016-10-01

The GeantV project aims to research and develop the next-generation simulation software describing the passage of particles through matter. While the modern CPU architectures are being targeted first, resources such as GPGPU, Intel© Xeon Phi, Atom or ARM cannot be ignored anymore by HEP CPU-bound applications. The proof of concept GeantV prototype has been mainly engineered for CPU's having vector units but we have foreseen from early stages a bridge to arbitrary accelerators. A software layer consisting of architecture/technology specific backends supports currently this concept. This approach allows to abstract out the basic types such as scalar/vector but also to formalize generic computation kernels using transparently library or device specific constructs based on Vc, CUDA, Cilk+ or Intel intrinsics. While the main goal of this approach is portable performance, as a bonus, it comes with the insulation of the core application and algorithms from the technology layer. This allows our application to be long term maintainable and versatile to changes at the backend side. The paper presents the first results of basket-based GeantV geometry navigation on the Intel© Xeon Phi KNC architecture. We present the scalability and vectorization study, conducted using Intel performance tools, as well as our preliminary conclusions on the use of accelerators for GeantV transport. We also describe the current work and preliminary results for using the GeantV transport kernel on GPUs.

GeantV: from CPU to accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amadio, G; Bianchini, C; Iope, R; Ananya, A; Arora, A; Apostolakis, J; Bandieramonte, M; Brun, R; Carminati, F; Gheata, A; Gheata, M; Goulas, I; Nikitina, T; Bhattacharyya, A; Mohanty, A; Canal, P; Elvira, D; Jun, S; Lima, G; Duhem, L

2016-01-01

The GeantV project aims to research and develop the next-generation simulation software describing the passage of particles through matter. While the modern CPU architectures are being targeted first, resources such as GPGPU, Intel© Xeon Phi, Atom or ARM cannot be ignored anymore by HEP CPU-bound applications. The proof of concept GeantV prototype has been mainly engineered for CPU's having vector units but we have foreseen from early stages a bridge to arbitrary accelerators. A software layer consisting of architecture/technology specific backends supports currently this concept. This approach allows to abstract out the basic types such as scalar/vector but also to formalize generic computation kernels using transparently library or device specific constructs based on Vc, CUDA, Cilk+ or Intel intrinsics. While the main goal of this approach is portable performance, as a bonus, it comes with the insulation of the core application and algorithms from the technology layer. This allows our application to be long term maintainable and versatile to changes at the backend side. The paper presents the first results of basket-based GeantV geometry navigation on the Intel© Xeon Phi KNC architecture. We present the scalability and vectorization study, conducted using Intel performance tools, as well as our preliminary conclusions on the use of accelerators for GeantV transport. We also describe the current work and preliminary results for using the GeantV transport kernel on GPUs. (paper)

Muon Telescope (MuTe): A first study using Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Asorey, H.; Balaguera-Rojas, A.; Calderon-Ardila, R.; Núñez, L. A.; Sanabria-Gómez, J. D.; Súarez-Durán, M.; Tapia, A.

2017-07-01

Muon tomography is based on recording the difference of absorption of muons by matter, as ordinary radiography does for using X-rays. The interaction of cosmic rays with the atmosphere produces extensive air showers which provides an abundant source for atmospheric muons, benefiting various applications of muon tomography, particularly the study of the inner structure of volcanoes. The MuTe (for Muon Telescope) is a hybrid detector composed of scintillation bars and a water Cherenkov detector designed to measure cosmic muon flux crossing volcanic edifices. This detector consists of two scintillator plates (1.44 m2 with 30 x 30 pixels), with a maximum distance of 2.0m of separation. In this work we report the first simulation of the MuTe using GEANT4 -set of simulation tools, based in C++ - that provides information about the interaction between radiation and matter. This computational tool allows us to know the energy deposited by the muons and modeling the response of the scintillators and the water cherenkov detector to the passage of radiation which is crucial to compare to our data analysis.

The effects of nuclear data library processing on Geant4 and MCNP simulations of the thermal neutron scattering law

Science.gov (United States)

Hartling, K.; Ciungu, B.; Li, G.; Bentoumi, G.; Sur, B.

2018-05-01

Monte Carlo codes such as MCNP and Geant4 rely on a combination of physics models and evaluated nuclear data files (ENDF) to simulate the transport of neutrons through various materials and geometries. The grid representation used to represent the final-state scattering energies and angles associated with neutron scattering interactions can significantly affect the predictions of these codes. In particular, the default thermal scattering libraries used by MCNP6.1 and Geant4.10.3 do not accurately reproduce the ENDF/B-VII.1 model in simulations of the double-differential cross section for thermal neutrons interacting with hydrogen nuclei in a thin layer of water. However, agreement between model and simulation can be achieved within the statistical error by re-processing ENDF/B-VII.I thermal scattering libraries with the NJOY code. The structure of the thermal scattering libraries and sampling algorithms in MCNP and Geant4 are also reviewed.

Simulation and modeling for the stand-off radiation detection system (SORDS) using GEANT4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoover, Andrew S [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Wallace, Mark [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Galassi, Mark [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Mocko, Michal [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Palmer, David [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Schultz, Larry [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Tornga, Shawn [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-01-01

A Stand-Off Radiation Detection System (SORDS) is being developed through a joint effort by Raytheon, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bubble Technology Industries, Radiation Monitoring Devices, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO). The system is a mobile truck-based platform performing detection, imaging, and spectroscopic identification of gamma-ray sources. A Tri-Modal Imaging (TMI) approach combines active-mask coded aperture imaging, Compton imaging, and shadow imaging techniques. Monte Carlo simulation and modeling using the GEANT4 toolkit was used to generate realistic data for the development of imaging algorithms and associated software code.

Performance of Geant4 in simulating semiconductor particle detector response in the energy range below 1 MeV

Science.gov (United States)

Soti, G.; Wauters, F.; Breitenfeldt, M.; Finlay, P.; Kraev, I. S.; Knecht, A.; Porobić, T.; Zákoucký, D.; Severijns, N.

2013-11-01

Geant4 simulations play a crucial role in the analysis and interpretation of experiments providing low energy precision tests of the Standard Model. This paper focuses on the accuracy of the description of the electron processes in the energy range between 100 and 1000 keV. The effect of the different simulation parameters and multiple scattering models on the backscattering coefficients is investigated. Simulations of the response of HPGe and passivated implanted planar Si detectors to β particles are compared to experimental results. An overall good agreement is found between Geant4 simulations and experimental data.

R and D on co-working transport schemes in Geant4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pia, M G; Saracco, P; Sudhakar, M [INFN Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova (Italy); Zoglauer, A [University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450 (United States); Augelli, M [CNES, 18 Av. Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse (France); Gargioni, E [University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, D-20246 Hamburg (Germany); Kim, C H [Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Quintieri, L [INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 40, I-00044 Frascati (Italy); Filho, P P de Queiroz; Santos, D de Souza [IRD, Av. Salvador Allende, s/n. 22780-160, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Weidenspointner, G [MPI Halbleiterlabor, Otto-Hahn-Ring 6, D-81739 Muenchen (Germany); Begalli, M, E-mail: mariagrazia.pia@ge.infn.i [UERJ, R. Sao Francisco Xavier, 524. 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2010-04-01

A research and development (R and D) project related to the extension of the Geant4 toolkit has been recently launched to address fundamental methods in radiation transport simulation. The project focuses on simulation at different scales in the same experimental environment; this problem requires new methods across the current boundaries of condensed-random-walk and discrete transport schemes. The new developments have been motivated by experimental requirements in various domains, including nanodosimetry, astronomy and detector developments for high energy physics applications.

Assessment of Geant4 Maintainability with respect to software engineering references

Science.gov (United States)

Ronchieri, Elisabetta; Grazia Pia, Maria; Canaparo, Marco

2017-10-01

Over time computer scientists have been provided metrics to measure software maintainability. In existing literature, a large number of references can be found about this topic; nevertheless, a lack of quantitative assessment of maintainability metrics has been observed. In this paper, we summarize the challenges of adopting code measurements in the context of physics software system. In this pilot study, we have used Geant4 - a twenty-year-old software system - to conduct this research and set the grounds for further discussion.

Efficient voxel navigation for proton therapy dose calculation in TOPAS and Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Schümann, J.; Paganetti, H.; Shin, J.; Faddegon, B.; Perl, J.

2012-06-01

A key task within all Monte Carlo particle transport codes is ‘navigation’, the calculation to determine at each particle step what volume the particle may be leaving and what volume the particle may be entering. Navigation should be optimized to the specific geometry at hand. For patient dose calculation, this geometry generally involves voxelized computed tomography (CT) data. We investigated the efficiency of navigation algorithms on currently available voxel geometry parameterizations in the Monte Carlo simulation package Geant4: G4VPVParameterisation, G4VNestedParameterisation and G4PhantomParameterisation, the last with and without boundary skipping, a method where neighboring voxels with the same Hounsfield unit are combined into one larger voxel. A fourth parameterization approach (MGHParameterization), developed in-house before the latter two parameterizations became available in Geant4, was also included in this study. All simulations were performed using TOPAS, a tool for particle simulations layered on top of Geant4. Runtime comparisons were made on three distinct patient CT data sets: a head and neck, a liver and a prostate patient. We included an additional version of these three patients where all voxels, including the air voxels outside of the patient, were uniformly set to water in the runtime study. The G4VPVParameterisation offers two optimization options. One option has a 60-150 times slower simulation speed. The other is compatible in speed but requires 15-19 times more memory compared to the other parameterizations. We found the average CPU time used for the simulation relative to G4VNestedParameterisation to be 1.014 for G4PhantomParameterisation without boundary skipping and 1.015 for MGHParameterization. The average runtime ratio for G4PhantomParameterisation with and without boundary skipping for our heterogeneous data was equal to 0.97: 1. The calculated dose distributions agreed with the reference distribution for all but the G4

CPU time optimization and precise adjustment of the Geant4 physics parameters for a VARIAN 2100 C/D gamma radiotherapy linear accelerator simulation using GAMOS

Science.gov (United States)

Arce, Pedro; Lagares, Juan Ignacio

2018-02-01

We have verified the GAMOS/Geant4 simulation model of a 6 MV VARIAN Clinac 2100 C/D linear accelerator by the procedure of adjusting the initial beam parameters to fit the percentage depth dose and cross-profile dose experimental data at different depths in a water phantom. Thanks to the use of a wide range of field sizes, from 2  ×  2 cm2 to 40  ×  40 cm2, a small phantom voxel size and high statistics, fine precision in the determination of the beam parameters has been achieved. This precision has allowed us to make a thorough study of the different physics models and parameters that Geant4 offers. The three Geant4 electromagnetic physics sets of models, i.e. Standard, Livermore and Penelope, have been compared to the experiment, testing the four different models of angular bremsstrahlung distributions as well as the three available multiple-scattering models, and optimizing the most relevant Geant4 electromagnetic physics parameters. Before the fitting, a comprehensive CPU time optimization has been done, using several of the Geant4 efficiency improvement techniques plus a few more developed in GAMOS.

An Overview of the Geant4 Toolkit

CERN Document Server

Apostolakis, John

2007-01-01

Geant4 is a toolkit for the simulation of the transport of radiation trough matter. With a flexible kernel and choices between different physics modeling choices, it has been tailored to the requirements of a wide range of applications. With the toolkit a user can describe a setup's or detector's geometry and materials, navigate inside it, simulate the physical interactions using a choice of physics engines, underlying physics cross-sections and models, visualise and store results. Physics models describing electromagnetic and hadronic interactions are provided, as are decays and processes for optical photons. Several models, with different precision and performance are available for many processes. The toolkit includes coherent physics model configurations, which are called physics lists. Users can choose an existing physics list or create their own, depending on their requirements and the application area. A clear structure and readable code, enable the user to investigate the origin of physics results. App...

The generation of absorbed dose profiles of proton beam in water using Geant4 code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christovao, Marilia T.; Campos, Tarcisio Passos R. de

2007-01-01

The present article approaches simulations on the proton beam radiation therapy, using an application based on the code GEANT4, with Open GL as a visualization drive and JAS3 (Java Analysis Studio) analysis data tools systems, implementing the AIDA interfaces. The proton radiotherapy is adapted to treat cancer or other benign tumors that are close to sensitive structures, since it allows precise irradiation of the target with high doses, while the health tissues adjacent to vital organs and tissues are preserved, due to physical property of dose profile. GEANT4 is a toolkit for simulating the transport of particles through matter, in complex geometries. Taking advantage of the object-oriented project features, the user can adapt or extend the tool in all domain, due to the flexibility of the code, providing a subroutine's group for materials definition, geometries and particles properties in agreement with the user's needs to generate the Monte Carlo simulation. In this paper, the parameters of beam line used in the simulation possess adjustment elements, such as: the range shifter, composition and dimension; the beam line, energy, intensity, length, according with physic processes applied. The simulation result is the depth dose profiles on water, dependent on the various incident beam energy. Starting from those profiles, one can define appropriate conditions for proton radiotherapy in ocular region. (author)

Simulation of Auger electron emission from nanometer-size gold targets using the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Incerti, S., E-mail: sebastien.incerti@tdt.edu.vn [Division of Nuclear Physics, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Univ. Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); Suerfu, B.; Xu, J. [Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (United States); Ivantchenko, V. [Ecoanalytica, Moscow (Russian Federation); Geant4 Associates International Ltd, Hebden Bridge (United Kingdom); Mantero, A. [SWHARD srl, via Greto di Cornigliano 6r, 16152 Genova (Italy); Brown, J.M.C. [School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom); Bernal, M.A. [Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil); Francis, Z. [Université Saint Joseph, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics, Beirut (Lebanon); Karamitros, M. [Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (United States); Tran, H.N. [Division of Nuclear Physics, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam)

2016-04-01

A revised atomic deexcitation framework for the Geant4 general purpose Monte Carlo toolkit capable of simulating full Auger deexcitation cascades was implemented in June 2015 release (version 10.2 Beta). An overview of this refined framework and testing of its capabilities is presented for the irradiation of gold nanoparticles (NP) with keV photon and MeV proton beams. The resultant energy spectra of secondary particles created within and that escape the NP are analyzed and discussed. It is anticipated that this new functionality will improve and increase the use of Geant4 in the medical physics, radiobiology, nanomedicine research and other low energy physics fields.

Monte carlo simulations of the n_TOF lead spallation target with the Geant4 toolkit: A benchmark study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lerendegui-Marco J.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Monte Carlo (MC simulations are an essential tool to determine fundamental features of a neutron beam, such as the neutron flux or the γ-ray background, that sometimes can not be measured or at least not in every position or energy range. Until recently, the most widely used MC codes in this field had been MCNPX and FLUKA. However, the Geant4 toolkit has also become a competitive code for the transport of neutrons after the development of the native Geant4 format for neutron data libraries, G4NDL. In this context, we present the Geant4 simulations of the neutron spallation target of the n_TOF facility at CERN, done with version 10.1.1 of the toolkit. The first goal was the validation of the intra-nuclear cascade models implemented in the code using, as benchmark, the characteristics of the neutron beam measured at the first experimental area (EAR1, especially the neutron flux and energy distribution, and the time distribution of neutrons of equal kinetic energy, the so-called Resolution Function. The second goal was the development of a Monte Carlo tool aimed to provide useful calculations for both the analysis and planning of the upcoming measurements at the new experimental area (EAR2 of the facility.

Monte carlo simulations of the n_TOF lead spallation target with the Geant4 toolkit: A benchmark study

Science.gov (United States)

Lerendegui-Marco, J.; Cortés-Giraldo, M. A.; Guerrero, C.; Quesada, J. M.; Meo, S. Lo; Massimi, C.; Barbagallo, M.; Colonna, N.; Mancussi, D.; Mingrone, F.; Sabaté-Gilarte, M.; Vannini, G.; Vlachoudis, V.; Aberle, O.; Andrzejewski, J.; Audouin, L.; Bacak, M.; Balibrea, J.; Bečvář, F.; Berthoumieux, E.; Billowes, J.; Bosnar, D.; Brown, A.; Caamaño, M.; Calviño, F.; Calviani, M.; Cano-Ott, D.; Cardella, R.; Casanovas, A.; Cerutti, F.; Chen, Y. H.; Chiaveri, E.; Cortés, G.; Cosentino, L.; Damone, L. A.; Diakaki, M.; Domingo-Pardo, C.; Dressler, R.; Dupont, E.; Durán, I.; Fernández-Domínguez, B.; Ferrari, A.; Ferreira, P.; Finocchiaro, P.; Göbel, K.; Gómez-Hornillos, M. B.; García, A. R.; Gawlik, A.; Gilardoni, S.; Glodariu, T.; Gonçalves, I. F.; González, E.; Griesmayer, E.; Gunsing, F.; Harada, H.; Heinitz, S.; Heyse, J.; Jenkins, D. G.; Jericha, E.; Käppeler, F.; Kadi, Y.; Kalamara, A.; Kavrigin, P.; Kimura, A.; Kivel, N.; Kokkoris, M.; Krtička, M.; Kurtulgil, D.; Leal-Cidoncha, E.; Lederer, C.; Leeb, H.; Lonsdale, S. J.; Macina, D.; Marganiec, J.; Martínez, T.; Masi, A.; Mastinu, P.; Mastromarco, M.; Maugeri, E. A.; Mazzone, A.; Mendoza, E.; Mengoni, A.; Milazzo, P. M.; Musumarra, A.; Negret, A.; Nolte, R.; Oprea, A.; Patronis, N.; Pavlik, A.; Perkowski, J.; Porras, I.; Praena, J.; Radeck, D.; Rauscher, T.; Reifarth, R.; Rout, P. C.; Rubbia, C.; Ryan, J. A.; Saxena, A.; Schillebeeckx, P.; Schumann, D.; Smith, A. G.; Sosnin, N. V.; Stamatopoulos, A.; Tagliente, G.; Tain, J. L.; Tarifeño-Saldivia, A.; Tassan-Got, L.; Valenta, S.; Variale, V.; Vaz, P.; Ventura, A.; Vlastou, R.; Wallner, A.; Warren, S.; Woods, P. J.; Wright, T.; Žugec, P.

2017-09-01

Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are an essential tool to determine fundamental features of a neutron beam, such as the neutron flux or the γ-ray background, that sometimes can not be measured or at least not in every position or energy range. Until recently, the most widely used MC codes in this field had been MCNPX and FLUKA. However, the Geant4 toolkit has also become a competitive code for the transport of neutrons after the development of the native Geant4 format for neutron data libraries, G4NDL. In this context, we present the Geant4 simulations of the neutron spallation target of the n_TOF facility at CERN, done with version 10.1.1 of the toolkit. The first goal was the validation of the intra-nuclear cascade models implemented in the code using, as benchmark, the characteristics of the neutron beam measured at the first experimental area (EAR1), especially the neutron flux and energy distribution, and the time distribution of neutrons of equal kinetic energy, the so-called Resolution Function. The second goal was the development of a Monte Carlo tool aimed to provide useful calculations for both the analysis and planning of the upcoming measurements at the new experimental area (EAR2) of the facility.

Characterization of low energy radioactive beams using direct reactions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, J.G.; Fraser, M.A.; Bildstein, V.

2013-01-01

We demonstrate a new technique to determine the beam structure of low energy radioactive beams using coincidence events from a direct reaction. The technique will be described and tested using Geant4 simulations. We use the technique to determine for the first time the width, divergence and energy...

Use of SRIM and Garfield with Geant4 for the characterization of a hybrid 10B/3He neutron detector

Science.gov (United States)

van der Ende, B. M.; Rand, E. T.; Erlandson, A.; Li, L.

2018-06-01

This paper describes a method for more complete neutron detector characterization using Geant4's Monte Carlo methods for characterizing overall detector response rate and Garfield interfaced with SRIM for the simulation of the detector's raw pulses, as applied to a hybrid 10B/3He detector. The Geant4 models characterizing the detector's interaction with a 252Cf point source and parallel beams of mono-energetic neutrons (assuming ISO 8529 reference energy values) compare and agree well with calibrated 252Cf measurements to within 6.4%. Validated Geant4 model outputs serve as input to Garfield+SRIM calculations to provide meaningful pulse height spectra. Modifications to Garfield for this work were necessary to account for simultaneous tracking of electrons resulting from proton and triton reaction products from a single 3He neutron capture event, and it was further necessary to interface Garfield with the energy loss, range, and straggling calculations provided by SRIM. Individual raw pulses generated by Garfield+SRIM are also observed to agree well with experimentally measured raw pulses from the detector.

SU-E-T-521: Investigation of the Uncertainties Involved in Secondary Neutron/gamma Production in Geant4/MCNP6 Monte Carlo Codes for Proton Therapy Application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirzakhanian, L; Enger, S; Giusti, V

2015-01-01

Purpose: A major concern in proton therapy is the production of secondary neutrons causing secondary cancers, especially in young adults and children. Most utilized Monte Carlo codes in proton therapy are Geant4 and MCNP. However, the default versions of Geant4 and MCNP6 do not have suitable cross sections or physical models to properly handle secondary particle production in proton energy ranges used for therapy. In this study, default versions of Geant4 and MCNP6 were modified to better handle production of secondaries by adding the TENDL-2012 cross-section library. Methods: In-water proton depth-dose was measured at the “The Svedberg Laboratory” in Uppsala (Sweden). The proton beam was mono-energetic with mean energy of 178.25±0.2 MeV. The measurement set-up was simulated by Geant4 version 10.00 (default and modified version) and MCNP6. Proton depth-dose, primary and secondary particle fluence and neutron equivalent dose were calculated. In case of Geant4, the secondary particle fluence was filtered by all the physics processes to identify the main process responsible for the difference between the default and modified version. Results: The proton depth-dose curves and primary proton fluence show a good agreement between both Geant4 versions and MCNP6. With respect to the modified version, default Geant4 underestimates the production of secondary neutrons while overestimates that of gammas. The “ProtonInElastic” process was identified as the main responsible process for the difference between the two versions. MCNP6 shows higher neutron production and lower gamma production than both Geant4 versions. Conclusion: Despite the good agreement on the proton depth dose curve and primary proton fluence, there is a significant discrepancy on secondary neutron production between MCNP6 and both versions of Geant4. Further studies are thus in order to find the possible cause of this discrepancy or more accurate cross-sections/models to handle the nuclear

Validation of a virtual source model of medical linac for Monte Carlo dose calculation using multi-threaded Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Aboulbanine, Zakaria; El Khayati, Naïma

2018-04-01

The use of phase space in medical linear accelerator Monte Carlo (MC) simulations significantly improves the execution time and leads to results comparable to those obtained from full calculations. The classical representation of phase space stores directly the information of millions of particles, producing bulky files. This paper presents a virtual source model (VSM) based on a reconstruction algorithm, taking as input a compressed file of roughly 800 kb derived from phase space data freely available in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) database. This VSM includes two main components; primary and scattered particle sources, with a specific reconstruction method developed for each. Energy spectra and other relevant variables were extracted from IAEA phase space and stored in the input description data file for both sources. The VSM was validated for three photon beams: Elekta Precise 6 MV/10 MV and a Varian TrueBeam 6 MV. Extensive calculations in water and comparisons between dose distributions of the VSM and IAEA phase space were performed to estimate the VSM precision. The Geant4 MC toolkit in multi-threaded mode (Geant4-[mt]) was used for fast dose calculations and optimized memory use. Four field configurations were chosen for dose calculation validation to test field size and symmetry effects, , , and for squared fields, and for an asymmetric rectangular field. Good agreement in terms of formalism, for 3%/3 mm and 2%/3 mm criteria, for each evaluated radiation field and photon beam was obtained within a computation time of 60 h on a single WorkStation for a 3 mm voxel matrix. Analyzing the VSM’s precision in high dose gradient regions, using the distance to agreement concept (DTA), showed also satisfactory results. In all investigated cases, the mean DTA was less than 1 mm in build-up and penumbra regions. In regards to calculation efficiency, the event processing speed is six times faster using Geant4-[mt] compared to sequential

Modeling of a cyclotron target for the production of 11C with Geant4.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiappiniello, Andrea; Zagni, Federico; Infantino, Angelo; Vichi, Sara; Cicoria, Gianfranco; Morigi, Maria Pia; Marengo, Mario

2018-04-12

In medical cyclotron facilities, 11C is produced according to the 14N(p,α)11C reaction and widely employed in studies of prostate and brain cancers by Positron Emission Tomography. It is known from literature [1] that the 11C-target assembly shows a reduction in efficiency during time, meaning a decrease of activity produced at the end of bombardment. This effect might depend on aspects still not completely known. Possible causes of the loss of performance of the 11C-target assembly were addressed by Monte Carlo simulations. Geant4 was used to model the 11C-target assembly of a GE PETtrace cyclotron. The physical and transport parameters to be used in the energy range of medical applications were extracted from literature data and 11C routine productions. The Monte Carlo assessment of 11C saturation yield was performed varying several parameters such as the proton energy and the angle of the target assembly with respect to the proton beam. The estimated 11C saturation yield is in agreement with IAEA data at the energy of interest, while is about the 35% greater than experimental value. A more comprehensive modeling of the target system, including thermodynamic effect, is required. The energy absorbed in the inner layer of the target chamber was up to 46.5 J/mm2 under typical irradiation conditions. This study shows that Geant4 is potentially a useful tool to design and optimize targetry for PET radionuclide productions. Tests to choose the Geant4 physics libraries should be performed before using this tool with different energies and materials. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

SU-E-T-347: Validation of the Condensed History Algorithm of Geant4 Using the Fano Test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, H; Mathis, M; Sawakuchi, G

2014-01-01

Purpose: To validate the condensed history algorithm and physics of the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit for simulations of ionization chambers (ICs). This study is the first step to validate Geant4 for calculations of photon beam quality correction factors under the presence of a strong magnetic field for magnetic resonance guided linac system applications. Methods: The electron transport and boundary crossing algorithms of Geant4 version 9.6.p02 were tested under Fano conditions using the Geant4 example/application FanoCavity. User-defined parameters of the condensed history and multiple scattering algorithms were investigated under Fano test conditions for three scattering models (physics lists): G4UrbanMscModel95 (PhysListEmStandard-option3), G4GoudsmitSaundersonMsc (PhysListEmStandard-GS), and G4WentzelVIModel/G4CoulombScattering (PhysListEmStandard-WVI). Simulations were conducted using monoenergetic photon beams, ranging from 0.5 to 7 MeV and emphasizing energies from 0.8 to 3 MeV. Results: The GS and WVI physics lists provided consistent Fano test results (within ±0.5%) for maximum step sizes under 0.01 mm at 1.25 MeV, with improved performance at 3 MeV (within ±0.25%). The option3 physics list provided consistent Fano test results (within ±0.5%) for maximum step sizes above 1 mm. Optimal parameters for the option3 physics list were 10 km maximum step size with default values for other user-defined parameters: 0.2 dRoverRange, 0.01 mm final range, 0.04 range factor, 2.5 geometrical factor, and 1 skin. Simulations using the option3 physics list were ∼70 – 100 times faster compared to GS and WVI under optimal parameters. Conclusion: This work indicated that the option3 physics list passes the Fano test within ±0.5% when using a maximum step size of 10 km for energies suitable for IC calculations in a 6 MV spectrum without extensive computational times. Optimal user-defined parameters using the option3 physics list will be used in future IC simulations to

BRDF profile of Tyvek and its implementation in the Geant4 simulation toolkit.

Science.gov (United States)

Nozka, Libor; Pech, Miroslav; Hiklova, Helena; Mandat, Dusan; Hrabovsky, Miroslav; Schovanek, Petr; Palatka, Miroslav

2011-02-28

Diffuse and specular characteristics of the Tyvek 1025-BL material are reported with respect to their implementation in the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit. This toolkit incorporates the UNIFIED model. Coefficients defined by the UNIFIED model were calculated from the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) profiles measured with a scatterometer for several angles of incidence. Results were amended with profile measurements made by a profilometer.

Implementation of a model in Geant4 of an accelerator on Cloudmc, a Web application for the parallelization of Monte Carlo simulations in the Cloud; Implementacion de un modelo en Geant4 de un acelerador en Cloudmc, una aplicacion Web para la paralelizacion de simulaciones Monte Carlo en la nube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miras del Rio, H.; Jimenez Marrufo, R.; Cortes Giraldo, M. A.; Miras del Rio, C.

2013-07-01

This paper describes the implementation in CloudMC of a simulation program MC, based on the code of Geant4, a Siemens Accelerator model Oncor with the intention that in future can be used for calculation of radiation treatments with MC in short periods of time. (Author)

Automatic modeling for the Monte Carlo transport code Geant4 in MCAM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nie Fanzhi; Hu Liqin; Wang Guozhong; Wang Dianxi; Wu Yican; Wang Dong; Long Pengcheng; FDS Team

2014-01-01

Geant4 is a widely used Monte Carlo transport simulation package. Its geometry models could be described in geometry description markup language (GDML), but it is time-consuming and error-prone to describe the geometry models manually. This study implemented the conversion between computer-aided design (CAD) geometry models and GDML models. The conversion program was integrated into Multi-Physics Coupling Analysis Modeling Program (MCAM). The tests, including FDS-Ⅱ model, demonstrated its accuracy and feasibility. (authors)

Comparison of electromagnetic and hadronic models generated using Geant 4 with antiproton dose measured in CERN.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavakoli, Mohammad Bagher; Reiazi, Reza; Mohammadi, Mohammad Mehdi; Jabbari, Keyvan

2015-01-01

After proposing the idea of antiproton cancer treatment in 1984 many experiments were launched to investigate different aspects of physical and radiobiological properties of antiproton, which came from its annihilation reactions. One of these experiments has been done at the European Organization for Nuclear Research known as CERN using the antiproton decelerator. The ultimate goal of this experiment was to assess the dosimetric and radiobiological properties of beams of antiprotons in order to estimate the suitability of antiprotons for radiotherapy. One difficulty on this way was the unavailability of antiproton beam in CERN for a long time, so the verification of Monte Carlo codes to simulate antiproton depth dose could be useful. Among available simulation codes, Geant4 provides acceptable flexibility and extensibility, which progressively lead to the development of novel Geant4 applications in research domains, especially modeling the biological effects of ionizing radiation at the sub-cellular scale. In this study, the depth dose corresponding to CERN antiproton beam energy by Geant4 recruiting all the standard physics lists currently available and benchmarked for other use cases were calculated. Overall, none of the standard physics lists was able to draw the antiproton percentage depth dose. Although, with some models our results were promising, the Bragg peak level remained as the point of concern for our study. It is concluded that the Bertini model with high precision neutron tracking (QGSP_BERT_HP) is the best to match the experimental data though it is also the slowest model to simulate events among the physics lists.

A COMPUTER CLUSTER SYSTEM FOR PSEUDO-PARALLEL EXECUTION OF GEANT4 SERIAL APPLICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Memmo Federici

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Simulation of the interactions between particles and matter in studies for developing X-rays detectors generally requires very long calculation times (up to several days or weeks. These times are often a serious limitation for the success of the simulations and for the accuracy of the simulated models. One of the tools used by the scientific community to perform these simulations is Geant4 (Geometry And Tracking [2, 3]. On the best of experience in the design of the AVES cluster computing system, Federici et al. [1], the IAPS (Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali INAF laboratories were able to develop a cluster computer system dedicated to Geant 4. The Cluster is easy to use and easily expandable, and thanks to the design criteria adopted it achieves an excellent compromise between performance and cost. The management software developed for the Cluster splits the single instance of simulation on the cores available, allowing the use of software written for serial computation to reach a computing speed similar to that obtainable from a native parallel software. The simulations carried out on the Cluster showed an increase in execution time by a factor of 20 to 60 compared to the times obtained with the use of a single PC of medium quality.

Efficiency corrections in determining the 137Cs inventory of environmental soil samples by using relative measurement method and GEANT4 simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Gang; Liang, Yongfei; Xu, Jiayun; Bai, Lixin

2015-01-01

The determination of 137 Cs inventory is widely used to estimate the soil erosion or deposition rate. The generally used method to determine the activity of volumetric samples is the relative measurement method, which employs a calibration standard sample with accurately known activity. This method has great advantages in accuracy and operation only when there is a small difference in elemental composition, sample density and geometry between measuring samples and the calibration standard. Otherwise it needs additional efficiency corrections in the calculating process. The Monte Carlo simulations can handle these correction problems easily with lower financial cost and higher accuracy. This work presents a detailed description to the simulation and calibration procedure for a conventionally used commercial P-type coaxial HPGe detector with cylindrical sample geometry. The effects of sample elemental composition, density and geometry were discussed in detail and calculated in terms of efficiency correction factors. The effect of sample placement was also analyzed, the results indicate that the radioactive nuclides and sample density are not absolutely uniform distributed along the axial direction. At last, a unified binary quadratic functional relationship of efficiency correction factors as a function of sample density and height was obtained by the least square fitting method. This function covers the sample density and height range of 0.8–1.8 g/cm 3 and 3.0–7.25 cm, respectively. The efficiency correction factors calculated by the fitted function are in good agreement with those obtained by the GEANT4 simulations with the determination coefficient value greater than 0.9999. The results obtained in this paper make the above-mentioned relative measurements more accurate and efficient in the routine radioactive analysis of environmental cylindrical soil samples. - Highlights: • Determination of 137 Cs inventory in environmental soil samples by using relative

Nuclear fragmentation reactions in extended media studied with Geant4 toolkit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pshenichnov, Igor, E-mail: pshenich@fias.uni-frankfurt.d [Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, J.-W. Goethe University, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Science, 117312 Moscow (Russian Federation); Botvina, Alexander [Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, J.-W. Goethe University, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Science, 117312 Moscow (Russian Federation); Mishustin, Igor [Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, J.-W. Goethe University, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Kurchatov Institute, Russian Research Center, 123182 Moscow (Russian Federation); Greiner, Walter [Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, J.-W. Goethe University, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

2010-03-15

It is well-known from numerous experiments that nuclear multifragmentation is a dominating mechanism for production of intermediate mass fragments in nucleus-nucleus collisions at energies above 100AMeV. In this paper we investigate the validity and performance of the Fermi break-up model and the statistical multifragmentation model implemented as parts of the Geant4 toolkit. We study the impact of violent nuclear disintegration reactions on the depth-dose profiles and yields of secondary fragments for beams of light and medium-weight nuclei propagating in extended media. Implications for ion-beam cancer therapy and shielding from cosmic radiation are discussed.

Nuclear fragmentation reactions in extended media studied with Geant4 toolkit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pshenichnov, Igor; Botvina, Alexander; Mishustin, Igor; Greiner, Walter

2010-01-01

It is well-known from numerous experiments that nuclear multifragmentation is a dominating mechanism for production of intermediate mass fragments in nucleus-nucleus collisions at energies above 100AMeV. In this paper we investigate the validity and performance of the Fermi break-up model and the statistical multifragmentation model implemented as parts of the Geant4 toolkit. We study the impact of violent nuclear disintegration reactions on the depth-dose profiles and yields of secondary fragments for beams of light and medium-weight nuclei propagating in extended media. Implications for ion-beam cancer therapy and shielding from cosmic radiation are discussed.

Geant4 simulations on Compton scattering of laser photons on relativistic electrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Filipescu, D. [Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics, str. Atomistilor nr. 407, Bucharest-Magurele, P.O.BOX MG6, Romania and National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering Horia Hulubei, str. Atomistilor nr. 407 (Romania); Utsunomiya, H. [Department of Physics, Konan University, Okamoto 8-9-1, Higashinada, Kobe 658-8501 (Japan); Gheorghe, I.; Glodariu, T. [National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering Horia Hulubei, str. Atomistilor nr. 407 (Romania); Tesileanu, O. [Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics, str. Atomistilor nr. 407, Bucharest-Magurele, P.O.BOX MG6 (Romania); Shima, T.; Takahisa, K. [Research Center for Nuclear Physics, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 567-0047 (Japan); Miyamoto, S. [Laboratory of Advanced Science and Technology for Industry, University of Hyogo, 3-1-2 Kouto, Kamigori, Hyogo 678-1205 (Japan)

2015-02-24

Using Geant4, a complex simulation code of the interaction between laser photons and relativistic electrons was developed. We implemented physically constrained electron beam emittance and spacial distribution parameters and we also considered a Gaussian laser beam. The code was tested against experimental data produced at the γ-ray beam line GACKO (Gamma Collaboration Hutch of Konan University) of the synchrotron radiation facility NewSUBARU. Here we will discuss the implications of transverse missallignments of the collimation system relative to the electron beam axis.

SU-E-T-531: Performance Evaluation of Multithreaded Geant4 for Proton Therapy Dose Calculations in a High Performance Computing Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, J; Coss, D; McMurry, J; Farr, J; Faddegon, B

2014-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the efficiency of multithreaded Geant4 (Geant4-MT, version 10.0) for proton Monte Carlo dose calculations using a high performance computing facility. Methods: Geant4-MT was used to calculate 3D dose distributions in 1×1×1 mm3 voxels in a water phantom and patient's head with a 150 MeV proton beam covering approximately 5×5 cm2 in the water phantom. Three timestamps were measured on the fly to separately analyze the required time for initialization (which cannot be parallelized), processing time of individual threads, and completion time. Scalability of averaged processing time per thread was calculated as a function of thread number (1, 100, 150, and 200) for both 1M and 50 M histories. The total memory usage was recorded. Results: Simulations with 50 M histories were fastest with 100 threads, taking approximately 1.3 hours and 6 hours for the water phantom and the CT data, respectively with better than 1.0 % statistical uncertainty. The calculations show 1/N scalability in the event loops for both cases. The gains from parallel calculations started to decrease with 150 threads. The memory usage increases linearly with number of threads. No critical failures were observed during the simulations. Conclusion: Multithreading in Geant4-MT decreased simulation time in proton dose distribution calculations by a factor of 64 and 54 at a near optimal 100 threads for water phantom and patient's data respectively. Further simulations will be done to determine the efficiency at the optimal thread number. Considering the trend of computer architecture development, utilizing Geant4-MT for radiotherapy simulations is an excellent cost-effective alternative for a distributed batch queuing system. However, because the scalability depends highly on simulation details, i.e., the ratio of the processing time of one event versus waiting time to access for the shared event queue, a performance evaluation as described is recommended

Validation of the coupling of mesh models to GEANT4 Monte Carlo code for simulation of internal sources of photons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caribe, Paulo Rauli Rafeson Vasconcelos; Cassola, Vagner Ferreira; Kramer, Richard; Khoury, Helen Jamil

2013-01-01

The use of three-dimensional models described by polygonal meshes in numerical dosimetry enables more accurate modeling of complex objects than the use of simple solid. The objectives of this work were validate the coupling of mesh models to the Monte Carlo code GEANT4 and evaluate the influence of the number of vertices in the simulations to obtain absorbed fractions of energy (AFEs). Validation of the coupling was performed to internal sources of photons with energies between 10 keV and 1 MeV for spherical geometries described by the GEANT4 and three-dimensional models with different number of vertices and triangular or quadrilateral faces modeled using Blender program. As a result it was found that there were no significant differences between AFEs for objects described by mesh models and objects described using solid volumes of GEANT4. Since that maintained the shape and the volume the decrease in the number of vertices to describe an object does not influence so meant dosimetric data, but significantly decreases the time required to achieve the dosimetric calculations, especially for energies less than 100 keV

NEUTRON GENERATOR FACILITY AT SFU: GEANT4 DOSE RATE PREDICTION AND VERIFICATION.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, J; Chester, A; Domingo, T; Rizwan, U; Starosta, K; Voss, P

2016-11-01

Detailed dose rate maps for a neutron generator facility at Simon Fraser University were produced via the GEANT4 Monte Carlo framework. Predicted neutron dose rates throughout the facility were compared with radiation survey measurements made during the facility commissioning process. When accounting for thermal neutrons, the prediction and measurement agree within a factor of 2 or better in most survey locations, and within 10 % inside the vault housing the neutron generator. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Behaviors of the percentage depth dose curves along the beam axis of a phantom filled with different clinical PTO objects, a Monte Carlo Geant4 study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EL Bakkali, Jaafar; EL Bardouni, Tarek; Safavi, Seyedmostafa; Mohammed, Maged; Saeed, Mroan

2016-01-01

The aim of this work is to assess the capabilities of Monte Carlo Geant4 code to reproduce the real percentage depth dose (PDD) curves generated in phantoms which mimic three important clinical treatment situations that include lung slab, bone slab, bone-lung slab geometries. It is hoped that this work will lead us to a better understanding of dose distributions in an inhomogeneous medium, and to identify any limitations of dose calculation algorithm implemented in the Geant4 code. For this purpose, the PDD dosimetric functions associated to the three clinical situations described above, were compared to one produced in a homogeneous water phantom. Our results show, firstly, that the Geant4 simulation shows potential mistakes on the shape of the calculated PDD curve of the first physical test object (PTO), and it is obviously not able to successfully predict dose values in regions near to the boundaries between two different materials. This is, surely due to the electron transport algorithm and it is well-known as the artifacts at interface phenomenon. To deal with this issue, we have added and optimized the StepMax parameter to the dose calculation program; consequently the artifacts due to the electron transport were quasi disappeared. However, the Geant4 simulation becomes painfully slow when we attempt to completely resolve the electron artifact problems by considering a smaller value of an electron StepMax parameter. After electron transport optimization, our results demonstrate the medium-level capabilities of the Geant4 code to modeling dose distribution in clinical PTO objects. - Highlights: • Assessment of the capabilities of Geant4 code to reproduce the PDD curves in heterogeneities. • Resolving artifacts due to the electron transport. • Understanding in dose distribution differences in interfaces which include water, bone, and lung interfaces.

An Overview of the GEANT4 Toolkit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apostolakis, John; CERN; Wright, Dennis H.

2007-01-01

Geant4 is a toolkit for the simulation of the transport of radiation through matter. With a flexible kernel and choices between different physics modeling choices, it has been tailored to the requirements of a wide range of applications. With the toolkit a user can describe a setup's or detector's geometry and materials, navigate inside it, simulate the physical interactions using a choice of physics engines, underlying physics cross-sections and models, visualize and store results. Physics models describing electromagnetic and hadronic interactions are provided, as are decays and processes for optical photons. Several models, with different precision and performance are available for many processes. The toolkit includes coherent physics model configurations, which are called physics lists. Users can choose an existing physics list or create their own, depending on their requirements and the application area. A clear structure and readable code, enable the user to investigate the origin of physics results. Application areas include detector simulation and background simulation in High Energy Physics experiments, simulation of accelerator setups, studies in medical imaging and treatment, and the study of the effects of solar radiation on spacecraft instruments

CLIC Detector Concepts as described in the CDR: Differences between the GEANT4 and Engineering Models

CERN Document Server

Elsener, K; Schlatter, D; Siegrist, N

2011-01-01

The CLIC_ILD and CLIC_SiD detector concepts as used for the CDR Vol. 2 in 2011 exist both in GEANT4 simulation models and in engineering layout drawings. At this early stage of a conceptual design, there are inevitably differences between these models, which are described in this note.

Geant4 simulation of a 3D high resolution gamma camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akhdar, H.; Kezzar, K.; Aksouh, F.; Assemi, N.; AlGhamdi, S.; AlGarawi, M.; Gerl, J.

2015-01-01

The aim of this work is to develop a 3D gamma camera with high position resolution and sensitivity relying on both distance/absorption and Compton scattering techniques and without using any passive collimation. The proposed gamma camera is simulated in order to predict its performance using the full benefit of Geant4 features that allow the construction of the needed geometry of the detectors, have full control of the incident gamma particles and study the response of the detector in order to test the suggested geometries. Three different geometries are simulated and each configuration is tested with three different scintillation materials (LaBr3, LYSO and CeBr3)

Implementation of a model in Geant4 of an accelerator on Cloudmc, a Web application for the parallelization of Monte Carlo simulations in the Cloud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miras del Rio, H.; Jimenez Marrufo, R.; Cortes Giraldo, M. A.; Miras del Rio, C.

2013-01-01

This paper describes the implementation in CloudMC of a simulation program MC, based on the code of Geant4, a Siemens Accelerator model Oncor with the intention that in future can be used for calculation of radiation treatments with MC in short periods of time. (Author)

Absorbing CAD system geometries into GEANT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Womersley, J.; Dragovitsch, P.; Youssef, S.

1991-01-01

The simulation community has for many years discussed the possibility of direct conversion of geometrical detector models from computer- aided design and engineering systems (CAD systems) to the simulation packages (which we shall assume means GEANT). This would allow fast and simultaneous optimization of the physics performance and structural integrity of detector designs. The benefit that this would offer is the avoidance of such problems as the late discovery of the rather thick cryostats in the D-Zero detector. Recent progress in the absorption of CAD geometries into GEANT models is reviewed, including descriptions of the additions to the I-DEAS solid modeller package developed for the EMPACT SSC proposal, the COGENT CAD-to-GEANT interpreter developed by Quantum Research Services, and the OCTAGON package for representing arbitrary shapes in GEANT. Likely future directions of development are described. 2 refs., 7 figs

Simulation, optimization and testing of a novel high spatial resolution X-ray imager based on Zinc Oxide nanowires in Anodic Aluminium Oxide membrane using Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Esfandi, F.; Saramad, S.

2015-07-01

In this work, a new generation of scintillator based X-ray imagers based on ZnO nanowires in Anodized Aluminum Oxide (AAO) nanoporous template is characterized. The optical response of ordered ZnO nanowire arrays in porous AAO template under low energy X-ray illumination is simulated by the Geant4 Monte Carlo code and compared with experimental results. The results show that for 10 keV X-ray photons, by considering the light guiding properties of zinc oxide inside the AAO template and suitable selection of detector thickness and pore diameter, the spatial resolution less than one micrometer and the detector detection efficiency of 66% are accessible. This novel nano scintillator detector can have many advantages for medical applications in the future.

Simulation, optimization and testing of a novel high spatial resolution X-ray imager based on Zinc Oxide nanowires in Anodic Aluminium Oxide membrane using Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esfandi, F.; Saramad, S.

2015-01-01

In this work, a new generation of scintillator based X-ray imagers based on ZnO nanowires in Anodized Aluminum Oxide (AAO) nanoporous template is characterized. The optical response of ordered ZnO nanowire arrays in porous AAO template under low energy X-ray illumination is simulated by the Geant4 Monte Carlo code and compared with experimental results. The results show that for 10 keV X-ray photons, by considering the light guiding properties of zinc oxide inside the AAO template and suitable selection of detector thickness and pore diameter, the spatial resolution less than one micrometer and the detector detection efficiency of 66% are accessible. This novel nano scintillator detector can have many advantages for medical applications in the future

Calculation of self–shielding factor for neutron activation experiments using GEANT4 and MCNP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romero–Barrientos, Jaime, E-mail: jaromero@ing.uchile.cl [Comisión Chilena de Energía Nuclear, Nueva Bilbao 12501, Las Condes, Santiago (Chile); Universidad de Chile, DFI, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas Y Matemáticas, Avenida Blanco Encalada 2008, Santiago (Chile); Molina, F. [Comisión Chilena de Energía Nuclear, Nueva Bilbao 12501, Las Condes, Santiago (Chile); Aguilera, Pablo [Comisión Chilena de Energía Nuclear, Nueva Bilbao 12501, Las Condes, Santiago (Chile); Universidad de Chile, Depto. de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago (Chile); Arellano, H. F. [Universidad de Chile, DFI, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas Y Matemáticas, Avenida Blanco Encalada 2008, Santiago (Chile)

2016-07-07

The neutron self–shielding factor G as a function of the neutron energy was obtained for 14 pure metallic samples in 1000 isolethargic energy bins from 1·10{sup −5}eV to 2·10{sup 7}eV using Monte Carlo simulations in GEANT4 and MCNP6. The comparison of these two Monte Carlo codes shows small differences in the final self–shielding factor mostly due to the different cross section databases that each program uses.

Simulation Loop between CAD systems, Geant4 and GeoModel: Implementation and Results

CERN Document Server

Sharmazanashvili, Alexander; The ATLAS collaboration

2015-01-01

Data_vs_MonteCarlo discrepancy is one of the most important field of investigation for ATLAS simulation studies. There are several reasons of above mentioned discrepancies but primary interest is falling on geometry studies and investigation of how geometry descriptions of detector in simulation adequately representing “as-built” descriptions. Shapes consistency and detalization is not important while adequateness of volumes and weights of detector components are essential for tracking. There are 2 main reasons of faults of geometry descriptions in simulation: 1/ Inconsistency to “as-built” geometry descriptions; 2/Internal inaccuracies of transactions added by simulation packages itself. Georgian Engineering team developed hub on the base of CATIA platform and several tools enabling to read in CATIA different descriptions used by simulation packages, like XML/Persint->CATIA; IV/VP1->CATIA; GeoModel->CATIA; Geant4->CATIA. As a result it becomes possible to compare different descriptions with each othe...

Geant4 simulation of the response of phosphor screens for X-ray imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pistrui-Maximean, S.A.; Freud, N.; Letang, J.M.; Koch, A.; Munier, B.; Walenta, A.H.; Montarou, G.; Babot, D.

2006-01-01

In order to predict and optimize the response of phosphor screens, it is important to understand the role played by the different physical processes inside the scintillator layer. A simulation model based on the Monte Carlo code Geant4 was developed to determine the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) of phosphor screens for energies used in X-ray medical imaging and nondestructive testing applications. The visualization of the dose distribution inside the phosphor layer gives an insight into how the MTF is progressively degraded by X-ray and electron transport. The simulation model allows to study the influence of physical and technological parameters on the detector performances, as well as to design and optimize new detector configurations. Preliminary MTF measurements have been carried out and agreement with experimental data has been found in the case of a commercial screen (Kodak Lanex Fine) at an X-ray tube potential of 100 kV. Further validation with other screens (transparent or granular) at different energies is under way

Geant4 simulation of the response of phosphor screens for X-ray imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pistrui-Maximean, S.A. [Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing using Ionizing Radiation, INSA-Lyon Scientific and Technical University, Bat. Antoine de Saint Exupery, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France)]. E-mail: simona.pistrui@insa-lyon.fr; Freud, N. [Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing using Ionizing Radiation, INSA-Lyon Scientific and Technical University, Bat. Antoine de Saint Exupery, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France); Letang, J.M. [Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing using Ionizing Radiation, INSA-Lyon Scientific and Technical University, Bat. Antoine de Saint Exupery, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France); Koch, A. [Thales Electron Devices, 38430 Moirans (France); Munier, B. [Thales Electron Devices, 38430 Moirans (France); Walenta, A.H. [Department of Detectors and Electronics, FB Physik, University of Siegen, 57068 Siegen (Germany); Montarou, G. [Corpuscular Physics Laboratory, Blaise Pascal University, 63177 Aubiere Cedex (France); Babot, D. [Laboratory of Nondestructive Testing using Ionizing Radiation, INSA-Lyon Scientific and Technical University, Bat. Antoine de Saint Exupery, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France)

2006-07-01

In order to predict and optimize the response of phosphor screens, it is important to understand the role played by the different physical processes inside the scintillator layer. A simulation model based on the Monte Carlo code Geant4 was developed to determine the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) of phosphor screens for energies used in X-ray medical imaging and nondestructive testing applications. The visualization of the dose distribution inside the phosphor layer gives an insight into how the MTF is progressively degraded by X-ray and electron transport. The simulation model allows to study the influence of physical and technological parameters on the detector performances, as well as to design and optimize new detector configurations. Preliminary MTF measurements have been carried out and agreement with experimental data has been found in the case of a commercial screen (Kodak Lanex Fine) at an X-ray tube potential of 100 kV. Further validation with other screens (transparent or granular) at different energies is under way.

First results of saturation curve measurements of heat-resistant steel using GEANT4 and MCNP5 codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoang, Duc-Tam; Tran, Thien-Thanh; Le, Bao-Tran; Vo, Hoang-Nguyen; Chau, Van-Tao; Tran, Kim-Tuyet; Huynh, Dinh-Chuong

2015-01-01

A gamma backscattering technique is applied to calculate the saturation curve and the effective mass attenuation coefficient of material. A NaI(Tl) detector collimated by collimator of large diameter is modeled by Monte Carlo technique using both MCNP5 and GEANT4 codes. The result shows a good agreement in response function of the scattering spectra for the two codes. Based on such spectra, the saturation curve of heat-resistant steel is determined. The results represent a strong confirmation that it is appropriate to use the detector collimator of large diameter to obtain the scattering spectra and this work is also the basis of experimental set-up for determining the thickness of material. (author)

A Geant4 simulation of the depth dose percentage in brain tumors treatments using protons and carbon ions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diaz, José A. M., E-mail: joadiazme@unal.edu.co; Torres, D. A., E-mail: datorresg@unal.edu.co [Physics Department, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogot (Colombia)

2016-07-07

The deposited energy and dose distribution of beams of protons and carbon over a head are simulated using the free tool package Geant4 and the data analysis package ROOT-C++. The present work shows a methodology to understand the microscopical process occurring in a session of hadron-therapy using advance simulation tools.

Validation of nuclear models in Geant4 using the dose distribution of a 177 MeV proton pencil beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, David C; Paganetti, Harald; Makarova, Anastasia; Gottschalk, Bernard

2016-01-01

A proton pencil beam is associated with a surrounding low-dose envelope, originating from nuclear interactions. It is important for treatment planning systems to accurately model this envelope when performing dose calculations for pencil beam scanning treatments, and Monte Carlo (MC) codes are commonly used for this purpose. This work aims to validate the nuclear models employed by the Geant4 MC code, by comparing the simulated absolute dose distribution to a recent experiment of a 177 MeV proton pencil beam stopping in water. Striking agreement is observed over five orders of magnitude, with both the shape and normalisation well modelled. The normalisations of two depth dose curves are lower than experiment, though this could be explained by an experimental positioning error. The Geant4 neutron production model is also verified in the distal region. The entrance dose is poorly modelled, suggesting an unaccounted upstream source of low-energy protons. Recommendations are given for a follow-up experiment which could resolve these issues. (note)

Validation of GEANT4 Monte Carlo Models with a Highly Granular Scintillator-Steel Hadron Calorimeter

CERN Document Server

Adloff, C.; Blaising, J.J.; Drancourt, C.; Espargiliere, A.; Gaglione, R.; Geffroy, N.; Karyotakis, Y.; Prast, J.; Vouters, G.; Francis, K.; Repond, J.; Schlereth, J.; Smith, J.; Xia, L.; Baldolemar, E.; Li, J.; Park, S.T.; Sosebee, M.; White, A.P.; Yu, J.; Buanes, T.; Eigen, G.; Mikami, Y.; Watson, N.K.; Mavromanolakis, G.; Thomson, M.A.; Ward, D.R.; Yan, W.; Benchekroun, D.; Hoummada, A.; Khoulaki, Y.; Apostolakis, J.; Dotti, A.; Folger, G.; Ivantchenko, V.; Uzhinskiy, V.; Benyamna, M.; Cârloganu, C.; Fehr, F.; Gay, P.; Manen, S.; Royer, L.; Blazey, G.C.; Dyshkant, A.; Lima, J.G.R.; Zutshi, V.; Hostachy, J.Y.; Morin, L.; Cornett, U.; David, D.; Falley, G.; Gadow, K.; Gottlicher, P.; Gunter, C.; Hermberg, B.; Karstensen, S.; Krivan, F.; Lucaci-Timoce, A.I.; Lu, S.; Lutz, B.; Morozov, S.; Morgunov, V.; Reinecke, M.; Sefkow, F.; Smirnov, P.; Terwort, M.; Vargas-Trevino, A.; Feege, N.; Garutti, E.; Marchesini, I.; Ramilli, M.; Eckert, P.; Harion, T.; Kaplan, A.; Schultz-Coulon, H.Ch.; Shen, W.; Stamen, R.; Bilki, B.; Norbeck, E.; Onel, Y.; Wilson, G.W.; Kawagoe, K.; Dauncey, P.D.; Magnan, A.M.; Bartsch, V.; Wing, M.; Salvatore, F.; Alamillo, E.Calvo; Fouz, M.C.; Puerta-Pelayo, J.; Bobchenko, B.; Chadeeva, M.; Danilov, M.; Epifantsev, A.; Markin, O.; Mizuk, R.; Novikov, E.; Popov, V.; Rusinov, V.; Tarkovsky, E.; Kirikova, N.; Kozlov, V.; Smirnov, P.; Soloviev, Y.; Buzhan, P.; Ilyin, A.; Kantserov, V.; Kaplin, V.; Karakash, A.; Popova, E.; Tikhomirov, V.; Kiesling, C.; Seidel, K.; Simon, F.; Soldner, C.; Szalay, M.; Tesar, M.; Weuste, L.; Amjad, M.S.; Bonis, J.; Callier, S.; Conforti di Lorenzo, S.; Cornebise, P.; Doublet, Ph.; Dulucq, F.; Fleury, J.; Frisson, T.; van der Kolk, N.; Li, H.; Martin-Chassard, G.; Richard, F.; de la Taille, Ch.; Poschl, R.; Raux, L.; Rouene, J.; Seguin-Moreau, N.; Anduze, M.; Boudry, V.; Brient, J-C.; Jeans, D.; Mora de Freitas, P.; Musat, G.; Reinhard, M.; Ruan, M.; Videau, H.; Bulanek, B.; Zacek, J.; Cvach, J.; Gallus, P.; Havranek, M.; Janata, M.; Kvasnicka, J.; Lednicky, D.; Marcisovsky, M.; Polak, I.; Popule, J.; Tomasek, L.; Tomasek, M.; Ruzicka, P.; Sicho, P.; Smolik, J.; Vrba, V.; Zalesak, J.; Belhorma, B.; Ghazlane, H.; Takeshita, T.; Uozumi, S.; Gotze, M.; Hartbrich, O.; Sauer, J.; Weber, S.; Zeitnitz, C.

2013-01-01

Calorimeters with a high granularity are a fundamental requirement of the Particle Flow paradigm. This paper focuses on the prototype of a hadron calorimeter with analog readout, consisting of thirty-eight scintillator layers alternating with steel absorber planes. The scintillator plates are finely segmented into tiles individually read out via Silicon Photomultipliers. The presented results are based on data collected with pion beams in the energy range from 8GeV to 100GeV. The fine segmentation of the sensitive layers and the high sampling frequency allow for an excellent reconstruction of the spatial development of hadronic showers. A comparison between data and Monte Carlo simulations is presented, concerning both the longitudinal and lateral development of hadronic showers and the global response of the calorimeter. The performance of several GEANT4 physics lists with respect to these observables is evaluated.

Geant4 simulations of the absorption of photons in CsI and NaI produced by electrons with energies up to 4 MeV and their application to precision measurements of the β-energy spectrum with a calorimetric technique

Science.gov (United States)

Huyan, X.; Naviliat-Cuncic, O.; Voytas, P.; Chandavar, S.; Hughes, M.; Minamisono, K.; Paulauskas, S. V.

2018-01-01

The yield of photons produced by electrons slowing down in CsI and NaI was studied with four electromagnetic physics constructors included in the Geant4 toolkit. The subsequent absorption of photons in detector geometries used for measurements of the β spectrum shape was also studied with a focus on the determination of the absorption fraction. For electrons with energies in the range 0.5-4 MeV, the relative photon yields determined with the four Geant4 constructors differ at the level of 10-2 in amplitude and the relative absorption fractions differ at the level of 10-4 in amplitude. The differences among constructors enabled the estimation of the sensitivity to Geant4 simulations for the measurement of the β energy spectrum shape in 6He decay using a calorimetric technique with ions implanted in the active volume of detectors. The size of the effect associated with photons escaping the detectors was quantified in terms of a slope which, on average, is respectively - 5 . 4 %/MeV and - 4 . 8 %/MeV for the CsI and NaI geometries. The corresponding relative uncertainties as determined from the spread of results obtained with the four Geant4 constructors are 0.0067 and 0.0058.

A Geant4 simulation package for the TASISpec experimental detector setup

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sarmiento, L.G., E-mail: lgsarmientop@unal.edu.co [Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota D.C. 111321 (Colombia); Lund University, S-22100 Lund (Sweden); Andersson, L.-L. [University of Liverpool, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, Liverpool L69 7ZE (United Kingdom); Rudolph, D. [Lund University, S-22100 Lund (Sweden)

2012-03-01

The experimental detector setup TASISpec (TA SCA in Small Image mode Spectroscopy) comprises composite Ge- and highly segmented Si-detectors. The setup is constructed to provide multi-coincidence spectroscopic data between {gamma}-rays, X-rays, conversion electrons, fission fragments, and {alpha}-particles for heavy and superheavy elements (Z{>=}100). The full array has been virtually constructed using the Geant4 simulation toolkit. The simulations will not only be used to explore the possibilities of the detector setup itself. More important, however, they will also shed light on the nuclear structure of the heaviest elements. This can be done by comparing the simulated detector response of complex decay modes with the experimental data. Such an iterative or 'self-consistent' way to understand experimental observables will provide more reliability when disentangling the data and deducing experimental decay schemes.

Geant4 calculations for space radiation shielding material Al2O3

Science.gov (United States)

Capali, Veli; Acar Yesil, Tolga; Kaya, Gokhan; Kaplan, Abdullah; Yavuz, Mustafa; Tilki, Tahir

2015-07-01

Aluminium Oxide, Al2O3 is the most widely used material in the engineering applications. It is significant aluminium metal, because of its hardness and as a refractory material owing to its high melting point. This material has several engineering applications in diverse fields such as, ballistic armour systems, wear components, electrical and electronic substrates, automotive parts, components for electric industry and aero-engine. As well, it is used as a dosimeter for radiation protection and therapy applications for its optically stimulated luminescence properties. In this study, stopping powers and penetrating distances have been calculated for the alpha, proton, electron and gamma particles in space radiation shielding material Al2O3 for incident energies 1 keV - 1 GeV using GEANT4 calculation code.

Efficiency transfer using the GEANT4 code of CERN for HPGe gamma spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Chagren, S; Tekaya, M Ben; Reguigui, N; Gharbi, F

2016-01-01

In this work we apply the GEANT4 code of CERN to calculate the peak efficiency in High Pure Germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometry using three different procedures. The first is a direct calculation. The second corresponds to the usual case of efficiency transfer between two different configurations at constant emission energy assuming a reference point detection configuration and the third, a new procedure, consists on the transfer of the peak efficiency between two detection configurations emitting the gamma ray in different energies assuming a "virtual" reference point detection configuration. No pre-optimization of the detector geometrical characteristics was performed before the transfer to test the ability of the efficiency transfer to reduce the effect of the ignorance on their real magnitude on the quality of the transferred efficiency. The obtained and measured efficiencies were found in good agreement for the two investigated methods of efficiency transfer. The obtained agreement proves that Monte Carlo method and especially the GEANT4 code constitute an efficient tool to obtain accurate detection efficiency values. The second investigated efficiency transfer procedure is useful to calibrate the HPGe gamma detector for any emission energy value for a voluminous source using one point source detection efficiency emitting in a different energy as a reference efficiency. The calculations preformed in this work were applied to the measurement exercise of the EUROMET428 project. A measurement exercise where an evaluation of the full energy peak efficiencies in the energy range 60-2000 keV for a typical coaxial p-type HpGe detector and several types of source configuration: point sources located at various distances from the detector and a cylindrical box containing three matrices was performed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GEANT4-based full simulation of the PADME experiment at the DAΦNE BTF

Science.gov (United States)

Leonardi, E.; Kozhuharov, V.; Raggi, M.; Valente, P.

2017-10-01

A possible solution to the dark matter problem postulates that dark particles can interact with Standard Model particles only through a new force mediated by a “portal”. If the new force has a U(1) gauge structure, the “portal” is a massive photon-like vector particle, called dark photon or A‧. The PADME experiment at the DAΦNE Beam-Test Facility (BTF) in Frascati is designed to detect dark photons produced in positron on fixed target annihilations decaying to dark matter (e+e-→γA‧) by measuring the final state missing mass. The experiment will be composed of a thin active diamond target where a 550 MeV positron beam will impinge to produce e+e- annihilation events. The surviving beam will be deflected with a magnet while the photons produced in the annihilation will be measured by a calorimeter composed of BGO crystals. To reject the background from Bremsstrahlung gamma production, a set of segmented plastic scintillator vetoes will be used to detect positrons exiting the target with an energy lower than that of the beam, while a fast small angle calorimeter will be used to reject the e+e-→γγ(γ) background. To optimize the experimental layout in terms of signal acceptance and background rejection, the full layout of the experiment was modelled with the GEANT4 simulation package. In this paper we will describe the details of the simulation and report on the results obtained with the software.

Monte Carlo Simulation of Electron Beams for Radiotherapy - EGS4, MCNP4b and GEANT3 Intercomparison

CERN Document Server

Trindade, A; Alves, C M; Chaves, A; Lopes, C; Oliveira, C; Peralta, L

2000-01-01

In medical radiation physics, an increasing number of Monte Carlo codes are being used, which requires intercomparison between them to evaluated the accuracy of the simulated results against benchmark experiments. The Monte Carlo code EGS4, commonly used to simulate electron beams from medical linear accelerators, was compared with GEANT3 and MCNP4b. Intercomparison of electron energy spectra, angular and spatial distribution were carried out for the Siemens KD2 linear accelerator, at beam energies of 10 and 15 MeV for a field size of 10x10 cm2. Indirect validation was performed against electron depth doses curves and beam profiles measured in a MP3-PTW water phantom using a Markus planar chamber. Monte Carlo isodose lines were reconstructed and compared to those from commercial treatment planning systems (TPS's) and with experimental data.

The GeantV project: preparing the future of simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amadio, G; Bianchini, C; Iope, R L; Apostolakis, J; Brun, R; Carminati, F; Gheata, A; Nikitina, T; Novak, M; Pokorski, W; Shadura, O; Bandieramonte, M; Bhattacharyya, A; Mohanty, A; Seghal, R; Canal, Ph; Elvira, D; Lima, G; Duhem, L; De Fine Licht, J

2015-01-01

Detector simulation is consuming at least half of the HEP computing cycles, and even so, experiments have to take hard decisions on what to simulate, as their needs greatly surpass the availability of computing resources. New experiments still in the design phase such as FCC, CLIC and ILC as well as upgraded versions of the existing LHC detectors will push further the simulation requirements. Since the increase in computing resources is not likely to keep pace with our needs, it is therefore necessary to explore innovative ways of speeding up simulation in order to sustain the progress of High Energy Physics. The GeantV project aims at developing a high performance detector simulation system integrating fast and full simulation that can be ported on different computing architectures, including CPU accelerators. After more than two years of R and D the project has produced a prototype capable of transporting particles in complex geometries exploiting micro-parallelism, SIMD and multithreading. Portability is obtained via C++ template techniques that allow the development of machine- independent computational kernels. A set of tables derived from Geant4 for cross sections and final states provides a realistic shower development and, having been ported into a Geant4 physics list, can be used as a basis for a direct performance comparison. (paper)

Designing a new type of neutron detector for neutron and gamma-ray discrimination via GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shan, Qing; Chu, Shengnan; Ling, Yongsheng; Cai, Pingkun; Jia, Wenbao

2016-01-01

Design of a new type of neutron detector, consisting of a fast neutron converter, plastic scintillator, and Cherenkov detector, to discriminate 14-MeV fast neutrons and gamma rays in a pulsed n–γ mixed field and monitor their neutron fluxes is reported in this study. Both neutrons and gamma rays can produce fluorescence in the scintillator when they are incident on the detector. However, only the secondary charged particles of the gamma rays can produce Cherenkov light in the Cherenkov detector. The neutron and gamma-ray fluxes can be calculated by measuring the fluorescence and Cherenkov light. The GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit is used to simulate the whole process occurring in the detector, whose optimum parameters are known. Analysis of the simulation results leads to a calculation method of neutron flux. This method is verified by calculating the neutron fluxes using pulsed n–γ mixed fields with different n/γ ratios, and the results show that the relative errors of all calculations are <5%. - Highlights: • A neutron detector is developed to discriminate 14-MeV fast neutrons and gamma rays. • The GEANT4 is used to optimize the parameters of the detector. • A calculation method of neutron flux is established through the simulation. • Several n/γ mixture fields are simulated to validate of the calculation method.

Geant4 electromagnetic physics for high statistic simulation of LHC experiments

CERN Document Server

Allison, J; Bagulya, A; Champion, C; Elles, S; Garay, F; Grichine, V; Howard, A; Incerti, S; Ivanchenko, V; Jacquemier, J; Maire, M; Mantero, A; Nieminen, P; Pandola, L; Santin, G; Sawkey, D; Schalicke, A; Urban, L

2012-01-01

An overview of the current status of electromagnetic physics (EM) of the Geant4 toolkit is presented. Recent improvements are focused on the performance of large scale production for LHC and on the precision of simulation results over a wide energy range. Significant efforts have been made to improve the accuracy without compromising of CPU speed for EM particle transport. New biasing options have been introduced, which are applicable to any EM process. These include algorithms to enhance and suppress processes, force interactions or splitting of secondary particles. It is shown that the performance of the EM sub-package is improved. We will report extensions of the testing suite allowing high statistics validation of EM physics. It includes validation of multiple scattering, bremsstrahlung and other models. Cross checks between standard and low-energy EM models have been performed using evaluated data libraries and reference benchmark results.

Geant4 calculations for space radiation shielding material Al2O3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Capali Veli

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Aluminium Oxide, Al2O3 is the most widely used material in the engineering applications. It is significant aluminium metal, because of its hardness and as a refractory material owing to its high melting point. This material has several engineering applications in diverse fields such as, ballistic armour systems, wear components, electrical and electronic substrates, automotive parts, components for electric industry and aero-engine. As well, it is used as a dosimeter for radiation protection and therapy applications for its optically stimulated luminescence properties. In this study, stopping powers and penetrating distances have been calculated for the alpha, proton, electron and gamma particles in space radiation shielding material Al2O3 for incident energies 1 keV – 1 GeV using GEANT4 calculation code.

Simulation and Digitization of a Gas Electron Multiplier Detector Using Geant4 and an Object-Oriented Digitization Program

Science.gov (United States)

McMullen, Timothy; Liyanage, Nilanga; Xiong, Weizhi; Zhao, Zhiwen

2017-01-01

Our research has focused on simulating the response of a Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector using computational methods. GEM detectors provide a cost effective solution for radiation detection in high rate environments. A detailed simulation of GEM detector response to radiation is essential for the successful adaption of these detectors to different applications. Using Geant4 Monte Carlo (GEMC), a wrapper around Geant4 which has been successfully used to simulate the Solenoidal Large Intensity Device (SoLID) at Jefferson Lab, we are developing a simulation of a GEM chamber similar to the detectors currently used in our lab. We are also refining an object-oriented digitization program, which translates energy deposition information from GEMC into electronic readout which resembles the readout from our physical detectors. We have run the simulation with beta particles produced by the simulated decay of a 90Sr source, as well as with a simulated bremsstrahlung spectrum. Comparing the simulation data with real GEM data taken under similar conditions is used to refine the simulation parameters. Comparisons between results from the simulations and results from detector tests will be presented.

Linking computer-aided design (CAD) to Geant4-based Monte Carlo simulations for precise implementation of complex treatment head geometries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Constantin, Magdalena; Constantin, Dragos E; Keall, Paul J; Narula, Anisha; Svatos, Michelle; Perl, Joseph

2010-01-01

Most of the treatment head components of medical linear accelerators used in radiation therapy have complex geometrical shapes. They are typically designed using computer-aided design (CAD) applications. In Monte Carlo simulations of radiotherapy beam transport through the treatment head components, the relevant beam-generating and beam-modifying devices are inserted in the simulation toolkit using geometrical approximations of these components. Depending on their complexity, such approximations may introduce errors that can be propagated throughout the simulation. This drawback can be minimized by exporting a more precise geometry of the linac components from CAD and importing it into the Monte Carlo simulation environment. We present a technique that links three-dimensional CAD drawings of the treatment head components to Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations of dose deposition. (note)

Ion therapy for uveal melanoma in new human eye phantom based on GEANT4 toolkit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahdipour, Seyed Ali [Physics Department, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mowlavi, Ali Asghar, E-mail: amowlavi@hsu.ac.ir [Physics Department, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar (Iran, Islamic Republic of); ICTP, Associate Federation Scheme, Medical Physics Field, Trieste (Italy)

2016-07-01

Radiotherapy with ion beams like proton and carbon has been used for treatment of eye uveal melanoma for many years. In this research, we have developed a new phantom of human eye for Monte Carlo simulation of tumors treatment to use in GEANT4 toolkit. Total depth−dose profiles for the proton, alpha, and carbon incident beams with the same ranges have been calculated in the phantom. Moreover, the deposited energy of the secondary particles for each of the primary beams is calculated. The dose curves are compared for 47.8 MeV proton, 190.1 MeV alpha, and 1060 MeV carbon ions that have the same range in the target region reaching to the center of tumor. The passively scattered spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) for each incident beam as well as the flux curves of the secondary particles including neutron, gamma, and positron has been calculated and compared for the primary beams. The high sharpness of carbon beam's Bragg peak with low lateral broadening is the benefit of this beam in hadrontherapy but it has disadvantages of dose leakage in the tail after its Bragg peak and high intensity of neutron production. However, proton beam, which has a good conformation with tumor shape owing to the beam broadening caused by scattering, can be a good choice for the large-size tumors.

Ion therapy for uveal melanoma in new human eye phantom based on GEANT4 toolkit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahdipour, Seyed Ali; Mowlavi, Ali Asghar

2016-01-01

Radiotherapy with ion beams like proton and carbon has been used for treatment of eye uveal melanoma for many years. In this research, we have developed a new phantom of human eye for Monte Carlo simulation of tumors treatment to use in GEANT4 toolkit. Total depth−dose profiles for the proton, alpha, and carbon incident beams with the same ranges have been calculated in the phantom. Moreover, the deposited energy of the secondary particles for each of the primary beams is calculated. The dose curves are compared for 47.8 MeV proton, 190.1 MeV alpha, and 1060 MeV carbon ions that have the same range in the target region reaching to the center of tumor. The passively scattered spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) for each incident beam as well as the flux curves of the secondary particles including neutron, gamma, and positron has been calculated and compared for the primary beams. The high sharpness of carbon beam's Bragg peak with low lateral broadening is the benefit of this beam in hadrontherapy but it has disadvantages of dose leakage in the tail after its Bragg peak and high intensity of neutron production. However, proton beam, which has a good conformation with tumor shape owing to the beam broadening caused by scattering, can be a good choice for the large-size tumors.

Object-oriented analysis and design of a GEANT based detector simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amako, K.; Kanzaki, J.; Sasaki, T.; Takaiwa, Y.; Nakagawa, Y.; Yamagata, T.

1994-01-01

The authors give a status report of the project to design a detector simulation program by reengineering GEANT with the object-oriented methodology. They followed the Object Modeling Technique. They explain the object model they constructed. Also problems of the technique found during their study are discussed

Dose calculations at high altitudes and in deep space with GEANT4 using BIC and JQMD models for nucleus-nucleus reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sihver, L; Mancusi, D; Matthiae, D; Koi, T

2008-01-01

Radiation exposure of aircrew is more and more recognized as an occupational hazard. The ionizing environment at standard commercial aircraft flight altitudes consists mainly of secondary particles, of which the neutrons give a major contribution to the dose equivalent. Accurate estimations of neutron spectra in the atmosphere are therefore essential for correct calculations of aircrew doses. Energetic solar particle events (SPE) could also lead to significantly increased dose rates, especially at routes close to the North Pole, e.g. for flights between Europe and USA. It is also well known that the radiation environment encountered by personnel aboard low Earth orbit (LEO) spacecraft or aboard a spacecraft traveling outside the Earth's protective magnetosphere is much harsher compared with that within the atmosphere since the personnel are exposed to radiation from both galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and SPE. The relative contribution to the dose from GCR when traveling outside the Earth's magnetosphere, e.g. to the Moon or Mars, is even greater, and reliable and accurate particle and heavy ion transport codes are essential to calculate the radiation risks for both aircrew and personnel on spacecraft. We have therefore performed calculations of neutron distributions in the atmosphere, total dose equivalents, and quality factors at different depths in a water sphere in an imaginary spacecraft during solar minimum in a geosynchronous orbit. The calculations were performed with the GEANT4 Monte Carlo (MC) code using both the binary cascade (BIC) model, which is part of the standard GEANT4 package, and the JQMD model, which is used in the particle and heavy ion transport code PHITS GEANT4.

Dose calculations at high altitudes and in deep space with GEANT4 using BIC and JQMD models for nucleus nucleus reactions

Science.gov (United States)

Sihver, L.; Matthiä, D.; Koi, T.; Mancusi, D.

2008-10-01

Radiation exposure of aircrew is more and more recognized as an occupational hazard. The ionizing environment at standard commercial aircraft flight altitudes consists mainly of secondary particles, of which the neutrons give a major contribution to the dose equivalent. Accurate estimations of neutron spectra in the atmosphere are therefore essential for correct calculations of aircrew doses. Energetic solar particle events (SPE) could also lead to significantly increased dose rates, especially at routes close to the North Pole, e.g. for flights between Europe and USA. It is also well known that the radiation environment encountered by personnel aboard low Earth orbit (LEO) spacecraft or aboard a spacecraft traveling outside the Earth's protective magnetosphere is much harsher compared with that within the atmosphere since the personnel are exposed to radiation from both galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and SPE. The relative contribution to the dose from GCR when traveling outside the Earth's magnetosphere, e.g. to the Moon or Mars, is even greater, and reliable and accurate particle and heavy ion transport codes are essential to calculate the radiation risks for both aircrew and personnel on spacecraft. We have therefore performed calculations of neutron distributions in the atmosphere, total dose equivalents, and quality factors at different depths in a water sphere in an imaginary spacecraft during solar minimum in a geosynchronous orbit. The calculations were performed with the GEANT4 Monte Carlo (MC) code using both the binary cascade (BIC) model, which is part of the standard GEANT4 package, and the JQMD model, which is used in the particle and heavy ion transport code PHITS GEANT4.

Study of x-ray fluorescence : Development in Geant4 of new models of cross sections for simulation PIXE. Biological and archaeological applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben Abdelouahed, Haifa

2010-01-01

a great number of times, that makes it possible to reproduce the macroscopic effects and to calculate sizes like, in our case, x-ray fluorescence. Among several tools available for Monte Carlo simulation of the interactions particle-matter, the tool for simulation Monte Carlo Geant4 is characterized by a particularly flexible architecture based on directed technology object. This is why, to build our code of simulation, our choice was fixed on the use of this tool. We treat in the first chapter the guiding principle of x-ray fluorescence, which leads us to present the various phenomena which limit its sensitivity of analysis. We devote the second chapter to the presentation of the Geant4 tool, and our tests of validation of its electromagnetic processes. We describe the performances and the limits of this tool as for the simulation of the cross sections. We will expose in this same chapter our development, in the Geant4 tool, of new models of calculation of the cross sections of ionization of the atoms by the protons and the particles alpha. We discuss also our method of validation of the models in question. This work was object of publication. It was taken into account by the Geant4 project: our development currently replaces the data base EEDL of Geant4 in the process of determination of the cross sections of ionization by charged particles, and makes thus functional the Geant4 tool in the simulation of the x-ray fluorescence induced by charged particles. We describe in the third chapter our use of the code worked out for the simulation of the effectiveness of absorption of the standard Si(Li) detector which constitutes the essential piece of our device of analysis by x-ray fluorescence. We expose the adopted approach which enabled us to optimize the geometrical parameters of the studied detector. This work was presented at the second international conference of spectroscopy. We present, in the fourth chapter, some examples of concrete applications on the study of

Determination of tungsten target parameters for transmission X-ray tube: A simulation study using Geant4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nasseri, Mohammad M. [School of Plasma Physics and Nuclear Fusion, Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (AEOI), Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2016-06-15

Transmission X-ray tubes based on carbon nanotube have attracted significant attention recently. In most of these tubes, tungsten is used as the target material. In this article, the well-known simulator Geant4 was used to obtain some of the tungsten target parameters. The optimal thickness for maximum production of usable X-rays when the target is exposed to electron beams of different energies was obtained. The linear variation of optimal thickness of the target for different electron energies was also obtained. The data obtained in this study can be used to design X-ray tubes. A beryllium window was considered for the X-ray tube. The X-ray energy spectra at the moment of production and after passing through the target and window for different electron energies in the 30-110 keV range were also obtained. The results obtained show that with a specific thickness, the target material itself can act as filter, which enables generation of X-rays with a limited energy.

Towards the development of a comprehensive model of an electronic portal imaging device using Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blake, S.; Kuncic, Z.; Vial, P.; Holloway, L.

2010-01-01

Full text: This work represents the first stage of an ongoing study to investigate the physical processes occurring within electronic portal imaging devices (EPlDs), including the effects of optical scattering on image quality and dosimetry. The objective of this work was to develop an initial Monte Carlo model of a linear accelerator (Iinac) beam and an EPID. The ability to simulate the radiation transport of both high energy and optical photons in a single Monte Carlo model was tested. Data from the Phase-space database for external beam radiotherapy (International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA) was used with the Geant4 toolkit to construct a model of a Siemens Primus linac 6 MY photon source. Dose profiles and percent depth dose (PDD) curves were extracted from simulations of dose in water and compared to experimental measurements. A preliminary EPID model was developed to incorporate both high energy radiation and optical photon transport. Agreement in dose profiles inside the open beam was within 1.6%. Mean agreement in PDD curves beyond depth of dose maximum was within 6.1 % (local percent difference). The radiation transport of both high energy and optical photons were simulated and visualized in the EPID model. Further work is required to experimentally validate the EPID model. The comparison of simulated dose in water with measurements indicates that the IAEA phase-space may represent an accurate model of a linac source. We have demonstrated the feasibility of developing a comprehensive EPID model incorporating both high energy and optical physics in Geant4. (author)

Quantification of the validity of simulations based on Geant4 and FLUKA for photo-nuclear interactions in the high energy range

Science.gov (United States)

Quintieri, Lina; Pia, Maria Grazia; Augelli, Mauro; Saracco, Paolo; Capogni, Marco; Guarnieri, Guido

2017-09-01

Photo-nuclear interactions are relevant in many research fields of both fundamental and applied physics and, for this reason, accurate Monte Carlo simulations of photo-nuclear interactions can provide a valuable and indispensable support in a wide range of applications (i.e from the optimisation of photo-neutron source target to the dosimetric estimation in high energy accelerator, etc). Unfortunately, few experimental photo-nuclear data are available above 100 MeV, so that, in the high energy range (from hundreds of MeV up to GeV scale), the code predictions are based on physical models. The aim of this work is to compare the predictions of relevant observables involving photon-nuclear interaction modelling, obtained with GEANT4 and FLUKA, to experimental data (if available), in order to assess the code estimation reliability, over a wide energy range. In particular, the comparison of the estimated photo-neutron yields and energy spectra with the experimental results of the n@BTF experiment (carried out at the Beam Test Facility of DaΦne collider, in Frascati, Italy) is here reported and discussed. Moreover, the preliminary results of the comparison of the cross sections used in the codes with the"evaluated' data recommended by the IAEA are also presented for some selected cases (W, Pb, Zn).

Simulations of neutron transport at low energy: a comparison between GEANT and MCNP.

Science.gov (United States)

Colonna, N; Altieri, S

2002-06-01

The use of the simulation tool GEANT for neutron transport at energies below 20 MeV is discussed, in particular with regard to shielding and dose calculations. The reliability of the GEANT/MICAP package for neutron transport in a wide energy range has been verified by comparing the results of simulations performed with this package in a wide energy range with the prediction of MCNP-4B, a code commonly used for neutron transport at low energy. A reasonable agreement between the results of the two codes is found for the neutron flux through a slab of material (iron and ordinary concrete), as well as for the dose released in soft tissue by neutrons. These results justify the use of the GEANT/MICAP code for neutron transport in a wide range of applications, including health physics problems.

Microdosimetry spectra and RBE of 1H, 4He, 7Li and 12C nuclei in water studied with Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burigo, Lucas; Pshenichnov, Igor; Mishustin, Igor; Bleicher, Marcus

2014-01-01

A Geant4-based Monte Carlo model for Heavy-Ion Therapy (MCHIT) is used to study radiation fields of 1 H, 4 He, 7 Li and 12 C beams with similar ranges (∼160–180 mm) in water. Microdosimetry spectra are simulated for wall-less and walled Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counters (TEPCs) placed outside or inside a phantom, as in experiments performed, respectively, at NIRS, Japan and GSI, Germany. The impact of fragmentation reactions on microdosimetry spectra is investigated for 4 He, 7 Li and 12 C, and contributions from nuclear fragments of different charge are evaluated for various TEPC positions in the phantom. The microdosimetry spectra measured on the beam axis are well described by MCHIT, in particular, in the vicinity of the Bragg peak. However, the simulated spectra for the walled TEPC far from the beam axis are underestimated. Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) of the considered beams is estimated using a modified microdosimetric-kinetic model. Calculations show a similar rise of the RBE up to 2.2–2.9 close to the Bragg peak for helium, lithium and carbon beams compared to the modest values of 1–1.2 at the plateau region. Our results suggest that helium and lithium beams are also promising options for cancer therapy

Modeling Monte Carlo of multileaf collimators using the code GEANT4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oliveira, Alex C.H.; Lima, Fernando R.A., E-mail: oliveira.ach@yahoo.com, E-mail: falima@cnen.gov.br [Centro Regional de Ciencias Nucleares do Nordeste (CRCN-NE/CNEN-PE), Recife, PE (Brazil); Lima, Luciano S.; Vieira, Jose W., E-mail: lusoulima@yahoo.com.br [Instituto Federal de Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (IFPE), Recife, PE (Brazil)

2014-07-01

Radiotherapy uses various techniques and equipment for local treatment of cancer. The equipment most often used in radiotherapy to the patient irradiation is linear accelerator (Linac). Among the many algorithms developed for evaluation of dose distributions in radiotherapy planning, the algorithms based on Monte Carlo (MC) methods have proven to be very promising in terms of accuracy by providing more realistic results. The MC simulations for applications in radiotherapy are divided into two parts. In the first, the simulation of the production of the radiation beam by the Linac is performed and then the phase space is generated. The phase space contains information such as energy, position, direction, etc. of millions of particles (photons, electrons, positrons). In the second part the simulation of the transport of particles (sampled phase space) in certain configurations of irradiation field is performed to assess the dose distribution in the patient (or phantom). Accurate modeling of the Linac head is of particular interest in the calculation of dose distributions for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), where complex intensity distributions are delivered using a multileaf collimator (MLC). The objective of this work is to describe a methodology for modeling MC of MLCs using code Geant4. To exemplify this methodology, the Varian Millennium 120-leaf MLC was modeled, whose physical description is available in BEAMnrc Users Manual (20 11). The dosimetric characteristics (i.e., penumbra, leakage, and tongue-and-groove effect) of this MLC were evaluated. The results agreed with data published in the literature concerning the same MLC. (author)

Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation of absorbed dose and radiolysis yields enhancement from a gold nanoparticle under MeV proton irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tran, H.N., E-mail: tranngochoang@tdt.edu.vn [Division of Nuclear Physics, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Karamitros, M. [Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory, University of Notre-Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Ivanchenko, V.N. [Geant4 Associates International Ltd, Hebden Bridge (United Kingdom); Guatelli, S.; McKinnon, S. [Centre For Medical Radiation Physics, University of Wollongong (Australia); Illawarra Health and Medical Research, University of Wollongong, NSW (Australia); Murakami, K.; Sasaki, T.; Okada, S. [Computing Research Center, High Energy Accelerator Organization, KEK, Tsukuba City (Japan); Bordage, M.C. [INSERM, UMR 1037, CRCT, F-31000 Toulouse (France); Univ. Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, UMR 1037, CRCT, F-31000 Toulouse (France); Francis, Z. [Saint Joseph University, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics, Beirut (Lebanon); El Bitar, Z. [Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien/IN2P3/CNRS, Strasbourg (France); Bernal, M.A. [Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil); Shin, J.I. [Division of Heavy Ion Clinical Research, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Science, 75, Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, S.B. [Proton Therapy Center, National Cancer Center, 323, Ilsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do (Korea, Republic of); Barberet, Ph. [Univ. Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan (France); Tran, T.T. [VNUHCM-University of Science (Viet Nam); Brown, J.M.C. [School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom); and others

2016-04-15

Gold nanoparticles have been reported as a possible radio-sensitizer agent in radiation therapy due to their ability to increase energy deposition and subsequent direct damage to cells and DNA within their local vicinity. Moreover, this increase in energy deposition also results in an increase of the radiochemical yields. In this work we present, for the first time, an in silico investigation, based on the general purpose Monte Carlo simulation toolkit Geant4, into energy deposition and radical species production around a spherical gold nanoparticle 50 nm in diameter via proton irradiation. Simulations were preformed for incident proton energies ranging from 2 to 170 MeV, which are of interest for clinical proton therapy.

Monte Carlo simulation of dose calculation in voxel and geometric phantoms using GEANT4 code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martins, Maximiano C.; Santos, Denison de S.; Queiroz Filho, Pedro P. de; Silva, Rosana de S. e; Begalli, Marcia

2009-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation techniques have become a valuable tool for scientific purposes. In radiation protection many quantities are obtained by means of the simulation of particles passing through human body models, also known as phantoms, allowing the calculation of doses deposited in an individual's organs exposed to ionizing radiation. These information are very useful from the medical viewpoint, as they are used in the planning of external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy treatments. The goal of this work is the implementation of a voxel phantom and a geometrical phantom in the framework of the Geant4 tool kit, aiming at a future use of this code by professionals in the medical area. (author)

Efficiency corrections in determining the (137)Cs inventory of environmental soil samples by using relative measurement method and GEANT4 simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Gang; Liang, Yongfei; Xu, Jiayun; Bai, Lixin

2015-08-01

The determination of (137)Cs inventory is widely used to estimate the soil erosion or deposition rate. The generally used method to determine the activity of volumetric samples is the relative measurement method, which employs a calibration standard sample with accurately known activity. This method has great advantages in accuracy and operation only when there is a small difference in elemental composition, sample density and geometry between measuring samples and the calibration standard. Otherwise it needs additional efficiency corrections in the calculating process. The Monte Carlo simulations can handle these correction problems easily with lower financial cost and higher accuracy. This work presents a detailed description to the simulation and calibration procedure for a conventionally used commercial P-type coaxial HPGe detector with cylindrical sample geometry. The effects of sample elemental composition, density and geometry were discussed in detail and calculated in terms of efficiency correction factors. The effect of sample placement was also analyzed, the results indicate that the radioactive nuclides and sample density are not absolutely uniform distributed along the axial direction. At last, a unified binary quadratic functional relationship of efficiency correction factors as a function of sample density and height was obtained by the least square fitting method. This function covers the sample density and height range of 0.8-1.8 g/cm(3) and 3.0-7.25 cm, respectively. The efficiency correction factors calculated by the fitted function are in good agreement with those obtained by the GEANT4 simulations with the determination coefficient value greater than 0.9999. The results obtained in this paper make the above-mentioned relative measurements more accurate and efficient in the routine radioactive analysis of environmental cylindrical soil samples. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract ID: 176 Geant4 implementation of inter-atomic interference effect in small-angle coherent X-ray scattering for materials of medical interest.

Science.gov (United States)

Paternò, Gianfranco; Cardarelli, Paolo; Contillo, Adriano; Gambaccini, Mauro; Taibi, Angelo

2018-01-01

Advanced applications of digital mammography such as dual-energy and tomosynthesis require multiple exposures and thus deliver higher dose compared to standard mammograms. A straightforward manner to reduce patient dose without affecting image quality would be removal of the anti-scatter grid, provided that the involved reconstruction algorithms are able to take the scatter figure into account [1]. Monte Carlo simulations are very well suited for the calculation of X-ray scatter distribution and can be used to integrate such information within the reconstruction software. Geant4 is an open source C++ particle tracking code widely used in several physical fields, including medical physics [2,3]. However, the coherent scattering cross section used by the standard Geant4 code does not take into account the influence of molecular interference. According to the independent atomic scattering approximation (the so-called free-atom model), coherent radiation is indistinguishable from primary radiation because its angular distribution is peaked in the forward direction. Since interference effects occur between x-rays scattered by neighbouring atoms in matter, it was shown experimentally that the scatter distribution is affected by the molecular structure of the target, even in amorphous materials. The most important consequence is that the coherent scatter distribution is not peaked in the forward direction, and the position of the maximum is strongly material-dependent [4]. In this contribution, we present the implementation of a method to take into account inter-atomic interference in small-angle coherent scattering in Geant4, including a dedicated data set of suitable molecular form factor values for several materials of clinical interest. Furthermore, we present scatter images of simple geometric phantoms in which the Rayleigh contribution is rigorously evaluated. Copyright © 2017.

A Preliminary Study on Time Projection Chamber Simulation for Fission Cross Section Measurements with Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong Woon; Lee, Youngouk; Kim, Jae Cheon

2014-01-01

We present the details of the TPC simulation with Geant4 and show the results. TPC can provide more information than a fission chamber in that it is possible to distinguish different particle types. Simulations are conducted for uranium and plutonium targets with 20MeV neutrons. The simulation results are compared with the reference and show reasonable results. This is the first phase of study for realizing a TPC in the NFS at RAON, and we have more work to do, such as applying an electric field, signal processing in the simulation, and manufacturing of a TPC. The standard in fission cross section measurement is a fission chamber. It is basically just two parallel plates separated by a few centimeters of gas. A power supply connected to the plates sets up a moderate electric field. The target is deposited onto one of the plates. When fission occurs, the fragments ionize the gas, and the electric field causes the produced electrons to drift to the opposite plate, which records the total energy deposited in the chamber. A Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is a gas ionization detector similar to a fission chamber. However, it can measure the charged particle trajectories in the active volume in three dimensions by adding several readouts on the pad plane (fission chamber has only one readout one a pad plane). The specific ionization for each particle track enables the TPC to distinguish different particle types. A TPC will be used for fission cross section measurements in the Neutron Science Facility (NSF) at RAON. As a preliminary study, we present details of TPC simulation with Geant4 and discuss the results

Investigation of radial dose effect on single event upset cross-section due to heavy ions using GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boorboor, S.; Feghhi, S.A.H.; Jafari, H.

2015-01-01

The heavy ions are the main cause to produce single event upset (SEU) damage on electronic devices since they are high LET radiations. The dimension of electronic components in new technology, arise a challenge in radiation effect estimations. Accurate investigations require fully considering the ion track in energy deposition as a radial dose distribution. In this work, the distribution of delta rays as well as LET have been calculated to determine ionization structure around ion track by a Monte Carlo code, GEANT4. The radial dose of several heavy ions with different energy in silicon was investigated and compared with the works by other authors in this field. The results showed that heavy ions with identical LET can have different SEU cross-section in silicon transistors. As a demonstrative example, according to our results, the error probability for 4.8 GeV iron was 8 times greater than that for 15 MeV carbon ions, in transistors with new process technology which have small dimension and low critical charges. Our results show that considering radial dose distribution considerably improves the accuracy of the SEU cross-section estimation in electronic devices especially for new technologies. - Highlights: • The single event upset is produced by heavy ions interaction on electronic devices. • The radial dose of several heavy ions in silicon was calculated by GEANT4. • Heavy ions with identical LET had different SEU cross-section in silicon transistors. • Low dimension and critical charge devices were more sensitive to radial dose effect

A new method of testing space-based high-energy electron detectors with radioactive electron sources

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, S. Y.; Shen, G. H.; Sun, Y.; Zhou, D. Z.; Zhang, X. X.; Li, J. W.; Huang, C.; Zhang, X. G.; Dong, Y. J.; Zhang, W. J.; Zhang, B. Q.; Shi, C. Y.

2016-05-01

Space-based electron detectors are commonly tested using radioactive β-sources which emit a continuous spectrum without spectral lines. Therefore, the tests are often to be considered only qualitative. This paper introduces a method, which results in more than a qualitative test even when using a β-source. The basic idea is to use the simulated response function of the instrument to invert the measured spectrum and compare this inverted spectrum with a reference spectrum obtained from the same source. Here we have used Geant4 to simulate the instrument response function (IRF) and a 3.5 mm thick Li-drifted Si detector to obtain the reference 90Sr/90Yi source spectrum to test and verify the geometric factors of the Omni-Direction Particle Detector (ODPD) on the Tiangong-1 (TG-1) and Tiangong-2 (TG-2) spacecraft. The TG spacecraft are experimental space laboratories and prototypes of the Chinese space station. The excellent agreement between the measured and reference spectra demonstrates that this test method can be used to quantitatively assess the quality of the instrument. Due to its simplicity, the method is faster and therefore more efficient than traditional full calibrations using an electron accelerator.

Characterisation of a SAGe well detector using GEANT4 and LabSOCS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Britton, R., E-mail: rich.britton@awe.co.uk [AWE, Aldermaston, Reading, Berkshire RG7 4PR (United Kingdom); University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH (United Kingdom); Davies, A.V. [AWE, Aldermaston, Reading, Berkshire RG7 4PR (United Kingdom)

2015-06-21

This paper reports on the performance of a recently developed Small Anode Germanium (SAGe) well detector from Canberra Industries. This has been specifically designed to improve the energy resolution of the detector, such that it is comparable to the performance of broad-energy designs while achieving far higher efficiencies. Accurate efficiency characterisations and cascade summing correction factors are crucial for quantifying the radionuclides present in environmental samples, and these were calculated for the complex geometry posed by the well detector using two different methodologies. The first relied on Monte-Carlo simulations based upon the GEANT4 toolkit, and the second utilised Canberra Industries GENIE™ 2000 Gamma Analysis software in conjunction with a LabSOCS™ characterisation. Both were found to be in excellent agreement for all nuclides except for {sup 152}Eu, which presents a known issue in the Canberra software (all nuclides affected by this issue were well documented, and fixes are being developed). The correction factors were used to analyse two fully characterised reference samples, yielding results in good agreement with the accepted activity concentrations. Given the sensitivity of well type geometries to cascade summing, this represents a considerable achievement, and paves the way for the use of the SAGe well detector in analysis of ‘real-world’ environmental samples. With the efficiency increase when using the SAGe well in place of a BEGe, substantial reductions in the Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) should be achievable for a range of nuclides.

Characterisation of a SAGe well detector using GEANT4 and LabSOCS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Britton, R.; Davies, A.V.

2015-01-01

This paper reports on the performance of a recently developed Small Anode Germanium (SAGe) well detector from Canberra Industries. This has been specifically designed to improve the energy resolution of the detector, such that it is comparable to the performance of broad-energy designs while achieving far higher efficiencies. Accurate efficiency characterisations and cascade summing correction factors are crucial for quantifying the radionuclides present in environmental samples, and these were calculated for the complex geometry posed by the well detector using two different methodologies. The first relied on Monte-Carlo simulations based upon the GEANT4 toolkit, and the second utilised Canberra Industries GENIE™ 2000 Gamma Analysis software in conjunction with a LabSOCS™ characterisation. Both were found to be in excellent agreement for all nuclides except for 152 Eu, which presents a known issue in the Canberra software (all nuclides affected by this issue were well documented, and fixes are being developed). The correction factors were used to analyse two fully characterised reference samples, yielding results in good agreement with the accepted activity concentrations. Given the sensitivity of well type geometries to cascade summing, this represents a considerable achievement, and paves the way for the use of the SAGe well detector in analysis of ‘real-world’ environmental samples. With the efficiency increase when using the SAGe well in place of a BEGe, substantial reductions in the Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) should be achievable for a range of nuclides

Creation of a Geant4 Muon Tomography Package for Imaging of Nuclear Fuel in Dry Cask Storage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsoukalas, Lefteri H. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

2016-03-01

This is the final report of the NEUP project “Creation of a Geant4 Muon Tomography Package for Imaging of Nuclear Fuel in Dry Cask Storage”, DE-NE0000695. The project started on December 1, 2013 and this report covers the period December 1, 2013 through November 30, 2015. The project was successfully completed and this report provides an overview of the main achievements, results and findings throughout the duration of the project. Additional details can be found in the main body of this report and on the individual Quarterly Reports and associated Deliverables of the project, uploaded in PICS-NE.

Modelling of the dose-rate variations with depth in the Martian regolith using GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morthekai, P.; Jain, M.; Dartnell, L.; Murray, A.S.; Botter-Jensen, L.; Desorgher, L.

2007-01-01

The environmental radiation field at the Martian surface consists mainly of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) and charged particles ejected during the Solar Particle Events (SPE). Interactions between these radiation fluxes and the regolith result in a complex radiation field that varies both as a function of depth and time and can only be quantified using radiation transport models. We first describe here the main issues and constraints in deriving Martian dose rates. Preliminary results, obtained using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation tool kit, suggest the surface dose rate is ∼63 mGy a -1 during quiet periods in solar activity. The accuracy of the model predictions has been tested by comparison with published observations of cosmic ray dose-rate variation in the Earth's atmosphere

Geant4 simulation of ion chambers response to 60Co spectrum of LNMRI/IRD Shepherd 81-14D Radiator

Science.gov (United States)

Queiroz Filho, P. P.; Da Silva, C. N. M.

2018-03-01

The National Ionizing Radiation Metrology Laboratory of the Radioprotection and Dosimetry Institute (LNMRI / IRD) has recently acquired a Shepherd 81-14D Radiator. In this work we simulate, using Geant4, the behavior with the inverse square law radiation for 3 models of PTW spherical chambers used in radioprotection, a relevant information to planning the measurements. We did the corrections for the attenuation and scattering in the air for each distance, where we used the 60Co spectrum simulated previously.

A fast and complete GEANT4 and ROOT Object-Oriented Toolkit: GROOT

Science.gov (United States)

Lattuada, D.; Balabanski, D. L.; Chesnevskaya, S.; Costa, M.; Crucillà, V.; Guardo, G. L.; La Cognata, M.; Matei, C.; Pizzone, R. G.; Romano, S.; Spitaleri, C.; Tumino, A.; Xu, Y.

2018-01-01

Present and future gamma-beam facilities represent a great opportunity to validate and evaluate the cross-sections of many photonuclear reactions at near-threshold energies. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are very important to evaluate the reaction rates and to maximize the detection efficiency but, unfortunately, they can be very cputime-consuming and in some cases very hard to reproduce, especially when exploring near-threshold cross-section. We developed a software that makes use of the validated tracking GEANT4 libraries and the n-body event generator of ROOT in order to provide a fast, realiable and complete MC tool to be used for nuclear physics experiments. This tool is indeed intended to be used for photonuclear reactions at γ-beam facilities with ELISSA (ELI Silicon Strip Array), a new detector array under development at the Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP). We discuss the results of MC simulations performed to evaluate the effects of the electromagnetic induced background, of the straggling due to the target thickness and of the resolution of the silicon detectors.

Modeling the tagged-neutron UXO identification technique using the Geant4 toolkit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Y.; Zhu, X.; Wang, Y.; Mitra, S.

2012-01-01

It is proposed to use 14 MeV neutrons tagged by the associated particle neutron time-of-flight technique (APnTOF) to identify the fillers of unexploded ordnances (UXO) by characterizing their carbon, nitrogen and oxygen contents. To facilitate the design and construction of a prototype system, a preliminary simulation model was developed, using the Geant4 toolkit. This work established the toolkit environment for (a) generating tagged neutrons, (b) their transport and interactions within a sample to induce emission and detection of characteristic gamma-rays, and (c) 2D and 3D-image reconstruction of the interrogated object using the neutron and gamma-ray time-of-flight information. Using the modeling, this article demonstrates the novelty of the tagged-neutron approach for extracting useful signals with high signal-to-background discrimination of an object-of-interest from that of its environment. Simulations indicated that an UXO filled with the RDX explosive, hexogen (C 3 H 6 O 6 N 6 ), can be identified to a depth of 20 cm when buried in soil. (author)

Simulations of the Response of the Cluster Detector/Scintillator Wall for the 4π facility at SIS/ESR using the GEANT Detector program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrmann, N.; Maguire, C.F.; Cerruti, C.; Coffin, J.P.; Fintz, P.; Guillaume, G.; Jundt, F.; Rami, F.; Tezkratt, R.; Wagner, P.

1990-01-01

The expected response of the cluster detector/scintillator wall of the SIS/ESR 4π facility has been investigated with the use of the GEANT detector program and the FREESCO event generator code. Results are presented and discussed. It is shown in particular that the efficiency of the track reconstruction method should be acceptable

Geant4 simulation of the CERN-EU high-energy reference field (CERF) facility.

Science.gov (United States)

Prokopovich, D A; Reinhard, M I; Cornelius, I M; Rosenfeld, A B

2010-09-01

The CERN-EU high-energy reference field facility is used for testing and calibrating both active and passive radiation dosemeters for radiation protection applications in space and aviation. Through a combination of a primary particle beam, target and a suitable designed shielding configuration, the facility is able to reproduce the neutron component of the high altitude radiation field relevant to the jet aviation industry. Simulations of the facility using the GEANT4 (GEometry ANd Tracking) toolkit provide an improved understanding of the neutron particle fluence as well as the particle fluence of other radiation components present. The secondary particle fluence as a function of the primary particle fluence incident on the target and the associated dose equivalent rates were determined at the 20 designated irradiation positions available at the facility. Comparisons of the simulated results with previously published simulations obtained using the FLUKA Monte Carlo code, as well as with experimental results of the neutron fluence obtained with a Bonner sphere spectrometer, are made.

Validation of Geant4 fragmentation for Heavy Ion Therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Bolst, David; Cirrone, Giuseppe A. P.; Cuttone, Giacomo; Folger, Gunter; Incerti, Sebastien; Ivanchenko, Vladimir; Koi, Tatsumi; Mancusi, Davide; Pandola, Luciano; Romano, Francesco; Rosenfeld, Anatoly B.; Guatelli, Susanna

2017-10-01

12C ion therapy has had growing interest in recent years for its excellent dose conformity. However at therapeutic energies, which can be as high as 400 MeV/u, carbon ions produce secondary fragments. For an incident 400 MeV/u 12C ion beam, ∼ 70 % of the beam will undergo fragmentation before the Bragg Peak. The dosimetric and radiobiological impact of these fragments must be accurately characterised, as it can result in increasing the risk of secondary cancer for the patient as well as altering the relative biological effectiveness. This work investigates the accuracy of three different nuclear fragmentation models available in the Monte Carlo Toolkit Geant4, the Binary Intranuclear Cascade (BIC), the Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) and the Liege Intranuclear Cascade (INCL++). The models were benchmarked against experimental data for a pristine 400 MeV/u 12C beam incident upon a water phantom, including fragment yield, angular and energy distribution. For fragment yields the three alternative models agreed between ∼ 5 and ∼ 35 % with experimental measurements, the QMD using the "Frag" option gave the best agreement for lighter fragments but had reduced agreement for larger fragments. For angular distributions INCL++ was seen to provide the best agreement among the models for all elements with the exception of Hydrogen, while BIC and QMD was seen to produce broader distributions compared to experiment. BIC and QMD performed similar to one another for kinetic energy distributions while INCL++ suffered from producing lower energy distributions compared to the other models and experiment.

Geant4 simulations of soft proton scattering in X-ray optics. A tentative validation using laboratory measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Fioretti, Valentina; Mineo, Teresa; Bulgarelli, Andrea; Dondero, Paolo; Ivanchenko, Vladimir; Lei, Fan; Lotti, Simone; Macculi, Claudio; Mantero, Alfonso

2017-12-01

Low energy protons (process responsible for the grazing angle scattering processes is mandatory to evaluate the impact of such events on the performance (e.g. observation time, sensitivity) of future X-ray telescopes as the ESA ATHENA mission. The Remizovich model describes particles reflected by solids at glancing angles in terms of the Boltzmann transport equation using the diffuse approximation and the model of continuous slowing down in energy. For the first time this solution, in the approximation of no energy losses, is implemented, verified, and qualitatively validated on top of the Geant4 release 10.2, with the possibility to add a constant energy loss to each interaction. This implementation is verified by comparing the simulated proton distribution to both the theoretical probability distribution and with independent ray-tracing simulations. Both the new scattering physics and the Coulomb scattering already built in the official Geant4 distribution are used to reproduce the latest experimental results on grazing angle proton scattering. At 250 keV multiple scattering delivers large proton angles and it is not consistent with the observation. Among the tested models, the single scattering seems to better reproduce the scattering efficiency at the three energies but energy loss obtained at small scattering angles is significantly lower than the experimental values. In general, the energy losses obtained in the experiment are higher than what obtained by the simulation. The experimental data are not completely representative of the soft proton scattering experienced by current X-ray telescopes because of the lack of measurements at low energies (distribution at the exit of X-ray optics.

Consistency evaluation between EGSnrc and Geant4 charged particle transport in an equilibrium magnetic field.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Y M; Bednarz, B

2013-02-21

Following the proposal by several groups to integrate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with radiation therapy, much attention has been afforded to examining the impact of strong (on the order of a Tesla) transverse magnetic fields on photon dose distributions. The effect of the magnetic field on dose distributions must be considered in order to take full advantage of the benefits of real-time intra-fraction imaging. In this investigation, we compared the handling of particle transport in magnetic fields between two Monte Carlo codes, EGSnrc and Geant4, to analyze various aspects of their electromagnetic transport algorithms; both codes are well-benchmarked for medical physics applications in the absence of magnetic fields. A water-air-water slab phantom and a water-lung-water slab phantom were used to highlight dose perturbations near high- and low-density interfaces. We have implemented a method of calculating the Lorentz force in EGSnrc based on theoretical models in literature, and show very good consistency between the two Monte Carlo codes. This investigation further demonstrates the importance of accurate dosimetry for MRI-guided radiation therapy (MRIgRT), and facilitates the integration of a ViewRay MRIgRT system in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Radiation Oncology Department.

Consistency evaluation between EGSnrc and Geant4 charged particle transport in an equilibrium magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Y M; Bednarz, B

2013-01-01

Following the proposal by several groups to integrate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with radiation therapy, much attention has been afforded to examining the impact of strong (on the order of a Tesla) transverse magnetic fields on photon dose distributions. The effect of the magnetic field on dose distributions must be considered in order to take full advantage of the benefits of real-time intra-fraction imaging. In this investigation, we compared the handling of particle transport in magnetic fields between two Monte Carlo codes, EGSnrc and Geant4, to analyze various aspects of their electromagnetic transport algorithms; both codes are well-benchmarked for medical physics applications in the absence of magnetic fields. A water–air–water slab phantom and a water–lung–water slab phantom were used to highlight dose perturbations near high- and low-density interfaces. We have implemented a method of calculating the Lorentz force in EGSnrc based on theoretical models in literature, and show very good consistency between the two Monte Carlo codes. This investigation further demonstrates the importance of accurate dosimetry for MRI-guided radiation therapy (MRIgRT), and facilitates the integration of a ViewRay MRIgRT system in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Radiation Oncology Department. (note)

A new method of testing space-based high-energy electron detectors with radioactive electron sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, S.Y. [National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Beijing Key Laboratory of Space Environment Exploration, Beijing (China); Shen, G.H., E-mail: shgh@nssc.ac.cn [National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Beijing Key Laboratory of Space Environment Exploration, Beijing (China); Sun, Y., E-mail: sunying@nssc.ac.cn [National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Beijing Key Laboratory of Space Environment Exploration, Beijing (China); Zhou, D.Z., E-mail: dazhuang.zhou@gmail.com [National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Beijing Key Laboratory of Space Environment Exploration, Beijing (China); Zhang, X.X., E-mail: xxzhang@cma.gov.cn [National Center for Space Weather, Beijing (China); Li, J.W., E-mail: lijw@cma.gov.cn [National Center for Space Weather, Beijing (China); Huang, C., E-mail: huangc@cma.gov.cn [National Center for Space Weather, Beijing (China); Zhang, X.G., E-mail: zhangxg@nssc.ac.cn [National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Beijing Key Laboratory of Space Environment Exploration, Beijing (China); Dong, Y.J., E-mail: dyj@nssc.ac.cn [National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Beijing Key Laboratory of Space Environment Exploration, Beijing (China); Zhang, W.J., E-mail: zhangreatest@163.com [National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Beijing Key Laboratory of Space Environment Exploration, Beijing (China); Zhang, B.Q., E-mail: zhangbinquan@nssc.ac.cn [National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Beijing Key Laboratory of Space Environment Exploration, Beijing (China); Shi, C.Y., E-mail: scy@nssc.ac.cn [National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Beijing Key Laboratory of Space Environment Exploration, Beijing (China)

2016-05-01

Space-based electron detectors are commonly tested using radioactive β-sources which emit a continuous spectrum without spectral lines. Therefore, the tests are often to be considered only qualitative. This paper introduces a method, which results in more than a qualitative test even when using a β-source. The basic idea is to use the simulated response function of the instrument to invert the measured spectrum and compare this inverted spectrum with a reference spectrum obtained from the same source. Here we have used Geant4 to simulate the instrument response function (IRF) and a 3.5 mm thick Li-drifted Si detector to obtain the reference {sup 90}Sr/{sup 90}Yi source spectrum to test and verify the geometric factors of the Omni-Direction Particle Detector (ODPD) on the Tiangong-1 (TG-1) and Tiangong-2 (TG-2) spacecraft. The TG spacecraft are experimental space laboratories and prototypes of the Chinese space station. The excellent agreement between the measured and reference spectra demonstrates that this test method can be used to quantitatively assess the quality of the instrument. Due to its simplicity, the method is faster and therefore more efficient than traditional full calibrations using an electron accelerator.

A new method of testing space-based high-energy electron detectors with radioactive electron sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, S.Y.; Shen, G.H.; Sun, Y.; Zhou, D.Z.; Zhang, X.X.; Li, J.W.; Huang, C.; Zhang, X.G.; Dong, Y.J.; Zhang, W.J.; Zhang, B.Q.; Shi, C.Y.

2016-01-01

Space-based electron detectors are commonly tested using radioactive β-sources which emit a continuous spectrum without spectral lines. Therefore, the tests are often to be considered only qualitative. This paper introduces a method, which results in more than a qualitative test even when using a β-source. The basic idea is to use the simulated response function of the instrument to invert the measured spectrum and compare this inverted spectrum with a reference spectrum obtained from the same source. Here we have used Geant4 to simulate the instrument response function (IRF) and a 3.5 mm thick Li-drifted Si detector to obtain the reference "9"0Sr/"9"0Yi source spectrum to test and verify the geometric factors of the Omni-Direction Particle Detector (ODPD) on the Tiangong-1 (TG-1) and Tiangong-2 (TG-2) spacecraft. The TG spacecraft are experimental space laboratories and prototypes of the Chinese space station. The excellent agreement between the measured and reference spectra demonstrates that this test method can be used to quantitatively assess the quality of the instrument. Due to its simplicity, the method is faster and therefore more efficient than traditional full calibrations using an electron accelerator.

Geant4 simulation of ion chambers response to {sup 60}Co spectrum of LNMRI/IRD Shepherd 81-14D Radiator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Queiroz Filho, P.P.; Silva, C.N.M. da, E-mail: queiroz@ird.gov.br [Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2017-07-01

The National Ionizing Radiation Metrology Laboratory of the Radioprotection and Dosimetry Institute (LNMRI / IRD) has recently acquired a Shepherd 81-14D Radiator. In this work we simulate, using Geant4, the behavior with the inverse square law radiation of the distance for 3 models of PTW spherical chambers used in radioprotection, a relevant information to planning the measurements. We did the corrections for the attenuation and scattering in the air for each distance, where we used the {sup 60}Co spectrum simulated previously. (author)

The simulation of an imaging gamma-ray Compton backscattering device using GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flechas, D.; Cristancho, F.; Sarmiento, L.G.; Fajardo, E.

2014-01-01

A gamma-backscattering imaging device dubbed Compton Camera, developed at GSI (Darmstadt, Germany) and modified and studied at the Nuclear Physics Group of the National University of Colombia in Bogota, uses the back-to-back emission of two gamma rays in the positron annihilation to construct a bidimensional image that represents the distribution of matter in the field-of-view of the camera. This imaging capability can be used in a host of different situations, for example, to identify and study deposition and structural defects, and to help locating concealed objects, to name just two cases. In order to increase the understanding of the response of the Compton Camera and, in particular, its image formation process, and to assist in the data analysis, a simulation of the camera was developed using the GEANT4 simulation toolkit. In this work, the images resulting from different experimental conditions are shown. The simulated images and their comparison with the experimental ones already suggest methods to improve the present experimental device. (author)

Geant4 simulation of gamma conversion to muon pair for dark matter searches

CERN Document Server

Sokolov, Anton

2017-01-01

There is a direct evidence from different astronomical observations and CMB spectrum that 26% of the visible part of the Universe consists of so-called dark matter. There are many models explaining the phenomenon of dark matter, however none of them has been confirmed experimentally. It justifies the further searches for the dark matter that involve more and more various experiments, such as, for instance, SHiP experiment [1] at CERN or LDMX project [2] at SLAC. LDMX (Light Dark Matter eXperiment) is an electron fixedtarget missing momentum search for light dark matter. The main process that LDMX looks for is dark bremsstrahlung (i.e. emitting a light dark matter particle) by the several GeV electrons scattered off the target. This process is contaminated by the background of ordinary bremsstrahlung, that consists of many different processes which can be accounted for and vetoed by various counters. The experiment designs are studied with the Geant4 toolkit. Recently, one of the important background pro...

Comparison of Geant4 multiple Coulomb scattering models with theory for radiotherapy protons.

Science.gov (United States)

Makarova, Anastasia; Gottschalk, Bernard; Sauerwein, Wolfgang

2017-07-06

Usually, Monte Carlo models are validated against experimental data. However, models of multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS) in the Gaussian approximation are exceptional in that we have theories which are probably more accurate than the experiments which have, so far, been done to test them. In problems directly sensitive to the distribution of angles leaving the target, the relevant theory is the Molière/Fano/Hanson variant of Molière theory (Gottschalk et al 1993 Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B 74 467-90). For transverse spreading of the beam in the target itself, the theory of Preston and Koehler (Gottschalk (2012 arXiv:1204.4470)) holds. Therefore, in this paper we compare Geant4 simulations, using the Urban and Wentzel models of MCS, with theory rather than experiment, revealing trends which would otherwise be obscured by experimental scatter. For medium-energy (radiotherapy) protons, and low-Z (water-like) target materials, Wentzel appears to be better than Urban in simulating the distribution of outgoing angles. For beam spreading in the target itself, the two models are essentially equal.

Optimization of {sup 6}LiF:ZnS(Ag) Scintillator Light Yield Using Geant4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yehuda-Zada, Y. [Nuclear Research Center Negev, Beer-Sheva (Israel); Ben-Gurion University (Israel); Pritchard, K.; Ziegler, J.B.; Cooksey, C.; Siebein, K. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland (United States); Jackson, M.; Hurlbut, C. [Eljen Technology, Sweetwater Texas (United States); Kadmon, Y.; Cohen, Y.; Maliszewskyj, N.C. [Nuclear Research Center Negev, Beer-Sheva (Israel); Ibberson, R.M.; Majkrzak, C.F. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland (United States); Orion, Y. [Ben-Gurion University (Israel); Osovizky, A. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland (United States); Rotem Industries Ltd, Rotem Industrial Park (Israel); University of Maryland (United States)

2015-07-01

Neutrons provide an effective tool to probe materials structure. Neutron diffraction is a method to determine the atomic and magnetic structure of a material based on neutron scattering. By this method a collimated incident beam of thermal neutrons heat the examined sample and based on the obtained diffraction pattern information on the structure of the material is provided. Research for developing a novel cold neutron detector for Chromatic Analysis Neutron Diffractometer Or Reflectometer (CANDOR) is underway at the NIST center for neutron research. The system unique design is aimed to provide over ten times fold faster analysis of materials than conventional system. In order to achieve the fast analysis a large number of neutron detectors is required. A key design constraint for this detector is the thickness of the neutron sensitive element. This is met using {sup 6}LiF:ZnS(Ag) scintillation material with embedded wavelength shifting (WLS) fibers conducting scintillation light to silicon photomultiplier photo-sensors. The detector sensitivity is determined by both the neutron capture probability ({sup 6}Li density) and the detectable light output produced by the ZnS(Ag) ionization, the latter of which is hindered by the fluorescence absorption of the scintillation light by the ZnS. Tradeoffs between the neutron capture probability, stimulated light production and light attenuation for determining the optimal stoichiometry of the {sup 6}LiF and ZnS(Ag) as well as the volume ratio of scintillator and fiber. Simulations performed using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo package were made in order to optimize the detector design. GEANT4 enables the investigation of the neutron interaction with the detector, the ionization process and the light transfer process following the nuclear process. The series of conversions required for this detector were modelled: - A cold neutron enters the sensor and is captured by {sup 6}Li in the scintillator mixture ({sup 6}Li (n,α) {sup 3}H

The implementation of quality controls of gamma camera functioning and simulation of tomography techniques by Gate and GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben Ameur, Narjes

2011-01-01

The reliability of medical devices is directly linked to the services quality offered to the patient. For this reason, quality control tests should be regularly conducted in every nuclear medicine service according to international norms. Our approach consists on realizing different quality control tests recommended by the Nema norm on a gamma-camera in order to evaluate its performance. The obtained data allowed us to study the different physical phenomena happening during a SPECT exam. It also allowed us to identify those affecting the image quality based on the simulation programmes: GEANT 4 and Gate. The obtained results of the quality control showed that the Gamma-camera has a high performance in terms of spatial resolution, linearity, uniformity and rotational center. The establishment of a model for a gamma-camera Symbia E (Siemens) using a Gate platform confirms the reliability of this platform in the conception and the optimization of the detectors.

Performance of GeantV EM Physics Models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amadio, G.; et al.

2016-10-14

The recent progress in parallel hardware architectures with deeper vector pipelines or many-cores technologies brings opportunities for HEP experiments to take advantage of SIMD and SIMT computing models. Launched in 2013, the GeantV project studies performance gains in propagating multiple particles in parallel, improving instruction throughput and data locality in HEP event simulation on modern parallel hardware architecture. Due to the complexity of geometry description and physics algorithms of a typical HEP application, performance analysis is indispensable in identifying factors limiting parallel execution. In this report, we will present design considerations and preliminary computing performance of GeantV physics models on coprocessors (Intel Xeon Phi and NVidia GPUs) as well as on mainstream CPUs.

Performance of GeantV EM Physics Models

Science.gov (United States)

Amadio, G.; Ananya, A.; Apostolakis, J.; Aurora, A.; Bandieramonte, M.; Bhattacharyya, A.; Bianchini, C.; Brun, R.; Canal, P.; Carminati, F.; Cosmo, G.; Duhem, L.; Elvira, D.; Folger, G.; Gheata, A.; Gheata, M.; Goulas, I.; Iope, R.; Jun, S. Y.; Lima, G.; Mohanty, A.; Nikitina, T.; Novak, M.; Pokorski, W.; Ribon, A.; Seghal, R.; Shadura, O.; Vallecorsa, S.; Wenzel, S.; Zhang, Y.

2017-10-01

The recent progress in parallel hardware architectures with deeper vector pipelines or many-cores technologies brings opportunities for HEP experiments to take advantage of SIMD and SIMT computing models. Launched in 2013, the GeantV project studies performance gains in propagating multiple particles in parallel, improving instruction throughput and data locality in HEP event simulation on modern parallel hardware architecture. Due to the complexity of geometry description and physics algorithms of a typical HEP application, performance analysis is indispensable in identifying factors limiting parallel execution. In this report, we will present design considerations and preliminary computing performance of GeantV physics models on coprocessors (Intel Xeon Phi and NVidia GPUs) as well as on mainstream CPUs.

Performance of GeantV EM Physics Models

CERN Document Server

Amadio, G; Apostolakis, J; Aurora, A; Bandieramonte, M; Bhattacharyya, A; Bianchini, C; Brun, R; Canal P; Carminati, F; Cosmo, G; Duhem, L; Elvira, D; Folger, G; Gheata, A; Gheata, M; Goulas, I; Iope, R; Jun, S Y; Lima, G; Mohanty, A; Nikitina, T; Novak, M; Pokorski, W; Ribon, A; Seghal, R; Shadura, O; Vallecorsa, S; Wenzel, S; Zhang, Y

2017-01-01

The recent progress in parallel hardware architectures with deeper vector pipelines or many-cores technologies brings opportunities for HEP experiments to take advantage of SIMD and SIMT computing models. Launched in 2013, the GeantV project studies performance gains in propagating multiple particles in parallel, improving instruction throughput and data locality in HEP event simulation on modern parallel hardware architecture. Due to the complexity of geometry description and physics algorithms of a typical HEP application, performance analysis is indispensable in identifying factors limiting parallel execution. In this report, we will present design considerations and preliminary computing performance of GeantV physics models on coprocessors (Intel Xeon Phi and NVidia GPUs) as well as on mainstream CPUs.

A polygon-surface reference Korean male phantom (PSRK-Man) and its direct implementation in Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Chan Hyeong; Jeong, Jong Hwi [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Bolch, Wesley E [Department of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Cho, Kun-Woo [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, 19 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-600 (Korea, Republic of); Hwang, Sung Bae, E-mail: chkim@hanyang.ac.kr [Department of Physical Therapy, Kyungbuk College, Hyucheon 2-dong, Yeongju-si, Gyeongbuk 750-712 (Korea, Republic of)

2011-05-21

Even though the hybrid phantom embodies both the anatomic reality of voxel phantoms and the deformability of stylized phantoms, it must be voxelized to be used in a Monte Carlo code for dose calculation or some imaging simulation, which incurs the inherent limitations of voxel phantoms. In the present study, a voxel phantom named VKH-Man (Visible Korean Human-Man), was converted to a polygon-surface phantom (PSRK-Man, Polygon-Surface Reference Korean-Man), which was then adjusted to the Reference Korean data. Subsequently, the PSRK-Man polygon phantom was directly, without any voxelization process, implemented in the Geant4 Monte Carlo code for dose calculations. The calculated dose values and computation time were then compared with those of HDRK-Man (High Definition Reference Korean-Man), a corresponding voxel phantom adjusted to the same Reference Korean data from the same VKH-Man voxel phantom. Our results showed that the calculated dose values of the PSRK-Man surface phantom agreed well with those of the HDRK-Man voxel phantom. The calculation speed for the PSRK-Man polygon phantom though was 70-150 times slower than that of the HDRK-Man voxel phantom; that speed, however, could be acceptable in some applications, in that direct use of the surface phantom PSRK-Man in Geant4 does not require a separate voxelization process. Computing speed can be enhanced, in future, either by optimizing the Monte Carlo transport kernel for the polygon surfaces or by using modern computing technologies such as grid computing and general-purpose computing on graphics processing units programming.

A polygon-surface reference Korean male phantom (PSRK-Man) and its direct implementation in Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chan Hyeong; Jeong, Jong Hwi; Bolch, Wesley E; Cho, Kun-Woo; Hwang, Sung Bae

2011-01-01

Even though the hybrid phantom embodies both the anatomic reality of voxel phantoms and the deformability of stylized phantoms, it must be voxelized to be used in a Monte Carlo code for dose calculation or some imaging simulation, which incurs the inherent limitations of voxel phantoms. In the present study, a voxel phantom named VKH-Man (Visible Korean Human-Man), was converted to a polygon-surface phantom (PSRK-Man, Polygon-Surface Reference Korean-Man), which was then adjusted to the Reference Korean data. Subsequently, the PSRK-Man polygon phantom was directly, without any voxelization process, implemented in the Geant4 Monte Carlo code for dose calculations. The calculated dose values and computation time were then compared with those of HDRK-Man (High Definition Reference Korean-Man), a corresponding voxel phantom adjusted to the same Reference Korean data from the same VKH-Man voxel phantom. Our results showed that the calculated dose values of the PSRK-Man surface phantom agreed well with those of the HDRK-Man voxel phantom. The calculation speed for the PSRK-Man polygon phantom though was 70-150 times slower than that of the HDRK-Man voxel phantom; that speed, however, could be acceptable in some applications, in that direct use of the surface phantom PSRK-Man in Geant4 does not require a separate voxelization process. Computing speed can be enhanced, in future, either by optimizing the Monte Carlo transport kernel for the polygon surfaces or by using modern computing technologies such as grid computing and general-purpose computing on graphics processing units programming.

BCD/CPS: An event-level GEANT3 parallelization via CPS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, L.A.

1991-04-01

BCD/CPS is an implementation of the Bottom Collider Detector GEANT3 simulation for CPS processor ranches. BCD/CPS demonstrates some of the capabilities of event-parallel applications applicable to current SSC detector simulations using the CPS and CZ/CPS communications protocols. Design, implementation and usage of the BCD/CPS simulation are presented along with extensive source listings for novice GEANT3/CPS programmers. 11 refs

Modeling the TrueBeam linac using a CAD to Geant4 geometry implementation: Dose and IAEA-compliant phase space calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Constantin, Magdalena; Perl, Joseph; LoSasso, Tom; Salop, Arthur; Whittum, David; Narula, Anisha; Svatos, Michelle; Keall, Paul J.

2011-01-01

Purpose: To create an accurate 6 MV Monte Carlo simulation phase space for the Varian TrueBeam treatment head geometry imported from cad (computer aided design) without adjusting the input electron phase space parameters. Methods: geant4 v4.9.2.p01 was employed to simulate the 6 MV beam treatment head geometry of the Varian TrueBeam linac. The electron tracks in the linear accelerator were simulated with Parmela, and the obtained electron phase space was used as an input to the Monte Carlo beam transport and dose calculations. The geometry components are tessellated solids included in geant4 as gdml (generalized dynamic markup language) files obtained via STEP (standard for the exchange of product) export from Pro/Engineering, followed by STEP import in Fastrad, a STEP-gdml converter. The linac has a compact treatment head and the small space between the shielding collimator and the divergent arc of the upper jaws forbids the implementation of a plane for storing the phase space. Instead, an IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) compliant phase space writer was implemented on a cylindrical surface. The simulation was run in parallel on a 1200 node Linux cluster. The 6 MV dose calculations were performed for field sizes varying from 4 x 4 to 40 x 40 cm 2 . The voxel size for the 60x60x40 cm 3 water phantom was 4x4x4 mm 3 . For the 10x10 cm 2 field, surface buildup calculations were performed using 4x4x2 mm 3 voxels within 20 mm of the surface. Results: For the depth dose curves, 98% of the calculated data points agree within 2% with the experimental measurements for depths between 2 and 40 cm. For depths between 5 and 30 cm, agreement within 1% is obtained for 99% (4x4), 95% (10x10), 94% (20x20 and 30x30), and 89% (40x40) of the data points, respectively. In the buildup region, the agreement is within 2%, except at 1 mm depth where the deviation is 5% for the 10x10 cm 2 open field. For the lateral dose profiles, within the field size for fields up to 30x30 cm 2

Modeling the TrueBeam linac using a CAD to Geant4 geometry implementation: Dose and IAEA-compliant phase space calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Constantin, Magdalena; Perl, Joseph; LoSasso, Tom; Salop, Arthur; Whittum, David; Narula, Anisha; Svatos, Michelle; Keall, Paul J. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Radiation Physics Division, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94304 (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025 (United States); Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York 10021 (United States); Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Palo Alto, California 94304 (United States); Department of Radiation Oncology, Radiation Physics Division, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94304 (United States)

2011-07-15

Purpose: To create an accurate 6 MV Monte Carlo simulation phase space for the Varian TrueBeam treatment head geometry imported from cad (computer aided design) without adjusting the input electron phase space parameters. Methods: geant4 v4.9.2.p01 was employed to simulate the 6 MV beam treatment head geometry of the Varian TrueBeam linac. The electron tracks in the linear accelerator were simulated with Parmela, and the obtained electron phase space was used as an input to the Monte Carlo beam transport and dose calculations. The geometry components are tessellated solids included in geant4 as gdml (generalized dynamic markup language) files obtained via STEP (standard for the exchange of product) export from Pro/Engineering, followed by STEP import in Fastrad, a STEP-gdml converter. The linac has a compact treatment head and the small space between the shielding collimator and the divergent arc of the upper jaws forbids the implementation of a plane for storing the phase space. Instead, an IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) compliant phase space writer was implemented on a cylindrical surface. The simulation was run in parallel on a 1200 node Linux cluster. The 6 MV dose calculations were performed for field sizes varying from 4 x 4 to 40 x 40 cm{sup 2}. The voxel size for the 60x60x40 cm{sup 3} water phantom was 4x4x4 mm{sup 3}. For the 10x10 cm{sup 2} field, surface buildup calculations were performed using 4x4x2 mm{sup 3} voxels within 20 mm of the surface. Results: For the depth dose curves, 98% of the calculated data points agree within 2% with the experimental measurements for depths between 2 and 40 cm. For depths between 5 and 30 cm, agreement within 1% is obtained for 99% (4x4), 95% (10x10), 94% (20x20 and 30x30), and 89% (40x40) of the data points, respectively. In the buildup region, the agreement is within 2%, except at 1 mm depth where the deviation is 5% for the 10x10 cm{sup 2} open field. For the lateral dose profiles, within the field size

A Geant4-based Simulation to Evaluate the Feasibility of Using Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence (NRF) in Determining Atomic Compositions of Body Tissue in Cancer Diagnostics and Irradiation

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbo, Yekaterina; Wijesooriya, Krishni; Liyanage, Nilanga

2017-01-01

Customarily applied in homeland security for identifying concealed explosives and chemical weapons, NRF (Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence) may have high potential in determining atomic compositions of body tissue. High energy photons incident on a target excite the target nuclei causing characteristic re-emission of resonance photons. As the nuclei of each isotope have well-defined excitation energies, NRF uniquely indicates the isotopic content of the target. NRF radiation corresponding to nuclear isotopes present in the human body is emitted during radiotherapy based on Bremsstrahlung photons generated in a linear electron accelerator. We have developed a Geant4 simulation in order to help assess NRF capabilities in detecting, mapping, and characterizing tumors. We have imported a digital phantom into the simulation using anatomical data linked to known chemical compositions of various tissues. Work is ongoing to implement the University of Virginia's cancer center treatment setup and patient geometry, and to collect and analyze the simulation's physics quantities to evaluate the potential of NRF for medical imaging applications. Preliminary results will be presented.

Verification of Electromagnetic Physics Models for Parallel Computing Architectures in the GeantV Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amadio, G.; et al.

2017-11-22

An intensive R&D and programming effort is required to accomplish new challenges posed by future experimental high-energy particle physics (HEP) programs. The GeantV project aims to narrow the gap between the performance of the existing HEP detector simulation software and the ideal performance achievable, exploiting latest advances in computing technology. The project has developed a particle detector simulation prototype capable of transporting in parallel particles in complex geometries exploiting instruction level microparallelism (SIMD and SIMT), task-level parallelism (multithreading) and high-level parallelism (MPI), leveraging both the multi-core and the many-core opportunities. We present preliminary verification results concerning the electromagnetic (EM) physics models developed for parallel computing architectures within the GeantV project. In order to exploit the potential of vectorization and accelerators and to make the physics model effectively parallelizable, advanced sampling techniques have been implemented and tested. In this paper we introduce a set of automated statistical tests in order to verify the vectorized models by checking their consistency with the corresponding Geant4 models and to validate them against experimental data.

Geant4 Hadronic Cascade Models and CMS Data Analysis : Computational Challenges in the LHC era

CERN Document Server

Heikkinen, Aatos

This work belongs to the field of computational high-energy physics (HEP). The key methods used in this thesis work to meet the challenges raised by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) era experiments are object-orientation with software engineering, Monte Carlo simulation, the computer technology of clusters, and artificial neural networks. The first aspect discussed is the development of hadronic cascade models, used for the accurate simulation of medium-energy hadron-nucleus reactions, up to 10 GeV. These models are typically needed in hadronic calorimeter studies and in the estimation of radiation backgrounds. Various applications outside HEP include the medical field (such as hadron treatment simulations), space science (satellite shielding), and nuclear physics (spallation studies). Validation results are presented for several significant improvements released in Geant4 simulation tool, and the significance of the new models for computing in the Large Hadron Collider era is estimated. In particular, we es...

Inter-comparison of Dose Distributions Calculated by FLUKA, GEANT4, MCNP, and PHITS for Proton Therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zi-Yi; Tsai, Pi-En; Lee, Shao-Chun; Liu, Yen-Chiang; Chen, Chin-Cheng; Sato, Tatsuhiko; Sheu, Rong-Jiun

2017-09-01

The dose distributions from proton pencil beam scanning were calculated by FLUKA, GEANT4, MCNP, and PHITS, in order to investigate their applicability in proton radiotherapy. The first studied case was the integrated depth dose curves (IDDCs), respectively from a 100 and a 226-MeV proton pencil beam impinging a water phantom. The calculated IDDCs agree with each other as long as each code employs 75 eV for the ionization potential of water. The second case considered a similar condition of the first case but with proton energies in a Gaussian distribution. The comparison to the measurement indicates the inter-code differences might not only due to different stopping power but also the nuclear physics models. How the physics parameter setting affect the computation time was also discussed. In the third case, the applicability of each code for pencil beam scanning was confirmed by delivering a uniform volumetric dose distribution based on the treatment plan, and the results showed general agreement between each codes, the treatment plan, and the measurement, except that some deviations were found in the penumbra region. This study has demonstrated that the selected codes are all capable of performing dose calculations for therapeutic scanning proton beams with proper physics settings.

Optimization of a general-purpose, actively scanned proton beamline for ocular treatments: Geant4 simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Piersimoni, Pierluigi; Rimoldi, Adele; Riccardi, Cristina; Pirola, Michele; Molinelli, Silvia; Ciocca, Mario

2015-03-08

The Italian National Center for Hadrontherapy (CNAO, Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica), a synchrotron-based hospital facility, started the treatment of patients within selected clinical trials in late 2011 and 2012 with actively scanned proton and carbon ion beams, respectively. The activation of a new clinical protocol for the irradiation of uveal melanoma using the existing general-purpose proton beamline is foreseen for late 2014. Beam characteristics and patient treatment setup need to be tuned to meet the specific requirements for such a type of treatment technique. The aim of this study is to optimize the CNAO transport beamline by adding passive components and minimizing air gap to achieve the optimal conditions for ocular tumor irradiation. The CNAO setup with the active and passive components along the transport beamline, as well as a human eye-modeled detector also including a realistic target volume, were simulated using the Monte Carlo Geant4 toolkit. The strong reduction of the air gap between the nozzle and patient skin, as well as the insertion of a range shifter plus a patient-specific brass collimator at a short distance from the eye, were found to be effective tools to be implemented. In perspective, this simulation toolkit could also be used as a benchmark for future developments and testing purposes on commercial treatment planning systems.

Combined in-beam gamma-ray and conversion electron spectroscopy with radioactive ion beams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konki J.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In-beam gamma-ray and electron spectroscopy have been widely used as tools to study the broad variety of phenomena in nuclear structure. The SPEDE spectrometer is a new device to be used in conjunction with the MINIBALL germanium detector array to enable the detection of internal conversion electrons in coincidence with gamma rays from de-exciting nuclei in radioactive ion beam experiments at the upcoming HIE-ISOLDE facility at CERN, Switzerland. Geant4 simulations were carried out in order to optimise the design and segmentation of the silicon detector to achieve good energy resolution and performance.

Distributed Geant4 simulation in medical and space science applications using DIANE framework and the GRID

CERN Document Server

Moscicki, J T; Mantero, A; Pia, M G

2003-01-01

Distributed computing is one of the most important trends in IT which has recently gained significance for large-scale scientific applications. Distributed analysis environment (DIANE) is a R&D study, focusing on semiinteractive parallel and remote data analysis and simulation, which has been conducted at CERN. DIANE provides necessary software infrastructure for parallel scientific applications in the master-worker model. Advanced error recovery policies, automatic book-keeping of distributed jobs and on-line monitoring and control tools are provided. DIANE makes a transparent use of a number of different middleware implementations such as load balancing service (LSF, PBS, GRID Resource Broker, Condor) and security service (GSI, Kerberos, openssh). A number of distributed Geant 4 simulations have been deployed and tested, ranging from interactive radiotherapy treatment planning using dedicated clusters in hospitals, to globally-distributed simulations of astrophysics experiments using the European data g...

Development of a computational system based in the code GEANT4 for dosimetric evaluation in radiotherapy; Desenvolvimento de um sistema computacional baseado no Codigo GEANT4 para avaliacoes dosimetricas em radioterapia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oliveira, Alex Cristovao Holanda de

2016-10-01

The incidence of cancer has grown in Brazil, as well as around the world, following the change in the age profile of the population. One of the most important techniques and commonly used in cancer treatment is radiotherapy. Around 60% of new cases of cancer use radiation in at least one phase of treatment. The most used equipment for radiotherapy is a linear accelerator (Linac) which produces electron or X-ray beams in energy range from 5 to 30 MeV. The most appropriate way to irradiate a patient is determined during treatment planning. Currently, treatment planning system (TPS) is the main and the most important tool in the process of planning for radiotherapy. The main objective of this work is to develop a computational system based on the MC code Geant4 for dose evaluations in photon beam radiotherapy. In addition to treatment planning, these dose evaluations can be performed for research and quality control of equipment and TPSs. The computer system, called Quimera, consists of a graphical user interface (qGUI) and three MC applications (qLinacs, qMATphantoms and qNCTphantoms). The qGUI has the function of interface for the MC applications, by creating or editing the input files, running simulations and analyzing the results. The qLinacs is used for modeling and generation of Linac beams (phase space). The qMATphantoms and qNCTphantoms are used for dose calculations in virtual models of physical phantoms and computed tomography (CT) images, respectively. From manufacturer's data, models of a Varian Linac photon beam and a Varian multileaf collimator (MLC) were simulated in the qLinacs. The Linac and MLC modelling were validated using experimental data. qMATphamtoms and qNCTphantoms were validated using IAEA phase spaces. In this first version, the Quimera can be used for research, radiotherapy planning of simple treatments and quality control in photon beam radiotherapy. The MC applications work independent of the qGUI and the qGUI can be used for

Analysis of the dead layer of a detector of germanium with code ultrapure Monte Carlo SWORD-GEANT; Analisis del dead layer de un detector de germanio ultrapuro con el codigo de Monte Carlo SWORDS-GEANT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gallardo, S.; Querol, A.; Ortiz, J.; Rodenas, J.; Verdu, G.

2014-07-01

In this paper the use of Monte Carlo code SWORD-GEANT is proposed to simulate an ultra pure germanium detector High Purity Germanium detector (HPGe) detector ORTEC specifically GMX40P4, coaxial geometry. (Author)

New Standard Evaluated Neutron Cross Section Libraries for the GEANT4 Code and First Verification

CERN Document Server

Mendoza, Emilio; Koi, Tatsumi; Guerrero, Carlos

2014-01-01

The Monte Carlo simulation of the interaction of neutrons with matter relies on evaluated nuclear data libraries and models. The evaluated libraries are compilations of measured physical parameters (such as cross sections) combined with predictions of nuclear model calculations which have been adjusted to reproduce the experimental data. The results obtained from the simulations depend largely on the accuracy of the underlying nuclear data used, and thus it is important to have access to the nuclear data libraries available, either of general use or compiled for specific applications, and to perform exhaustive validations which cover the wide scope of application of the simulation code. In this paper we describe the work performed in order to extend the capabilities of the GEANT4 toolkit for the simulation of the interaction of neutrons with matter at neutron energies up to 20 MeV and a first verification of the results obtained. Such a work is of relevance for applications as diverse as the simulation of a n...

The GEANT4 simulation study of the characteristic γ-ray spectrum of TNT under soil induced by DT neutron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin Xue; Han Jifeng; Yang Chaowen

2014-01-01

The characteristic γ-ray spectrum of TNT under soil induced by DT neutron is measured based on the PFTNA demining system. GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit is used to simulate the whole experimental procedure. The simulative spectrum is compared with the experimental spectrum. The result shows that they are mainly consistent. It is for the first time to analyze the spectrum by Monte Carlo simulation, the share of the background sources such as neutron, gamma are obtained, the contribution that the experimental apparatus such as shielding, detector sleeve, moderator make to the background is analysed. The study found that the effective gamma signal (from soil and TNT) is only 29% of the full-spectrum signal, and the background signal is more than 68% of the full-spectrum signal, which is mainly produced in the shielding and the detector sleeve. The simulation result shows that by gradually improving the shielding and the cadmium of the detector sleeve, the share of the effective gamma signal can increase to 36% and the background signal can fell 7% eventually. (authors)

Energy Response and Longitudinal Shower Profiles Measured in CMS HCAL and Comparison With Geant4

CERN Document Server

Baiatian, G; Emeliantchik, Igor; Massolov, V; Shumeiko, Nikolai; Stefanovich, R; Damgov, Jordan; Dimitrov, Lubomir; Genchev, Vladimir; Piperov, Stefan; Vankov, Ivan; Litov, Leander; Bencze, Gyorgy; Laszlo, Andras; Pal, Andras; Vesztergombi, Gyorgy; Zálán, Peter; Fenyvesi, Andras; Bawa, Harinder Singh; Beri, Suman Bala; Bhatnagar, Vipin; Kaur, Manjit; Kohli, Jatinder Mohan; Kumar, Arun; Singh, Jas Bir; Acharya, Bannaje Sripathi; Banerjee, Sunanda; Banerjee, Sudeshna; Chendvankar, Sanjay; Dugad, Shashikant; Kalmani, Suresh Devendrappa; Katta, S; Mazumdar, Kajari; Mondal, Naba Kumar; Nagaraj, P; Patil, Mandakini Ravindra; Reddy, L; Satyanarayana, B; Sharma, Seema; Sudhakar, Katta; Verma, Piyush; Hashemi, Majid; Mohammadi-Najafabadi, M; Paktinat, S; Golutvin, Igor; Kalagin, Vladimir; Kosarev, Ivan; Ladygin, Vladimir; Mescheryakov, G; Moissenz, P; Petrosian, A; Sergeyev, S; Smirnov, Vitaly; Vishnevskiy, Alexander; Volodko, Anton; Zarubin, Anatoli; Gavrilov, Vladimir; Gershtein, Yuri; Ilyina, N; Kaftanov, Vitali; Kisselevich, I; Kolossov, V; Krokhotin, Andrey; Kuleshov, Sergey; Litvintsev, Dmitri; Ulyanov, A; Safronov, Grigory; Semenov, Sergey; Stolin, Viatcheslav; Demianov, A; Gribushin, Andrey; Kodolova, Olga; Petrushanko, Sergey; Sarycheva, Ludmila; Teplov, V; Vardanyan, Irina; Yershov, A; Abramov, Victor; Goncharov, Petr; Kalinin, Alexey; Khmelnikov, Alexander; Korablev, Andrey; Korneev, Yury; Krinitsyn, Alexander; Kryshkin, V; Lukanin, Vladimir; Pikalov, Vladimir; Ryazanov, Anton; Talov, Vladimir; Turchanovich, L; Volkov, Alexey; Camporesi, Tiziano; De Visser, Theo; Vlassov, E; Aydin, Sezgin; Bakirci, Mustafa Numan; Cerci, Salim; Dumanoglu, Isa; Eskut, Eda; Kayis-Topaksu, A; Koylu, S; Kurt, Pelin; Onengüt, G; Ozkurt, Halil; Polatoz, A; Sogut, Kenan; Topakli, Huseyin; Vergili, Mehmet; Yetkin, Taylan; Cankocak, Kerem; Esendemir, Akif; Gamsizkan, Halil; Güler, M; Ozkan, Cigdem; Sekmen, Sezen; Serin-Zeyrek, M; Sever, Ramazan; Yazgan, Efe; Zeyrek, Mehmet; Deliomeroglu, Mehmet; Dindar, Kamile; Gülmez, Erhan; Isiksal, Engin; Kaya, Mithat; Ozkorucuklu, Suat; Levchuk, Leonid; Sorokin, Pavel; Senchishin, V; Hauptman, John M; Abdullin, Salavat; Elias, John E; Elvira, D; Freeman, Jim; Green, Dan; Los, Serguei; O'Dell, Vivian; Ronzhin, Anatoly; Suzuki, Ichiro; Vidal, Richard; Whitmore, Juliana; Arcidy, M; Hazen, Eric; Heering, Arjan Hendrix; Lawlor, C; Lazic, Dragoslav; Machado, Emanuel; Rohlf, James; Varela, F; Wu, Shouxiang; Baden, Drew; Bard, Robert; Eno, Sarah Catherine; Grassi, Tullio; Jarvis, Chad; Kellogg, Richard G; Kunori, Shuichi; Mans, Jeremy; Skuja, Andris; Podrasky, V; Sanzeni, Christopher; Winn, Dave; Akgun, Ugur; Ayan, S; Duru, Firdevs; Merlo, Jean-Pierre; Mestvirishvili, Alexi; Miller, Michael; Norbeck, Edwin; Olson, Jonathan; Onel, Yasar; Schmidt, Ianos; Akchurin, Nural; Carrell, Kenneth Wayne; Gumus, Kazim; Kim, Heejong; Spezziga, Mario; Thomas, Ray; Baarmand, Marc M; Mermerkaya, Hamit; Ralich, Robert; Vodopiyanov, Igor; Kramer, Laird; Linn, Stephan; Markowitz, Pete; Cushman, Priscilla; Ma, Yousi; Sherwood, Brian; Cremaldi, Lucien Marcus; Reidy, Jim; Sanders, David A; Karmgard, Daniel John; Ruchti, Randy; Fisher, Wade Cameron; Tully, Christopher; Bodek, Arie; De Barbaro, Pawel; Budd, Howard; Chung, Yeon Sei; Haelen, T; Hagopian, Sharon; Hagopian, Vasken; Johnson, Kurtis F; Barnes, Virgil E; Laasanen, Alvin T

2007-01-01

The response of the CMS combined electromagnetic and hadron calorimeter to beams of pions with momenta in the range 5-300 GeV/c has been measured in the H2 test beam at CERN. The raw response with the electromagnetic compartment calibrated to electrons and the hadron compartment calibrated to 300 GeV pions may be represented by sigma = (1.2) sqrt{E} oplus (0.095) E. The fraction of energy visible in the calorimeter ranges from 0.72 at 5 GeV to 0.95 at 300 GeV, indicating a substantial nonlinearity. The intrinsic electron to hadron ratios are fit as a function of energy and found to be in the range 1.3-2.7 for the electromagnetic compartment and 1.4-1.8 for the hadronic compartment. The fits are used to correct the non-linearity of the e pi response to 5% over the entire measured range resulting in a substantially improved resolution at low energy. Longitudinal shower profile have been measured in detail and compared to Geant4 models, LHEP-3.7 and QGSP-2.8. At energies below 30 GeV, the data, LHEP and QGSP are...

Monte Carlo simulations of dose distribution in water phantom for monoenergetic photon sources in the energy range of 20 keV and 2 MeV using a customized GEANT4 distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heredia, Eduardo; Rodrigues Jr, Orlando; Campos, Leticia Lucente

2008-01-01

Full text: Monte Carlo simulation methods are important tools in the areas of radiation transport and dosimetry, assisting in the radiation therapy treatment planning, study of energy deposition in complex systems and aid in the agreement the experimental results in the research of new materials. However, two aspects can affect the use of these tools: complexity in real world problems transposition to the simulation environment and difficulty in computational codes utilization. The objective of this work is to present a free software distribution based in the GEANT4 Monte Carlo code. The distribution was customized with the addition of tools for the development, visualization and data analysis in a software package with simplified installation and attended configuration. A wizard tool was developed and incorporated to the software package aiming to assist the user in the simulation skeleton creation and the election of the compilation and link flags for new models of simulation in the area of the radiation dosimetry. This software distribution is part of a wider project for the development of an infrastructure based in the GEANT4 for the radiation transport simulation under the perspective of a non centered computational architecture in dosimetry. The absorbed dose distribution in water phantom was simulated for monoenergetic photon sources with energies between 20 keV and 2 MeV. All results and analyses were generated with the tools incorporated in the software package. (author)

New networking solutions support GEANT2

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

"Researchers across the globe are benefiting from new advanced networking solutions, deployed as part of the GEANT2. For the first time, scientists collaborating on the world's largest particle physics experiment, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), now have access to point-to-point network connections between distributed research centres." (1 page)

Study of the Production of Radioactive Isotopes through Cosmic Muon Spallation in KamLAND

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

KamLAND Collaboration; Abe, S.; Enomoto, S.; Furuno, K.; Gando, Y.; Ikeda, H.; Inoue, K.; Kibe, Y.; Kishimoto, Y.; Koga, M.; Minekawa, Y.; Mitsui, T.; Nakajima, K.; Nakajima, K.; Nakamura, K.; Nakamura, M.; Shimizu, I.; Shimizu, Y.; Shirai, J.; Suekane, F.; Suzuki, A.; Takemoto, Y.; Tamae, K.; Terashima, A.; Watanabe, H.; Yonezawa, E.; Yoshida, S.; Kozlov, A.; Murayama, H.; Busenitz, J.; Classen, T.; Grant, C.; Keefer, G.; Leonard, D. S.; McKee, D.; Piepke, A.; Banks, T. I.; Bloxham, T.; Detwiler, J. A.; Freedman, S. J.; Fujikawa, B. K.; Gray, F.; Guardincerri, E.; Hsu, L.; Ichimura, K.; Kadel, R.; Lendvai, C.; Luk, K.-B.; O' Donnell, T.; Steiner, H. M.; Winslow, L. A.; Dwyer, D. A.; Jillings, C.; Mauger, C.; McKeown, R. D.; Vogel, P.; Zhang, C.; Berger, B. E.; Lane, C. E.; Maricic, J.; Miletic, T.; Batygov, M.; Learned, J. G.; Matsuno, S.; Pakvasa, S.; Foster, J.; Horton-Smith, G. A.; Tang, A.; Dazeley, S.; Downum, K. E.; Gratta, G.; Tolich, K.; Bugg, W.; Efremenko, Y.; Kamyshkov, Y.; Perevozchikov, O.; Karwowski, H. J.; Markoff, D. M.; Tornow, W.; Heeger, K. M.; Piquemal, F.; Ricol, J.-S.; Decowski, M. P.

2009-06-30

Radioactive isotopes produced through cosmic muon spallation are a background for rare event detection in {nu} detectors, double-beta-decay experiments, and dark-matter searches. Understanding the nature of cosmogenic backgrounds is particularly important for future experiments aiming to determine the pep and CNO solar neutrino fluxes, for which the background is dominated by the spallation production of {sup 11}C. Data from the Kamioka Liquid scintillator Anti-Neutrino Detector (KamLAND) provides valuable information for better understanding these backgrounds, especially in liquid scintillator, and for checking estimates from current simulations based upon MUSIC, FLUKA, and Geant4. Using the time correlation between detected muons and neutron captures, the neutron production yield in the KamLAND liquid scintillator is measured to be (2.8 {+-} 0.3) x 10{sup -4} n/({mu} {center_dot} (g/cm{sup 2})). For other isotopes, the production yield is determined from the observed time correlation related to known isotope lifetimes. We find some yields are inconsistent with extrapolations based on an accelerator muon beam experiment.

Development of a computational system based in the code GEANT4 for dosimetric evaluation in radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, Alex Cristovao Holanda de

2016-01-01

The incidence of cancer has grown in Brazil, as well as around the world, following the change in the age profile of the population. One of the most important techniques and commonly used in cancer treatment is radiotherapy. Around 60% of new cases of cancer use radiation in at least one phase of treatment. The most used equipment for radiotherapy is a linear accelerator (Linac) which produces electron or X-ray beams in energy range from 5 to 30 MeV. The most appropriate way to irradiate a patient is determined during treatment planning. Currently, treatment planning system (TPS) is the main and the most important tool in the process of planning for radiotherapy. The main objective of this work is to develop a computational system based on the MC code Geant4 for dose evaluations in photon beam radiotherapy. In addition to treatment planning, these dose evaluations can be performed for research and quality control of equipment and TPSs. The computer system, called Quimera, consists of a graphical user interface (qGUI) and three MC applications (qLinacs, qMATphantoms and qNCTphantoms). The qGUI has the function of interface for the MC applications, by creating or editing the input files, running simulations and analyzing the results. The qLinacs is used for modeling and generation of Linac beams (phase space). The qMATphantoms and qNCTphantoms are used for dose calculations in virtual models of physical phantoms and computed tomography (CT) images, respectively. From manufacturer's data, models of a Varian Linac photon beam and a Varian multileaf collimator (MLC) were simulated in the qLinacs. The Linac and MLC modelling were validated using experimental data. qMATphamtoms and qNCTphantoms were validated using IAEA phase spaces. In this first version, the Quimera can be used for research, radiotherapy planning of simple treatments and quality control in photon beam radiotherapy. The MC applications work independent of the qGUI and the qGUI can be used for

The performance of a new Geant4 Bertini intra-nuclear cascade model in high throughput computing (HTC) cluster architecture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aatos, Heikkinen; Andi, Hektor; Veikko, Karimaki; Tomas, Linden [Helsinki Univ., Institute of Physics (Finland)

2003-07-01

We study the performance of a new Bertini intra-nuclear cascade model implemented in the general detector simulation tool-kit Geant4 with a High Throughput Computing (HTC) cluster architecture. A 60 node Pentium III open-Mosix cluster is used with the Mosix kernel performing automatic process load-balancing across several CPUs. The Mosix cluster consists of several computer classes equipped with Windows NT workstations that automatically boot, daily and become nodes of the Mosix cluster. The models included in our study are a Bertini intra-nuclear cascade model with excitons, consisting of a pre-equilibrium model, a nucleus explosion model, a fission model and an evaporation model. The speed and accuracy obtained for these models is presented. (authors)

Environmental Radioactivity. Chapter 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhamat Omar; Ismail Sulaiman; Zalina Laili

2015-01-01

This chapter explains several things which consist radioactivity measurements, regular and high background radioactivity, radioactive contaminated soil and radioactivity in fertilizers, rocks, building materials, food, water, environments, sediments, flora and fauna. Besides, the natural radioactive gas concentration of radon and toron in the environment also been discussed specifically in this chapter.

A self-sufficient and general method for self-absorption correction in gamma-ray spectrometry using GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hurtado, S.; Villa, M.; Manjon, G.; Garcia-Tenorio, R.

2007-01-01

This paper presents a self-sufficient and general method for measurement of the activity of low-level gamma-emitters in voluminous samples by gamma-ray spectrometry with a coaxial germanium detector. Due to self-absorption within the sample, the full-energy peak efficiency of low-energy emitters in semiconductor gamma-spectrometers depends strongly on a number of factors including sample composition, density, sample size and gamma-ray energy. As long as those commented factors are well characterized, the influence of self-absorption in the full-energy peak efficiency of low-energy emitters can be calculated using Monte Carlo method based on GEANT4 code for each individual sample. However this task is quite tedious and time consuming. In this paper, we propose an alternative method to determine this influence for voluminous samples of unknown composition. Our method combines both transmission measurements and Monte Carlo simulations, avoiding the application of Monte Carlo full-energy peak efficiency determinations for each individual sample. To test the accuracy and precision of the proposed method, we have calculated 210 Pb activity in sediments samples from an estuary located in the vicinity of several phosphates factories with the proposed method, comparing the obtained results with the ones determined in the same samples using two alternative radiometric techniques

The simulation of the LANFOS-H food radiation contamination detector using Geant4 package

Science.gov (United States)

Piotrowski, Lech Wiktor; Casolino, Marco; Ebisuzaki, Toshikazu; Higashide, Kazuhiro

2015-02-01

Recent incident in the Fukushima power plant caused a growing concern about the radiation contamination and resulted in lowering the Japanese limits for the permitted amount of 137Cs in food to 100 Bq/kg. To increase safety and ease the concern we are developing LANFOS (Large Food Non-destructive Area Sampler)-a compact, easy to use detector for assessment of radiation in food. Described in this paper LANFOS-H has a 4 π coverage to assess the amount of 137Cs present, separating it from the possible 40K food contamination. Therefore, food samples do not have to be pre-processed prior to a test and can be consumed after measurements. It is designed for use by non-professionals in homes and small institutions such as schools, showing safety of the samples, but can be also utilized by specialists providing radiation spectrum. Proper assessment of radiation in food in the apparatus requires estimation of the γ conversion factor of the detectors-how many γ photons will produce a signal. In this paper we show results of the Monte Carlo estimation of this factor for various approximated shapes of fish, vegetables and amounts of rice, performed with Geant4 package. We find that the conversion factor combined from all the detectors is similar for all food types and is around 37%, varying maximally by 5% with sample length, much less than for individual detectors. The different inclinations and positions of samples in the detector introduce uncertainty of 1.4%. This small uncertainty validates the concept of a 4 π non-destructive apparatus.

Simulation of the Production of Secondary Particles from a Neutron Beam on Polyethylene Targets using the GEANT4 Simulation Tool

CERN Document Server

Ilgner, C

2003-01-01

In view of a beam test of RadFET semiconductor detectors and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) detectors as on-line dosimeters for radiation monitoring purposes in the caverns of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments, a simulation on the production of secondary particles from a neutron beam on a polyethylene target was carried out. We describe the yield of recoil protons, scattered neutrons as well as electrons, positrons and photons, when neutrons of an average energy of 20 MeV hit polyethylene targets of several thicknesses. The simulation was carried out using the latest release 5.2 of the GEANT4 detector description and simulation tool, including advanced hadron interaction models.

Simulation of "6"0Co and "1"3"7Csspectra of irradiator Shepherd 81 - 14D do LNMRI/IRD using Geant4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Queiroz Filho, P.P.; Cabral, T.S.; Silva, C.N.M. da

2016-01-01

In this work it were simulated, using Geant4, the "6"0Co and "1"3"7Cs spectra of the Irradiator Shepherd 81-14D acquired by the National Metrology Laboratory of Ionising Radiation of the Institute of Radiation Protection and Dosimetry ( LNMRI / IRD ), which will be used for calibration in radioprotection. Was checked if photons suffered his first interaction on the source, the structure of the head or the collimators. It was also observed the percentage of occurrence of each type of interaction in such structures. (author)

The GEANT4 toolkit capability in the hadron therapy field: simulation of a transport beam line

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cirrone, G.A.P.; Cuttone, G.; Di Rosa, F.; Raffaele, L.; Russo, G.; Guatelli, S.; Pia, M.G.

2006-01-01

At Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of the Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare of Catania (Sicily, Italy), the first Italian hadron therapy facility named CATANA (Centro di AdroTerapia ed Applicazioni Nucleari Avanzate) has been realized. Inside CATANA 62 MeV proton beams, accelerated by a superconducting cyclotron, are used for the radiotherapeutic treatments of some types of ocular tumours. Therapy with hadron beams still represents a pioneer technique, and only a few centers worldwide can provide this advanced specialized cancer treatment. On the basis of the experience so far gained, and considering the future hadron-therapy facilities to be developed (Rinecker, Munich Germany, Heidelberg/GSI, Darmstadt, Germany, PSI Villigen, Switzerland, CNAO, Pavia, Italy, Centro di Adroterapia, Catania, Italy) we decided to develop a Monte Carlo application based on the GEANT4 toolkit, for the design, the realization and the optimization of a proton-therapy beam line. Another feature of our project is to provide a general tool able to study the interactions of hadrons with the human tissue and to test the analytical-based treatment planning systems actually used in the routine practice. All the typical elements of a hadron-therapy line, such as diffusers, range shifters, collimators and detectors were modelled. In particular, we simulated the Markus type ionization chamber and a Gaf Chromic film as dosimeters to reconstruct the depth (Bragg peak and Spread Out Bragg Peak) and lateral dose distributions, respectively. We validated our simulated detectors comparing the results with the experimental data available in our facility

The GEANT4 toolkit capability in the hadron therapy field: simulation of a transport beam line

Science.gov (United States)

Cirrone, G. A. P.; Cuttone, G.; Di Rosa, F.; Raffaele, L.; Russo, G.; Guatelli, S.; Pia, M. G.

2006-01-01

At Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of the Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare of Catania (Sicily, Italy), the first Italian hadron therapy facility named CATANA (Centro di AdroTerapia ed Applicazioni Nucleari Avanzate) has been realized. Inside CATANA 62 MeV proton beams, accelerated by a superconducting cyclotron, are used for the radiotherapeutic treatments of some types of ocular tumours. Therapy with hadron beams still represents a pioneer technique, and only a few centers worldwide can provide this advanced specialized cancer treatment. On the basis of the experience so far gained, and considering the future hadron-therapy facilities to be developed (Rinecker, Munich Germany, Heidelberg/GSI, Darmstadt, Germany, PSI Villigen, Switzerland, CNAO, Pavia, Italy, Centro di Adroterapia, Catania, Italy) we decided to develop a Monte Carlo application based on the GEANT4 toolkit, for the design, the realization and the optimization of a proton-therapy beam line. Another feature of our project is to provide a general tool able to study the interactions of hadrons with the human tissue and to test the analytical-based treatment planning systems actually used in the routine practice. All the typical elements of a hadron-therapy line, such as diffusers, range shifters, collimators and detectors were modelled. In particular, we simulated the Markus type ionization chamber and a Gaf Chromic film as dosimeters to reconstruct the depth (Bragg peak and Spread Out Bragg Peak) and lateral dose distributions, respectively. We validated our simulated detectors comparing the results with the experimental data available in our facility.

The GEANT4 toolkit capability in the hadron therapy field: simulation of a transport beam line

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cirrone, G.A.P. [Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Via S. Sofia 62, Catania (Italy); Cuttone, G. [Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Via S. Sofia 62, Catania (Italy); Di Rosa, F. [Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Via S. Sofia 62, Catania (Italy); Raffaele, L. [Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Via S. Sofia 62, Catania (Italy); Russo, G. [Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Via S. Sofia 62, Catania (Italy); Guatelli, S. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, Genova (Italy); Pia, M.G. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, Genova (Italy)

2006-01-15

At Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of the Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare of Catania (Sicily, Italy), the first Italian hadron therapy facility named CATANA (Centro di AdroTerapia ed Applicazioni Nucleari Avanzate) has been realized. Inside CATANA 62 MeV proton beams, accelerated by a superconducting cyclotron, are used for the radiotherapeutic treatments of some types of ocular tumours. Therapy with hadron beams still represents a pioneer technique, and only a few centers worldwide can provide this advanced specialized cancer treatment. On the basis of the experience so far gained, and considering the future hadron-therapy facilities to be developed (Rinecker, Munich Germany, Heidelberg/GSI, Darmstadt, Germany, PSI Villigen, Switzerland, CNAO, Pavia, Italy, Centro di Adroterapia, Catania, Italy) we decided to develop a Monte Carlo application based on the GEANT4 toolkit, for the design, the realization and the optimization of a proton-therapy beam line. Another feature of our project is to provide a general tool able to study the interactions of hadrons with the human tissue and to test the analytical-based treatment planning systems actually used in the routine practice. All the typical elements of a hadron-therapy line, such as diffusers, range shifters, collimators and detectors were modelled. In particular, we simulated the Markus type ionization chamber and a Gaf Chromic film as dosimeters to reconstruct the depth (Bragg peak and Spread Out Bragg Peak) and lateral dose distributions, respectively. We validated our simulated detectors comparing the results with the experimental data available in our facility.

A novel recession rate physics methodology for space applications at CIRA by means of CIRCE radioactive beam tracers

Science.gov (United States)

De Cesare, M.; Di Leva, A.; Del Vecchio, A.; Gialanella, L.

2018-03-01

Thermal protection systems (TPSs) of spacecrafts, either for single use or reusable, experience wear by ablation and erosion, due to the high heat fluxes during a re-entry phase in the atmosphere. The determination of the wear rate is a crucial point, which is presently mainly possible in aerospace on-ground measurements by means of invasive diagnostics. The purpose of this paper is to present novel contactless, online, high-sensitivity and non-intrusive diagnostics for wear measurements based on radioactive tracers. We propose the technique for future on-ground experiments that might later be developed to perform in-flight TPSs monitoring, thus significantly increasing the safety of the aerospace vehicles. The basic ideas of the method, its sensitivity investigated by GEANT4 simulations, and the future experimental validation are outlined.

Cosmogenic activation of germanium used for tonne-scale rare event search experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, W.-Z.; Mei, D.-M.; Zhang, C.

2017-11-01

We report a comprehensive study of cosmogenic activation of germanium used for tonne-scale rare event search experiments. The germanium exposure to cosmic rays on the Earth's surface are simulated with and without a shielding container using Geant4 for a given cosmic muon, neutron, and proton energy spectrum. The production rates of various radioactive isotopes are obtained for different sources separately. We find that fast neutron induced interactions dominate the production rate of cosmogenic activation. Geant4-based simulation results are compared with the calculation of ACTIVIA and the available experimental data. A reasonable agreement between Geant4 simulations and several experimental data sets is presented. We predict that cosmogenic activation of germanium can set limits to the sensitivity of the next generation of tonne-scale experiments.

A computationally efficient moment-preserving Monte Carlo electron transport method with implementation in Geant4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dixon, D.A., E-mail: ddixon@lanl.gov [Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, MS P365, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Prinja, A.K., E-mail: prinja@unm.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering, MSC01 1120, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 (United States); Franke, B.C., E-mail: bcfrank@sandia.gov [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87123 (United States)

2015-09-15

This paper presents the theoretical development and numerical demonstration of a moment-preserving Monte Carlo electron transport method. Foremost, a full implementation of the moment-preserving (MP) method within the Geant4 particle simulation toolkit is demonstrated. Beyond implementation details, it is shown that the MP method is a viable alternative to the condensed history (CH) method for inclusion in current and future generation transport codes through demonstration of the key features of the method including: systematically controllable accuracy, computational efficiency, mathematical robustness, and versatility. A wide variety of results common to electron transport are presented illustrating the key features of the MP method. In particular, it is possible to achieve accuracy that is statistically indistinguishable from analog Monte Carlo, while remaining up to three orders of magnitude more efficient than analog Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, it is shown that the MP method can be generalized to any applicable analog scattering DCS model by extending previous work on the MP method beyond analytical DCSs to the partial-wave (PW) elastic tabulated DCS data.

Optimization of 6LiF:ZnS(Ag) scintillator light yield using GEANT4

Science.gov (United States)

Yehuda-Zada, Y.; Pritchard, K.; Ziegler, J. B.; Cooksey, C.; Siebein, K.; Jackson, M.; Hurlbut, C.; Kadmon, Y.; Cohen, Y.; Ibberson, R. M.; Majkrzak, C. F.; Maliszewskyj, N. C.; Orion, I.; Osovizky, A.

2018-06-01

A new cold neutron detector has been developed at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) for the CANDoR (Chromatic Analysis Neutron Diffractometer or Reflectometer) project. Geometric and performance constraints dictate that this detector be exceptionally thin (∼ 2 mm). For this reason, the design of the detector consists of a 6LiF:ZnS(Ag) scintillator with embedded wavelength shifting (WLS) fibers. We used the GEANT4 package to simulate neutron capture and light transport in the detector to optimize the composition and arrangement of materials to satisfy the competing requirements of high neutron capture probability and light production and transport. In the process, we have developed a method for predicting light collection and total neutron detection efficiency for different detector configurations. The simulation was performed by adjusting crucial parameters such as the scintillator stoichiometry, light yield, component grain size, WLS fiber geometry, and reflectors at the outside edges of the scintillator volume. Three different detector configurations were fabricated and their test results were correlated with the simulations. Through this correlation we have managed to find a common photon threshold for the different detector configurations which was then used to simulate and predict the efficiencies for many other detector configurations. New detectors that have been fabricated based on simulation results yielding the desired sensitivity of 90% for 3.27 meV (5 Å) cold neutrons. The simulation has proven to be a useful tool by dramatically reducing the development period and the required number of detector prototypes. It can be used to test new designs with different thicknesses and different target neutron energies.

Compressive effect of the magnetic field on the positron range in commonly used positron emitters simulated using Geant4

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chong; Cao, Xingzhong; Liu, Fuyan; Tang, Haohui; Zhang, Zhiming; Wang, Baoyi; Wei, Long

2017-11-01

The compressive effect of a magnetic field on the positron range from commonly used positron emitters in PET (Positron Emission Tomography) was simulated using the Geant4 toolkit with H2O as the environmental material. The compression of the positron range, which was different in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field, showed finite final variation of relative change rate versus the magnetic field. The variation greatly depended on the positron-emission energy spectrum in the same medium. Furthermore, the volume of the positron annihilation point was dramatically compressed as the magnetic field was set in the range of 3-6T. It was more prominent for 82Rb , which is generally used as a positron source in PET technology.

Analysis of Relative Biological Effectiveness of Proton Beams and Isoeffective Dose Profiles Using Geant4

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hosseini M. A.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background: The assessment of RBE quantity in the treatment of cancer tumors with proton beams in treatment planning systems (TPS is of high significance. Given the significance of the issue and the studies conducted in the literature, this quantity is fixed and is taken as equal to 1.1. Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess RBE quantity of proton beams and their variations in different depths of the tumor. This dependency makes RBE values used in TPS no longer be fixed as they depend on the depth of the tumor and therefore this dependency causes some changes in the physical dose profile. Materials and Methods: The energy spectrum of protons was measured at various depths of the tumor using proton beam simulations and well as the complete simulation of a cell to a pair of DNA bases through Monte Carlo GEANT4. The resulting energy spectrum was used to estimate the number of double-strand breaks generated in cells. Finally, RBE values were calculated in terms of the penetration depth in the tumor. Results and Conclusion: The simulation results show that the RBE value not fixed terms of the depth of the tumor and it differs from the clinical value of 1.1 at the end of the dose profile and this will lead to a non-uniform absorbed dose profile. Therefore, to create a uniform impact dose area, deep-finishing systems need to be designed by taking into account deep RBE values.

Calibration and GEANT4 Simulations of the Phase II Proton Compute Tomography (pCT) Range Stack Detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uzunyan, S. A. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Blazey, G. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Boi, S. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Coutrakon, G. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Dyshkant, A. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Francis, K. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Hedin, D. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Johnson, E. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Kalnins, J. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Zutshi, V. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Ford, R. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Rauch, J. E. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Rubinov, P. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Sellberg, G. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Wilson, P. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Naimuddin, M. [Univ. of Delhi, New Delhi (India)

2015-12-29

Northern Illinois University in collaboration with Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) and Delhi University has been designing and building a proton CT scanner for applications in proton treatment planning. The Phase II proton CT scanner consists of eight planes of tracking detectors with two X and two Y coordinate measurements both before and after the patient. In addition, a range stack detector consisting of a stack of thin scintillator tiles, arranged in twelve eight-tile frames, is used to determine the water equivalent path length (WEPL) of each track through the patient. The X-Y coordinates and WEPL are required input for image reconstruction software to find the relative (proton) stopping powers (RSP) value of each voxel in the patient and generate a corresponding 3D image. In this Note we describe tests conducted in 2015 at the proton beam at the Central DuPage Hospital in Warrenville, IL, focusing on the range stack calibration procedure and comparisons with the GEANT~4 range stack simulation.

GEANT4 simulation and evaluation of a time-of-flight spectrometer for nuclear cross section measurements in particle therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gruenwald, Oxana

2011-01-01

In 2007 a new project has been launched in a cooperation between the RWTH Aachen Physics Department, the University Hospital Aachen and the Philips Research Laboratories. The project aim is to validate and improve GEANT4 nuclear interaction models for use in proton and ion therapy. The method chosen here is the measurement of nuclear reaction cross sections which will not only provide a comparison to the simulation but will also allow to improve some of the parameters in the nuclear models. In the first phase of the project 200 MeV protons are used as a projectile in combination with a thin graphite target. For use in particle therapy the excitation functions of the most frequently produced isotopes need to be measured with an accuracy of 10% or less. For this purpose a dedicated detector system has been designed and implemented in GEANT4. The detection of target fragments produced by protons in graphite is achieved via time-of-flight spectrometry. In the setup presented here the primary beam first hits the Start detector and initiates the time-of-flight measurement before it passes through the apertures of two Veto detectors and impinges on the target. Successively, the secondary particles emanating from the target travel a short distance of 70/80 cm through vacuum (0.1 mbar) before they hit one of the 20 Stop detectors which end the time-of-flight measurement and record the energy deposited by the particle. The dissertation at hand describes the underlying detector concept and presents a detailed GEANT4 simulation of the setup which allows to evaluate the detector performance with respect to target fragment identification at a projectile energy of 200 MeV. At first, correlations of time-of-flight and energy deposition are built from simulated data and are subsequently used to reconstruct mass spectra of the detected fragments. Such influences on the detection performance as the target thickness, the residual pressure within the detector chamber, the Veto system

GEANT4 simulation and evaluation of a time-of-flight spectrometer for nuclear cross section measurements in particle therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gruenwald, Oxana

2011-06-08

In 2007 a new project has been launched in a cooperation between the RWTH Aachen Physics Department, the University Hospital Aachen and the Philips Research Laboratories. The project aim is to validate and improve GEANT4 nuclear interaction models for use in proton and ion therapy. The method chosen here is the measurement of nuclear reaction cross sections which will not only provide a comparison to the simulation but will also allow to improve some of the parameters in the nuclear models. In the first phase of the project 200 MeV protons are used as a projectile in combination with a thin graphite target. For use in particle therapy the excitation functions of the most frequently produced isotopes need to be measured with an accuracy of 10% or less. For this purpose a dedicated detector system has been designed and implemented in GEANT4. The detection of target fragments produced by protons in graphite is achieved via time-of-flight spectrometry. In the setup presented here the primary beam first hits the Start detector and initiates the time-of-flight measurement before it passes through the apertures of two Veto detectors and impinges on the target. Successively, the secondary particles emanating from the target travel a short distance of 70/80 cm through vacuum (0.1 mbar) before they hit one of the 20 Stop detectors which end the time-of-flight measurement and record the energy deposited by the particle. The dissertation at hand describes the underlying detector concept and presents a detailed GEANT4 simulation of the setup which allows to evaluate the detector performance with respect to target fragment identification at a projectile energy of 200 MeV. At first, correlations of time-of-flight and energy deposition are built from simulated data and are subsequently used to reconstruct mass spectra of the detected fragments. Such influences on the detection performance as the target thickness, the residual pressure within the detector chamber, the Veto system

BC404 scintillators as gamma locators studied via Geant4 simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Cortés, M. L.; Hoischen, R.; Eisenhauer, K.; Gerl, J.; Pietralla, N.

2014-05-01

In many applications in industry and academia, an accurate determination of the direction from where gamma rays are emitted is either needed or desirable. Ion-beam therapy treatments, the search for orphan sources, and homeland security applications are examples of fields that can benefit from directional sensitivity to gamma-radiation. Scintillation detectors are a good option for these types of applications as they have relatively low cost, are easy to handle and can be produced in a large range of different sizes. In this work a Geant4 simulation was developed to study the directional sensitivity of different BC404 scintillator geometries and arrangements. The simulation includes all the physical processes relevant for gamma detection in a scintillator. In particular, the creation and propagation of optical photons inside the scintillator was included. A simplified photomultiplier tube model was also simulated. The physical principle exploited is the angular dependence of the shape of the energy spectrum obtained from thin scintillator layers when irradiated from different angles. After an experimental confirmation of the working principle of the device and a check of the simulation, the possibilities and limitations of directional sensitivity to gamma radiation using scintillator layers was tested. For this purpose, point-like sources of typical energies expected in ion-beam therapy were used. Optimal scintillator thicknesses for different energies were determined and the setup efficiencies calculated. The use of arrays of scintillators to reconstruct the direction of incoming gamma rays was also studied. For this case, a spherical source emitting Bremsstrahlung radiation was used together with a setup consisting of scintillator layers. The capability of this setup to identify the center of the extended source was studied together with its angular resolution.

Geant4 Analysis of a Thermal Neutron Real-Time Imaging System

Science.gov (United States)

Datta, Arka; Hawari, Ayman I.

2017-07-01

Thermal neutron imaging is a technique for nondestructive testing providing complementary information to X-ray imaging for a wide range of applications in science and engineering. Advancement of electronic imaging systems makes it possible to obtain neutron radiographs in real time. This method requires a scintillator to convert neutrons to optical photons and a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to detect those photons. Alongside, a well collimated beam which reduces geometrical blurriness, the use of a thin scintillator can improve the spatial resolution significantly. A representative scintillator that has been applied widely for thermal neutron imaging is 6LiF:ZnS (Ag). In this paper, a multiphysics simulation approach for designing thermal neutron imaging system is investigated. The Geant4 code is used to investigate the performance of a thermal neutron imaging system starting with a neutron source and including the production of charged particles and optical photons in the scintillator and their transport for image formation in the detector. The simulation geometry includes the neutron beam collimator and sapphire filter. The 6LiF:ZnS (Ag) scintillator is modeled along with a pixelated detector for image recording. The spatial resolution of the system was obtained as the thickness of the scintillator screen was varied between 50 and 400 μm. The results of the simulation were compared to experimental results, including measurements performed using the PULSTAR nuclear reactor imaging beam, showing good agreement. Using the established model, further examination showed that the resolution contribution of the scintillator screen is correlated with its thickness and the range of the neutron absorption reaction products (i.e., the alpha and triton particles). Consequently, thinner screens exhibit improved spatial resolution. However, this will compromise detection efficiency due to the reduced probability of neutron absorption.

Stochastic optimization of GeantV code by use of genetic algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Amadio, G.; Apostolakis, J.; Bandieramonte, M.; Behera, S. P.; Brun, R.; Canal, P.; Carminati, F.; Cosmo, G.; Duhem, L.; Elvira, D.; Folger, G.; Gheata, A.; Gheata, M.; Goulas, I.; Hariri, F.; Jun, S. Y.; Konstantinov, D.; Kumawat, H.; Ivantchenko, V.; Lima, G.; Nikitina, T.; Novak, M.; Pokorski, W.; Ribon, A.; Seghal, R.; Shadura, O.; Vallecorsa, S.; Wenzel, S.

2017-10-01

GeantV is a complex system based on the interaction of different modules needed for detector simulation, which include transport of particles in fields, physics models simulating their interactions with matter and a geometrical modeler library for describing the detector and locating the particles and computing the path length to the current volume boundary. The GeantV project is recasting the classical simulation approach to get maximum benefit from SIMD/MIMD computational architectures and highly massive parallel systems. This involves finding the appropriate balance between several aspects influencing computational performance (floating-point performance, usage of off-chip memory bandwidth, specification of cache hierarchy, etc.) and handling a large number of program parameters that have to be optimized to achieve the best simulation throughput. This optimization task can be treated as a black-box optimization problem, which requires searching the optimum set of parameters using only point-wise function evaluations. The goal of this study is to provide a mechanism for optimizing complex systems (high energy physics particle transport simulations) with the help of genetic algorithms and evolution strategies as tuning procedures for massive parallel simulations. One of the described approaches is based on introducing a specific multivariate analysis operator that could be used in case of resource expensive or time consuming evaluations of fitness functions, in order to speed-up the convergence of the black-box optimization problem.

Induced radioactivity in the forward shielding and semiconductor tracker of the ATLAS detector.

Science.gov (United States)

Bĕdajánek, I; Linhart, V; Stekl, I; Pospísil, S; Kolros, A; Kovalenko, V

2005-01-01

The radioactivity induced in the forward shielding, copper collimator and semiconductor tracker modules of the ATLAS detector has been studied. The ATLAS detector is a long-term experiment which, during operation, will require to have service and access to all of its parts and components. The radioactivity induced in the forward shielding was calculated by Monte Carlo methods based on GEANT3 software tool. The results show that the equivalent dose rates on the outer surface of the forward shielding are very low (at most 0.038 microSv h(-1)). On the other hand, the equivalent dose rates are significantly higher on the inner surface of the forward shielding (up to 661 microSv h(-1)) and, especially, at the copper collimator close to the beampipe (up to 60 mSv h(-1)). The radioactivity induced in the semiconductor tracker modules was studied experimentally. The module was activated by neutrons in a training nuclear reactor and the delayed gamma ray spectra were measured. From these measurements, the equivalent dose rate on the surface of the semiconductor tracker module was estimated to be LHC) operation and 10 d of cooling.

The radiation environment on the surface of Mars - Numerical calculations of the galactic component with GEANT4/PLANETOCOSMICS.

Science.gov (United States)

Matthiä, Daniel; Berger, Thomas

2017-08-01

Galactic cosmic radiation and secondary particles produced in the interaction with the atmosphere lead to a complex radiation field on the Martian surface. A workshop ("1st Mars Space Radiation Modeling Workshop") organized by the MSL-RAD science team was held in June 2016 in Boulder with the goal to compare models capable to predict this radiation field with each other and measurements from the RAD instrument onboard the curiosity rover taken between November 15, 2015 and January 15, 2016. In this work the results of PLANETOCOSMICS/GEANT4 contributed to the workshop are presented. Calculated secondary particle spectra on the Martian surface are investigated and the radiation field's directionality of the different particles in dependence on the energy is discussed. Omnidirectional particle fluxes are used in combination with fluence to dose conversion factors to calculate absorbed dose rates and dose equivalent rates in a slab of tissue. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Particle physics software aids space and medicine

CERN Document Server

Pia, M G

2002-01-01

Geant4 is a showcase example of technology transfer from particle physics to other fields such as space and medical science. Geant4 was first used for space applications by ESA in 1999, when ESA and NASA each launched an X-ray telescope. Geant4's extended set of physics models, which handle both electromagnetic and hadronic interactions, can be used to address a range of medical applications from conventional photon-beam radiotherapy to brachytherapy (using radioactive sources), hadron therapy and boron neutron capture therapy. The tools for describing geometries, materials and electromagnetic fields can precisely model diverse real-life configurations.

Geant4 simulation of the Elekta XVI kV CBCT unit for accurate description of potential late toxicity effects of image-guided radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brochu, F M; Burnet, N G; Jena, R; Plaistow, R; Thomas, S J; Parker, M A

2014-01-01

This paper describes the modelisation of the Elekta XVI Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) machine components with Geant4 and its validation against calibration data taken for two commonly used machine setups. Preliminary dose maps of simulated CBCTs coming from this modelisation work are presented. This study is the first step of a research project, GHOST, aiming to improve the understanding of late toxicity risk in external beam radiotherapy patients by simulating dose depositions integrated from different sources (imaging, treatment beam) over the entire treatment plan. The second cancer risk will then be derived from different models relating irradiation dose and second cancer risk. (paper)

Thick-foils activation technique for neutron spectrum unfolding with the MINUIT routine-Comparison with GEANT4 simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Vagena, E.; Theodorou, K.; Stoulos, S.

2018-04-01

Neutron activation technique has been applied using a proposed set of twelve thick metal foils (Au, As, Cd, In, Ir, Er, Mn, Ni, Se, Sm, W, Zn) for off-site measurements to obtain the neutron spectrum over a wide energy range (from thermal up to a few MeV) in intense neutron-gamma mixed fields such as around medical Linacs. The unfolding procedure takes into account the activation rates measured using thirteen (n , γ) and two (n , p) reactions without imposing a guess solution-spectrum. The MINUIT minimization routine unfolds a neutron spectrum that is dominated by fast neutrons (70%) peaking at 0.3 MeV, while the thermal peak corresponds to the 15% of the total neutron fluence equal to the epithermal-resonances area. The comparison of the unfolded neutron spectrum against the simulated one with the GEANT4 Monte-Carlo code shows a reasonable agreement within the measurement uncertainties. Therefore, the proposed set of activation thick-foils could be a useful tool in order to determine low flux neutrons spectrum in intense mixed field.

GEANT Monte Carlo simulations for the GREAT spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreyev, A.N.; Butler, P.A.; Page, R.D.; Appelbe, D.E.; Jones, G.D.; Joss, D.T.; Herzberg, R.-D.; Regan, P.H.; Simpson, J.; Wadsworth, R.

2004-01-01

GEANT Monte Carlo simulations for the recently developed GREAT spectrometer are presented. Some novel applications of the spectrometer for γ-ray, conversion-electron and β-decay spectroscopy are discussed. The conversion-electron spectroscopy of heavy nuclei with strongly converted transitions and the extension of the recoil decay tagging method to β-decaying nuclei are considered in detail

Use of the GEANT4 Monte Carlo to determine three-dimensional dose factors for radionuclide dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amato, Ernesto; Italiano, Antonio; Minutoli, Fabio; Baldari, Sergio

2013-01-01

The voxel-level dosimetry is the most simple and common approach to internal dosimetry of nonuniform distributions of activity within the human body. Aim of this work was to obtain the dose “S” factors (mGy/MBqs) at the voxel level for eight beta and beta–gamma emitting radionuclides commonly used in nuclear medicine diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. We developed a Monte Carlo simulation in GEANT4 of a region of soft tissue as defined by the ICRP, divided into 11×11×11 cubic voxels, 3 mm in side. The simulation used the parameterizations of the electromagnetic interaction optimized for low energy (EEDL, EPDL). The decay of each radionuclide ( 32 P, 90 Y, 99m Tc, 177 Lu, 131 I, 153 Sm, 186 Re, 188 Re) were simulated homogeneously distributed within the central voxel (0,0,0), and the energy deposited in the surrounding voxels was mediated on the 8 octants of the three dimensional space, for reasons of symmetry. The results obtained were compared with those available in the literature. While the iodine deviations remain within 16%, for phosphorus, a pure beta emitter, the agreement is very good for self-dose (0,0,0) and good for the dose to first neighbors, while differences are observed ranging from −60% to +100% for voxels far distant from the source. The existence of significant differences in the percentage calculation of the voxel S factors, especially for pure beta emitters such as 32 P or 90 Y, has already been highlighted by other authors. These data can usefully extend the dosimetric approach based on the voxel to other radionuclides not covered in the available literature

Simulation of silicon microdosimetry spectra in fast neutron therapy using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo toolkit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cornelius, I.M.; Rosenfeld, A.B.

2003-01-01

Microdosimetry is used to predict the biological effects of the densely ionizing radiation environments of hadron therapy and space. The creation of a solid state microdosimeter to replace the conventional Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (TEPC) is a topic of ongoing research. The Centre for Medical Radiation Physics has been investigating a technique using microscopic arrays of reverse biased PN junctions. A prototype silicon-on-insulator (SOI) microdosimeter was developed and preliminary measurements have been conducted at several hadron therapy facilities. Several factors impede the application of silicon microdosimeters to hadron therapy. One of the major limitations is that of tissue equivalence, ideally the silicon microdosimeter should provide a microdosimetry distribution identical to that of a microscopic volume of tissue. For microdosimetry in neutron fields, such as Fast Neutron Therapy, it is important that products resulting from neutron interactions in the non tissue equivalent sensitive volume do not contribute significantly to the spectrum. Experimental measurements have been conducted at the Gershenson Radiation Oncology Center, Harper Hospital, Detroit by Bradley et al. The aim was to provide a comparison with measurements performed with a TEPC under identical experimental conditions. Monte Carlo based calculations of these measurements were made using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo toolkit. Agreement between experimental and theoretical results was observed. The model illustrated the importance of neutron interactions in the non tissue equivalent sensitive volume and showed this effect to decrease with sensitive volume size as expected. Simulations were also performed for 1 micron cubic silicon sensitive volumes embedded in tissue equivalent material to predict the best case scenario for silicon microdosimetry in Fast Neutron Therapy

Contribution to the energy calibration of GLAST-LAT's calorimeter and validation of hadronic cascade models available with GEANT4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bregeon, J.

2005-09-01

GLAST is the new generation of Gamma-ray telescope and should dramatically improve our knowledge of the gamma-ray sky when it is launched on September 7. 2007. Data from the beam test that was held at GANIL with low energy ions were analyzed in order to measure the light quenching factor of CsI for all kinds of ions from proton to krypton of energy between 0 and 73 MeV per nucleon. These results have been very useful to understand the light quenching for relativistic ions that was measured during the GSI beam test. The knowledge of light quenching in GLAST CsI detectors for high energy ions is required for the on-orbit calibration with cosmic rays to succeed. Hadronic background rejection is another major issue for GLAST, thus, all the algorithms rely on the GLAST official Monte-Carlo simulation, GlastRelease. Hadronic cascade data from the GSI beam test and from another beam test held at CERN on the SPS have been used to benchmark hadronic cascade simulation within the framework of GEANT4, on which GlastRelease is based. Testing the good reproduction of simple parameters in GLAST-like calorimeters for hadronic cascades generated by 1.7 GeV, 3.4 GeV, 10 GeV and 20 GeV protons or pions led us to the conclusion that at high energy the default LHEP model is good enough, whereas at low energy the Bertini intra-nuclear cascade model should be used. (author)

GEANT4 simulation diagram showing the architecture of the ATLAS test line: the detectors are positioned to receive the beam from the SPS. A muon particle which enters the magnet and crosses all detectors is shown (blue line).

CERN Multimedia

2004-01-01

GEANT4 simulation diagram showing the architecture of the ATLAS test line: the detectors are positioned to receive the beam from the SPS. A muon particle which enters the magnet and crosses all detectors is shown (blue line).

Induced radioactivity of a GSO scintillator by secondary fragments in carbon ion therapy and its effects on in-beam OpenPET imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirano, Yoshiyuki; Nitta, Munetaka; Nishikido, Fumihiko; Yoshida, Eiji; Inadama, Naoko; Yamaya, Taiga

2016-07-07

The accumulation of induced radioactivity within in-beam PET scanner scintillators is of concern for its long-term clinical usage in particle therapy. To estimate the effects on OpenPET which we are developing for in-beam PET based on GSOZ (Zi doped Gd2SiO5), we measured the induced radioactivity of GSO activated by secondary fragments in a water phantom irradiation by a (12)C beam with an energy of 290 MeV u(-1). Radioisotopes of Na, Ce, Eu, Gd, Nd, Pm and Tb including positron emitters were observed in the gamma ray spectra of the activated GSO with a high purity Ge detector and their absolute radioactivities were calculated. We used the Monte Carlo simulation platform, Geant4 in which the observed radioactivity was assigned to the scintillators of a precisely reproduced OpenPET and the single and coincidence rates immediately after one treatment and after one-year usage were estimated for the most severe conditions. Comparing the highest coincidence rate originating from the activated scintillators (background) and the expected coincidence rate from an imaging object (signal), we determined the expected signal-to-noise ratio to be more than 7 within 3 min and more than 10 within 1 min from the scan start time. We concluded the effects of scintillator activation and their accumulation on the OpenPET imaging were small and clinical long-term usage of the OpenPET was feasible.

Validation of GEANT3 simulation studies with a dual-head PMT ClearPET TM prototype

CERN Document Server

Ziemons, K; Streun, M; Pietrzyk, U

2004-01-01

The ClearPET TM project is proposed by working groups of the Crystal Clear Collaboration (CCC) to develop a 2/sup nd/ generation high performance small animal positron emission tomograph (PET). High sensitivity and high spatial resolution is foreseen for the ClearPET TM camera by using a phoswich arrangement combining mixed lutetium yttrium aluminum perovskite (LuYAP:Ce) and lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) scintillating crystals. Design optimizations for the first photomultiplier tube (PMT) based ClearPET camera are done with a Monte-Carlo simulation package implemented on GEANT3 (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland). A dual-head prototype has been built to test the frontend electronics and was used to validate the implementation of the GEANT3 simulation tool. Multiple simulations were performed following the experimental protocols to measure the intrinsic resolution and the sensitivity profile in axial and radial direction. Including a mean energy resolution of about 27.0% the simulated intrinsic resolution is about (...

Comparison of electron dose-point kernels in water generated by the Monte Carlo codes, PENELOPE, GEANT4, MCNPX, and ETRAN.

Science.gov (United States)

Uusijärvi, Helena; Chouin, Nicolas; Bernhardt, Peter; Ferrer, Ludovic; Bardiès, Manuel; Forssell-Aronsson, Eva

2009-08-01

Point kernels describe the energy deposited at a certain distance from an isotropic point source and are useful for nuclear medicine dosimetry. They can be used for absorbed-dose calculations for sources of various shapes and are also a useful tool when comparing different Monte Carlo (MC) codes. The aim of this study was to compare point kernels calculated by using the mixed MC code, PENELOPE (v. 2006), with point kernels calculated by using the condensed-history MC codes, ETRAN, GEANT4 (v. 8.2), and MCNPX (v. 2.5.0). Point kernels for electrons with initial energies of 10, 100, 500, and 1 MeV were simulated with PENELOPE. Spherical shells were placed around an isotropic point source at distances from 0 to 1.2 times the continuous-slowing-down-approximation range (R(CSDA)). Detailed (event-by-event) simulations were performed for electrons with initial energies of less than 1 MeV. For 1-MeV electrons, multiple scattering was included for energy losses less than 10 keV. Energy losses greater than 10 keV were simulated in a detailed way. The point kernels generated were used to calculate cellular S-values for monoenergetic electron sources. The point kernels obtained by using PENELOPE and ETRAN were also used to calculate cellular S-values for the high-energy beta-emitter, 90Y, the medium-energy beta-emitter, 177Lu, and the low-energy electron emitter, 103mRh. These S-values were also compared with the Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) cellular S-values. The greatest differences between the point kernels (mean difference calculated for distances, electrons was 1.4%, 2.5%, and 6.9% for ETRAN, GEANT4, and MCNPX, respectively, compared to PENELOPE, if omitting the S-values when the activity was distributed on the cell surface for 10-keV electrons. The largest difference between the cellular S-values for the radionuclides, between PENELOPE and ETRAN, was seen for 177Lu (1.2%). There were large differences between the MIRD cellular S-values and those obtained from

Requirements for a radioactive waste data base

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Y.; Kobayashi, I.; Kikuchi, M.

1990-01-01

With the progress of nuclear fuel cycle in Japan, various types of radioactive waste will generate at each nuclear facility in the cycle. Therefor generated volume and stored quantity of waste will be supposed to increase. From the viewpoints of safety and public acceptance, by using mainframe computer it is necessary that the treatment of historical waste data, the estimation of generated waste volume and stored quantity and the investigation of research and development status of waste processing and disposal are carried out. This paper proposes design and development of the radioactive waste data base which is able to properly and correctly manage and grasp numerical and/or documentary information for generated radioactive waste. So the data base will be expected to use for planning the future management of radioactive waste. (author)

Use of the GEANT4 Monte Carlo to determine three-dimensional dose factors for radionuclide dosimetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amato, Ernesto, E-mail: eamato@unime.it [University of Messina, Department of Biomedical Sciences and of Morphologic and Functional Imaging, Section of Radiological Sciences (Italy); Italiano, Antonio [INFN – Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Gruppo Collegato di Messina (Italy); Minutoli, Fabio; Baldari, Sergio [University of Messina, Department of Biomedical Sciences and of Morphologic and Functional Imaging, Section of Radiological Sciences (Italy)

2013-04-21

The voxel-level dosimetry is the most simple and common approach to internal dosimetry of nonuniform distributions of activity within the human body. Aim of this work was to obtain the dose “S” factors (mGy/MBqs) at the voxel level for eight beta and beta–gamma emitting radionuclides commonly used in nuclear medicine diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. We developed a Monte Carlo simulation in GEANT4 of a region of soft tissue as defined by the ICRP, divided into 11×11×11 cubic voxels, 3 mm in side. The simulation used the parameterizations of the electromagnetic interaction optimized for low energy (EEDL, EPDL). The decay of each radionuclide ({sup 32}P, {sup 90}Y, {sup 99m}Tc, {sup 177}Lu, {sup 131}I, {sup 153}Sm, {sup 186}Re, {sup 188}Re) were simulated homogeneously distributed within the central voxel (0,0,0), and the energy deposited in the surrounding voxels was mediated on the 8 octants of the three dimensional space, for reasons of symmetry. The results obtained were compared with those available in the literature. While the iodine deviations remain within 16%, for phosphorus, a pure beta emitter, the agreement is very good for self-dose (0,0,0) and good for the dose to first neighbors, while differences are observed ranging from −60% to +100% for voxels far distant from the source. The existence of significant differences in the percentage calculation of the voxel S factors, especially for pure beta emitters such as {sup 32}P or {sup 90}Y, has already been highlighted by other authors. These data can usefully extend the dosimetric approach based on the voxel to other radionuclides not covered in the available literature.

Benchmarking and validation of a Geant4-SHADOW Monte Carlo simulation for dose calculations in microbeam radiation therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelius, Iwan; Guatelli, Susanna; Fournier, Pauline; Crosbie, Jeffrey C; Sanchez Del Rio, Manuel; Bräuer-Krisch, Elke; Rosenfeld, Anatoly; Lerch, Michael

2014-05-01

Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) is a synchrotron-based radiotherapy modality that uses high-intensity beams of spatially fractionated radiation to treat tumours. The rapid evolution of MRT towards clinical trials demands accurate treatment planning systems (TPS), as well as independent tools for the verification of TPS calculated dose distributions in order to ensure patient safety and treatment efficacy. Monte Carlo computer simulation represents the most accurate method of dose calculation in patient geometries and is best suited for the purpose of TPS verification. A Monte Carlo model of the ID17 biomedical beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility has been developed, including recent modifications, using the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit interfaced with the SHADOW X-ray optics and ray-tracing libraries. The code was benchmarked by simulating dose profiles in water-equivalent phantoms subject to irradiation by broad-beam (without spatial fractionation) and microbeam (with spatial fractionation) fields, and comparing against those calculated with a previous model of the beamline developed using the PENELOPE code. Validation against additional experimental dose profiles in water-equivalent phantoms subject to broad-beam irradiation was also performed. Good agreement between codes was observed, with the exception of out-of-field doses and toward the field edge for larger field sizes. Microbeam results showed good agreement between both codes and experimental results within uncertainties. Results of the experimental validation showed agreement for different beamline configurations. The asymmetry in the out-of-field dose profiles due to polarization effects was also investigated, yielding important information for the treatment planning process in MRT. This work represents an important step in the development of a Monte Carlo-based independent verification tool for treatment planning in MRT.

Monte Carlo simulation of MOSFET dosimeter for electron backscatter using the GEANT4 code.

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, James C L; Leung, Michael K K

2008-06-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of the body of the metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) dosimeter in measuring the electron backscatter from lead. The electron backscatter factor (EBF), which is defined as the ratio of dose at the tissue-lead interface to the dose at the same point without the presence of backscatter, was calculated by the Monte Carlo simulation using the GEANT4 code. Electron beams with energies of 4, 6, 9, and 12 MeV were used in the simulation. It was found that in the presence of the MOSFET body, the EBFs were underestimated by about 2%-0.9% for electron beam energies of 4-12 MeV, respectively. The trend of the decrease of EBF with an increase of electron energy can be explained by the small MOSFET dosimeter, mainly made of epoxy and silicon, not only attenuated the electron fluence of the electron beam from upstream, but also the electron backscatter generated by the lead underneath the dosimeter. However, this variation of the EBF underestimation is within the same order of the statistical uncertainties as the Monte Carlo simulations, which ranged from 1.3% to 0.8% for the electron energies of 4-12 MeV, due to the small dosimetric volume. Such small EBF deviation is therefore insignificant when the uncertainty of the Monte Carlo simulation is taken into account. Corresponding measurements were carried out and uncertainties compared to Monte Carlo results were within +/- 2%. Spectra of energy deposited by the backscattered electrons in dosimetric volumes with and without the lead and MOSFET were determined by Monte Carlo simulations. It was found that in both cases, when the MOSFET body is either present or absent in the simulation, deviations of electron energy spectra with and without the lead decrease with an increase of the electron beam energy. Moreover, the softer spectrum of the backscattered electron when lead is present can result in a reduction of the MOSFET response due to stronger

Detailed GEANT description of the SDC central calorimeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glagolev, V.V.; Li, W.

1994-01-01

This article represents the very detailed simulation model of the SDC central calorimeters and some results which were obtained using that model. The central calorimeters structure was coded on the GEANT 3.15 base in the frame of the SDCSIM environment. The SDCSIM is the general shell for simulation of the SDC set-up. The calorimeters geometry has been coded according to the FNAL and ANL engineering drawings and engineering data file. SDC central calorimeters detailed description is extremely useful for different simulation tasks, for fast simulation program parameters tuning, for different geometry especially studying (local response nonuniformity from bulkheads in the e.m. calorimeter and from coil supports and many others) and for the interpretation of the experimental data from the calorimeters. This simulation model is very useful for tasks of the test beam modules calorimeter calibration and for calorimeter in situ calibration. 3 refs., 8 figs

Radioactivity around naval nuclear bases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-02-01

Between 12th July and 2nd August 1988, Greenpeace took sediment samples from around four Royal Navy bases in the United Kingdom. Faslane, where nuclear powered submarines are berthed; Devonport and Rosyth where refit work is carried out and Portsmouth where US and UK nuclear submarines often visit. Samples were also taken from the US Navy base at Holy Loch, Scotland, where nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines are based. The samples were analysed at St Bartholomew Hospital Medical School, London. Identical samples were provided to the MoD personnel at Faslane and Devonport on the date taken. The purpose of carrying out the sampling programme was to highlight the fact that publicly available statistics from Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) are too limited in range, concentrating as they do merely on radioactive levels found between tides. The findings point to the necessity of monitoring subtidal as well as intertidal areas since levels of radioactivity found in the samples at Faslane and Holy Loch were four to nine times the figures published by MAFF. Until such time as nuclear power is no longer used at sea, it is the contention of Greenpeace that a more independent and comprehensive picture of the nature of radioactive contamination from around UK naval establishments must be obtained, than that presently available from MAFF. (author)

Mucocele fronto-ethmoïdale geante avec extension intracranienne ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mucocele fronto-ethmoïdale geante avec extension intracranienne: a propos d'un cas et revue de la litterature. A Kabre, DS Zabsonre, Y Haro. Abstract. Les mucocèles sont des pseudotumeurs kystiques développées aux dépens des sinus paranasaux. D'évolution lente et silencieuse elles se révèlent le plus souvent par ...

GEANT4 simulation of a scintillating-fibre tracker for the cosmic-ray muon tomography of legacy nuclear waste containers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clarkson, A.; Hamilton, D.J.; Hoek, M.; Ireland, D.G. [SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Kelvin Building, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom); Johnstone, J.R. [National Nuclear Laboratory, Central Laboratory, Sellafield, Seascale, Cumbria CA20 1PG, England (United Kingdom); Kaiser, R.; Keri, T.; Lumsden, S. [SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Kelvin Building, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom); Mahon, D.F., E-mail: David.Mahon@Glasgow.ac.uk [SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Kelvin Building, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom); McKinnon, B.; Murray, M.; Nutbeam-Tuffs, S. [SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Kelvin Building, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom); Shearer, C.; Staines, C. [National Nuclear Laboratory, Central Laboratory, Sellafield, Seascale, Cumbria CA20 1PG, England (United Kingdom); Yang, G. [SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Kelvin Building, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom); Zimmerman, C. [National Nuclear Laboratory, Central Laboratory, Sellafield, Seascale, Cumbria CA20 1PG, England (United Kingdom)

2014-05-11

Cosmic-ray muons are highly penetrative charged particles that are observed at the sea level with a flux of approximately one per square centimetre per minute. They interact with matter primarily through Coulomb scattering, which is exploited in the field of muon tomography to image shielded objects in a wide range of applications. In this paper, simulation studies are presented that assess the feasibility of a scintillating-fibre tracker system for use in the identification and characterisation of nuclear materials stored within industrial legacy waste containers. A system consisting of a pair of tracking modules above and a pair below the volume to be assayed is simulated within the GEANT4 framework using a range of potential fibre pitches and module separations. Each module comprises two orthogonal planes of fibres that allow the reconstruction of the initial and Coulomb-scattered muon trajectories. A likelihood-based image reconstruction algorithm has been developed that allows the container content to be determined with respect to the scattering density λ, a parameter which is related to the atomic number Z of the scattering material. Images reconstructed from this simulation are presented for a range of anticipated scenarios that highlight the expected image resolution and the potential of this system for the identification of high-Z materials within a shielded, concrete-filled container. First results from a constructed prototype system are presented in comparison with those from a detailed simulation. Excellent agreement between experimental data and simulation is observed showing clear discrimination between the different materials assayed throughout.

GEANT4 simulation of a scintillating-fibre tracker for the cosmic-ray muon tomography of legacy nuclear waste containers

Science.gov (United States)

Clarkson, A.; Hamilton, D. J.; Hoek, M.; Ireland, D. G.; Johnstone, J. R.; Kaiser, R.; Keri, T.; Lumsden, S.; Mahon, D. F.; McKinnon, B.; Murray, M.; Nutbeam-Tuffs, S.; Shearer, C.; Staines, C.; Yang, G.; Zimmerman, C.

2014-05-01

Cosmic-ray muons are highly penetrative charged particles that are observed at the sea level with a flux of approximately one per square centimetre per minute. They interact with matter primarily through Coulomb scattering, which is exploited in the field of muon tomography to image shielded objects in a wide range of applications. In this paper, simulation studies are presented that assess the feasibility of a scintillating-fibre tracker system for use in the identification and characterisation of nuclear materials stored within industrial legacy waste containers. A system consisting of a pair of tracking modules above and a pair below the volume to be assayed is simulated within the GEANT4 framework using a range of potential fibre pitches and module separations. Each module comprises two orthogonal planes of fibres that allow the reconstruction of the initial and Coulomb-scattered muon trajectories. A likelihood-based image reconstruction algorithm has been developed that allows the container content to be determined with respect to the scattering density λ, a parameter which is related to the atomic number Z of the scattering material. Images reconstructed from this simulation are presented for a range of anticipated scenarios that highlight the expected image resolution and the potential of this system for the identification of high-Z materials within a shielded, concrete-filled container. First results from a constructed prototype system are presented in comparison with those from a detailed simulation. Excellent agreement between experimental data and simulation is observed showing clear discrimination between the different materials assayed throughout.

Capture reactions at astrophysically relevant energies: extended gas target experiments and GEANT simulations

CERN Document Server

Kölle, V; Braitmayer, S E; Mohr, P J; Wilmes, S; Staudt, G; Hammer, J W; Jäger, M; Knee, H; Kunz, R; Mayer, A

1999-01-01

Several resonances of the capture reaction sup 2 sup 0 Ne(alpha, gamma) sup 2 sup 4 Mg were measured using an extended windowless gas target system. Detailed GEANT simulations were performed to derive the strength and the total width of the resonances from the measured yield curve. The crucial experimental parameters, which are mainly the density profile in the gas target and the efficiency of the gamma-ray detector, were analyzed by a comparison between the measured data and the corresponding simulation calculations. The excellent agreement between the experimental data and the simulations gives detailed insight into these parameters. (author)

GEANT4 simulation of the neutron background of the C$_6$D$_6$ set-up for capture studies at n_TOF

CERN Document Server

Žugec, P.; Bosnar, D.; Altstadt, S.; Andrzejewski, J.; Audouin, L.; Barbagallo, M.; Bécares, V.; Bečvář, F.; Belloni, F.; Berthoumieux, E.; Billowes, J.; Boccone, V.; Brugger, M.; Calviani, M.; Calviño, F.; Cano-Ott, D.; Carrapiço, C.; Cerutti, F.; Chiaveri, E.; Chin, M.; Cortés, G.; Cortés-Giraldo, M.A.; Diakaki, M.; Domingo-Pardo, C.; Dressler, R.; Duran, I.; Dzysiuk, N.; Eleftheriadis, C.; Ferrari, A.; Fraval, K.; Ganesan, S.; García, A.R.; Giubrone, G.; Gómez-Hornillos, M.B.; Gonçalves, I.F.; González-Romero, E.; Griesmayer, E.; Guerrero, C.; Gunsing, F.; Gurusamy, P.; Heinitz, S.; Jenkins, D.G.; Jericha, E.; Kadi, Y.; Käppeler, F.; Karadimos, D.; Kivel, N.; Koehler, P.; Kokkoris, M.; Krtička, M.; Kroll, J.; Langer, C.; Lederer, C.; Leeb, H.; Leong, L.S.; Lo Meo, S.; Losito, R.; Manousos, A.; Marganiec, J.; Martìnez, T.; Massimi, C.; Mastinu, P.F.; Mastromarco, M.; Meaze, M.; Mendoza, E.; Mengoni, A.; Milazzo, P.M.; Mingrone, F.; Mirea, M.; Mondalaers, W.; Paradela, C.; Pavlik, A.; Perkowski, J.; Plompen, A.; Praena, J.; Quesada, J.M.; Rauscher, T.; Reifarth, R.; Riego, A.; Roman, F.; Rubbia, C.; Sarmento, R.; Saxena, A.; Schillebeeckx, P.; Schmidt, S.; Schumann, D.; Tagliente, G.; Tain, J.L.; Tarrío, D.; Tassan-Got, L.; Tsinganis, A.; Valenta, S.; Vannini, G.; Variale, V.; Vaz, P.; Ventura, A.; Versaci, R.; Vermeulen, M.J.; Vlachoudis, V.; Vlastou, R.; Wallner, A.; Ware, T.; Weigand, M.; Weiß, C.; Wright, T.

2014-05-09

The neutron sensitivity of the C$_6$D$_6$ detector setup used at n_TOF for capture measurements has been studied by means of detailed GEANT4 simulations. A realistic software replica of the entire n_TOF experimental hall, including the neutron beam line, sample, detector supports and the walls of the experimental area has been implemented in the simulations. The simulations have been analyzed in the same manner as experimental data, in particular by applying the Pulse Height Weighting Technique. The simulations have been validated against a measurement of the neutron background performed with a $^\\mathrm{nat}$C sample, showing an excellent agreement above 1 keV. At lower energies, an additional component in the measured $^\\mathrm{nat}$C yield has been discovered, which prevents the use of $^\\mathrm{nat}$C data for neutron background estimates at neutron energies below a few hundred eV. The origin and time structure of the neutron background have been derived from the simulations. Examples of the neutron backg...

Exploring the Physics Limitations of Compact High Gradient Accelerating Structures Simulations of the Electron Current Spectrometer Setup in Geant4

CERN Document Server

Van Vliet, Philine Julia

2017-01-01

The high field gradient of 100 MV/m that will be applied to the accelerator cavities of the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC), gives rise to the problem of RF breakdowns. The field collapses and a plasma of electrons and ions is being formed in the cavity, preventing the RF field from penetrating the cavity. Electrons in the plasma are being accelerated and ejected out, resulting in a breakdown current up to a few Amp`eres, measured outside the cavities. These breakdowns lead to luminosity loss, so reducing their amount is of great importance. For this, a better understanding of the physics behind RF breakdowns is needed. To study these breakdowns, the XBox 2 test facility has a spectrometer setup installed after the RF cavity that is being conditioned. For this report, a simulation of this spectrometer setup has been made using Geant4. Once a detailed simulation of the RF field and cavity has been made, it can be connected to this simulation of the spectrometer setup and used to recreate the data that has b...

SABRE: a computer-based system for the assessment of body radioactivity by photon spectrometry. Part 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venn, J.B.

1982-02-01

A PDP-11/10 computer system is described for the acquisition and processing of pulse height spectra from detectors used for the measurement of body radioactivity. Version 4 of SABRE (System for the Assessment of Body Radioactivity) provides control of multiple detection systems from visual display consoles by means of a command language. A wide range of facilities is available for the display, processing and storage of acquired spectra and complex operations may be pre-programmed by means of the SABRE MACRO language. The hardware includes a CAMAC interface to the detection systems, disc cartridge drives for mass storage of data and programs, and data-links to other computers. The software is written in assembler language and includes special features for the dynamic allocation of computer memory and for safeguarding acquired data. (author)

Comparison of SRIM, MCNPX and GEANT simulations with experimental data for thick Al absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evseev, Ivan G.; Schelin, Hugo R.; Paschuk, Sergei A.; Milhoretto, Edney; Setti, Joao A.P.; Yevseyeva, Olga; Assis, Joaquim T. de; Hormaza, Joel M.; Diaz, Katherin S.; Lopes, Ricardo T.

2010-01-01

Proton computerized tomography deals with relatively thick targets like the human head or trunk. In this case precise analytical calculation of the proton final energy is a rather complicated task, thus the Monte Carlo simulation stands out as a solution. We used the GEANT4.8.2 code to calculate the proton final energy spectra after passing a thick Al absorber and compared it with the same conditions of the experimental data. The ICRU49, Ziegler85 and Ziegler2000 models from the low energy extension pack were used. The results were also compared with the SRIM2008 and MCNPX2.4 simulations, and with solutions of the Boltzmann transport equation in the Fokker-Planck approximation.

Comparison of SRIM, MCNPX and GEANT simulations with experimental data for thick Al absorbers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evseev, Ivan G. [Federal University of Technology-Parana-UTFPR, Av.7 de Setembro 3165, Curitiba-PR (Brazil); Schelin, Hugo R. [Federal University of Technology-Parana-UTFPR, Av.7 de Setembro 3165, Curitiba-PR (Brazil)], E-mail: schelin@utfpr.edu.br; Paschuk, Sergei A.; Milhoretto, Edney; Setti, Joao A.P. [Federal University of Technology-Parana-UTFPR, Av.7 de Setembro 3165, Curitiba-PR (Brazil); Yevseyeva, Olga; Assis, Joaquim T. de [Instituto Politecnico da UERJ, Rua Alberto Rangel s/n, Nova Friburgo-RJ (Brazil); Hormaza, Joel M. [Instituto de Biociencias da UNESP, Distrito de Rubiao Junior s/n, Botucatu-SP (Brazil); Diaz, Katherin S. [CEADEN, Calle 30 502 e/5ta y 7ma Avenida, Playa, Ciudad Habana (Cuba); Lopes, Ricardo T. [Laboratorio de Instrumentacao Nuclear, COPPE, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro-RJ (Brazil)

2010-04-15

Proton computerized tomography deals with relatively thick targets like the human head or trunk. In this case precise analytical calculation of the proton final energy is a rather complicated task, thus the Monte Carlo simulation stands out as a solution. We used the GEANT4.8.2 code to calculate the proton final energy spectra after passing a thick Al absorber and compared it with the same conditions of the experimental data. The ICRU49, Ziegler85 and Ziegler2000 models from the low energy extension pack were used. The results were also compared with the SRIM2008 and MCNPX2.4 simulations, and with solutions of the Boltzmann transport equation in the Fokker-Planck approximation.

Geant4 simulation for a study of a possible use of carbon ions pencil beam for the treatment of ocular melanomas with the active scanning system at CNAO Centre

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farina, E.; Piersimoni, P.; Riccardi, C.; Rimoldi, A.; Tamborini, A.; Ciocca, M.

2015-01-01

The aim of this work is to validate the Geant4 application reproducing the CNAO (National Centre for Oncological Hadrontherapy) beamline and to study of a possible use of carbon ion pencil beams for the treatment of ocular melanomas at the CNAO Centre. The promising aspect of carbon ions radiotherapy for the treatment of this disease lies in its superior relative radiobiological effectiveness (RBE). The Monte Carlo Geant4 toolkit is used to simulate the complete CNAO extraction beamline, with the active and passive components along it. A human eye modeled detector, including a realistic target tumor volume, is used as target. Cross check with previous studies at CNAO using protons allows comparisons on possible benefits on using such a technique with respect to proton beams. Before the eye-detector irradiation a validation of the Geant4 simulation with CNAO experimental data is carried out with both carbon ions and protons. Important beam parameters such as the transverse FWHM and scanned radiation field 's uniformity are tested within the simulation and compared with experimental measurements at CNAO Centre. The physical processes involved in secondary particles generation by carbon ions and protons in the eye-detector are reproduced to take into account the additional dose to the primary beam given to irradiated eye's tissues. A study of beam shaping is carried out to produce a uniform 3D dose distribution (shaped on the tumor) by the use of a spread out Bragg peak. The eye-detector is then irradiated through a two dimensional transverse beam scan at different depths. In the use case the eye-detector is rotated of an angle of 40 deg. in the vertical direction, in order to mis-align the tumor from healthy tissues in front of it. The treatment uniformity on the tumor in the eye-detector is tested. For a more quantitative description of the deposited dose in the eye-detector and for the evaluation of the ratio between the dose deposited in the tumor and

Geant4 simulation for a study of a possible use of carbon ions pencil beam for the treatment of ocular melanomas with the active scanning system at CNAO Centre

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farina, E. [University of Pavia-Department of Physics, via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia (Italy); Piersimoni, P. [Division of Radiation Research, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92354 (United States); Riccardi, C.; Rimoldi, A.; Tamborini, A. [University of Pavia-Department of Physics, via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia (Italy); INFN Section of Pavia, via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia (Italy); Ciocca, M. [Medical Physics Unit, Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica - CNAO Foundation, Strada Campeggi 53, 27100 Pavia (Italy)

2015-07-01

The aim of this work is to validate the Geant4 application reproducing the CNAO (National Centre for Oncological Hadrontherapy) beamline and to study of a possible use of carbon ion pencil beams for the treatment of ocular melanomas at the CNAO Centre. The promising aspect of carbon ions radiotherapy for the treatment of this disease lies in its superior relative radiobiological effectiveness (RBE). The Monte Carlo Geant4 toolkit is used to simulate the complete CNAO extraction beamline, with the active and passive components along it. A human eye modeled detector, including a realistic target tumor volume, is used as target. Cross check with previous studies at CNAO using protons allows comparisons on possible benefits on using such a technique with respect to proton beams. Before the eye-detector irradiation a validation of the Geant4 simulation with CNAO experimental data is carried out with both carbon ions and protons. Important beam parameters such as the transverse FWHM and scanned radiation field 's uniformity are tested within the simulation and compared with experimental measurements at CNAO Centre. The physical processes involved in secondary particles generation by carbon ions and protons in the eye-detector are reproduced to take into account the additional dose to the primary beam given to irradiated eye's tissues. A study of beam shaping is carried out to produce a uniform 3D dose distribution (shaped on the tumor) by the use of a spread out Bragg peak. The eye-detector is then irradiated through a two dimensional transverse beam scan at different depths. In the use case the eye-detector is rotated of an angle of 40 deg. in the vertical direction, in order to mis-align the tumor from healthy tissues in front of it. The treatment uniformity on the tumor in the eye-detector is tested. For a more quantitative description of the deposited dose in the eye-detector and for the evaluation of the ratio between the dose deposited in the tumor and

A comparison of MCNP6-1.0 and GEANT 4-10.1 when evaluating the neutron output of a complex real world nuclear environment: The thermal neutron facility at the Tri Universities Meson facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Monk, S.D., E-mail: s.monk@lancaster.ac.uk [Department of Engineering, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW (United Kingdom); Shippen, B.A. [Department of Engineering, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW (United Kingdom); Colling, B.R. [Department of Engineering, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW (United Kingdom); Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Cheneler, D.; Al Hamrashdi, H.; Alton, T. [Department of Engineering, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW (United Kingdom)

2017-05-15

Highlights: • Comparison of the use of MCNP6 and GEANT4 Monte Carlo software when large distances and thicknesses are considered. • The Thermal Neutron Facility (TNF) at TRIUMF used as an example real life example location. • The effects of water, aluminium, iron and lead considered over various thicknesses up to 3 m. - Abstract: A comparison of the Monte Carlo based simulation codes MCNP6-1.0 and GEANT4-10.1 as used for modelling large scale structures is presented here. The high-energy neutron field at the Tri Universities Meson Facility (TRIUMF) in Vancouver, British Columbia is the structure modelled in this work. Work with the emphasis on the modelling of the facility and comparing with experimental results has been published previously, whereas this work is focussed on comparing the performance of the codes over relatively high depths of material rather than the accuracy of the results themselves in comparison to experimental data. Comparisons of three different locations within the neutron facility are modelled and presented using both codes as well as analysis of the transport of typical neutrons fields through large blocks of iron, water, lead and aluminium in order to determine where any deviations are likely to have occurred. Results indicate that over short distances, results from the two codes are in broad agreement – although over greater distances and within more complex geometries, deviation increases dramatically. The conclusions reached are that it is likely the deviations between the codes is caused by both the compounding effect of slight differences between the cross section files used by the two codes to determine the neutron transport through iron, and differences in the processes used by both codes.

Reaction Cross Section Calculations in Neutron Induced Reactions and GEANT4 Simulation of Hadronic Interactions for the Reactor Moderator Material BeO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veli ÇAPALI

2016-05-01

Full Text Available BeO is one of the most common moderator material for neutron moderation; due to its high density, neutron capture cross section and physical-chemical properties that provides usage at elevated temperatures. As it’s known, for various applications in the field of reactor design and neutron capture, reaction cross–section data are required. The cross–sections of (n,α, (n,2n, (n,t, (n,EL and (n,TOT reactions for 9Be and 16O nuclei have been calculated by using TALYS 1.6 Two Component Exciton model and EMPIRE 3.2 Exciton model in this study. Hadronic interactions of low energetic neutrons and generated isotopes–particles have been investigated for a situation in which BeO was used as a neutron moderator by using GEANT4, which is a powerful simulation software. In addition, energy deposition along BeO material has been obtained. Results from performed calculations were compared with the experimental nuclear reaction data exist in EXFOR.

Evaluation of the fluence to dose conversion coefficients for high energy neutrons using a voxel phantom coupled with the GEANT4 code

CERN Document Server

Paganini, S

2005-01-01

Crews working on present-day jet aircraft are a large occupationally exposed group with a relatively high average effective dose from Galactic cosmic radiation. Crews of future high-speed commercial flying at higher altitudes would be even more exposed. To help reduce the significant uncertainties in calculations of such exposures, the male adult voxels phantom MAX, developed in the Nuclear Energy Department of Pernambuco Federal University in Brazil, has been coupled with the Monte Carlo simulation code GEANT4. This toolkit, distributed and upgraded from the international scientific community of CERN/Switzerland, simulates thermal to ultrahigh energy neutrons transport and interactions in the matter. The high energy neutrons are pointed as the component that contribute about 70% of the neutron effective dose that represent the 35% to 60% total dose at aircraft altitude. In this research calculations of conversion coefficients from fluence to effective dose are performed for neutrons of energies from 100 MeV ...

The effect of 111In radionuclide distance and auger electron energy on direct induction of DNA double-strand breaks: a Monte Carlo study using Geant4 toolkit.

Science.gov (United States)

Piroozfar, Behnaz; Raisali, Gholamreza; Alirezapour, Behrouz; Mirzaii, Mohammad

2018-04-01

In this study, the effect of 111 In position and Auger electron energy on direct induction of DSBs was investigated. The Geant4-DNA simulation toolkit was applied using a simple B-DNA form extracted from PDBlib library. First, the simulation was performed for electrons with energies of 111 In and equal emission probabilities to find the most effective electron energies. Then, 111 In Auger electrons' actual spectrum was considered and their contribution in DSB induction analysed. The results showed that the most effective electron energy is 183 eV, but due to the higher emission probability of 350 eV electrons, most of the DSBs were induced by the latter electrons. Also, it was observed that most of the DSBs are induced by electrons emitted within 4 nm of the central axis of the DNA and were mainly due to breaks with <4 base pairs distance in opposing strands. Whilst, when 111 In atoms are very close to the DNA, 1.3 DSBs have been obtained per decay of 111 In atoms. The results show that the most effective Auger electrons are the 350 eV electrons from 111 In atoms with <4 nm distance from the central axis of the DNA which induce ∼1.3 DSBs per decay when bound to the DNA. This value seems reasonable when compared with the reported experimental data.

Simulating cosmic radiation absorption and secondary particle production of solar panel layers of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite with GEANT4

Science.gov (United States)

Yiǧitoǧlu, Merve; Veske, Doǧa; Nilüfer Öztürk, Zeynep; Bilge Demirköz, Melahat

2016-07-01

All devices which operate in space are exposed to cosmic rays during their operation. The resulting radiation may cause fatal damages in the solid structure of devices and the amount of absorbed radiation dose and secondary particle production for each component should be calculated carefully before the production. Solar panels are semiconductor solid state devices and are very sensitive to radiation. Even a short term power cut-off may yield a total failure of the satellite. Even little doses of radiation can change the characteristics of solar cells. This deviation can be caused by rarer high energetic particles as well as the total ionizing dose from the abundant low energy particles. In this study, solar panels planned for a specific LEO satellite, IMECE, are analyzed layer by layer. The Space Environment Information System (SPENVIS) database and GEANT4 simulation software are used to simulate the layers of the panels. The results obtained from the simulation will be taken in account to determine the amount of radiation protection and resistance needed for the panels or to revise the design of the panels.

Benchmarking the Geant4 full system simulation of an associated alpha-particle detector for use in a D-T neutron generator.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaodong; Hayward, Jason P; Cates, Joshua W; Hausladen, Paul A; Laubach, Mitchell A; Sparger, Johnathan E; Donnald, Samuel B

2012-08-01

The position-sensitive alpha-particle detector used to provide the starting time and initial direction of D-T neutrons in a fast-neutron imaging system was simulated with a Geant4-based Monte Carlo program. The whole detector system, which consists of a YAP:Ce scintillator, a fiber-optic faceplate, a light guide, and a position-sensitive photo-multiplier tube (PSPMT), was modeled, starting with incident D-T alphas. The scintillation photons, whose starting time follows the distribution of a scintillation decay curve, were produced and emitted uniformly into a solid angle of 4π along the track segments of the alpha and its secondaries. Through tracking all photons and taking into account the quantum efficiency of the photocathode, the number of photoelectrons and their time and position distributions were obtained. Using a four-corner data reconstruction formula, the flood images of the alpha detector with and without optical grease between the YAP scintillator and the fiber-optic faceplate were obtained, which show agreement with the experimental results. The reconstructed position uncertainties of incident alpha particles for both cases are 1.198 mm and 0.998 mm respectively across the sensitive area of the detector. Simulation results also show that comparing with other faceplates composed of 500 μm, 300 μm, and 100 μm fibers, the 10-μm-fiber faceplate is the best choice to build the detector for better position performance. In addition, the study of the background originating inside the D-T generator suggests that for 500-μm-thick YAP:Ce coated with 1-μm-thick aluminum, and very good signal-to-noise ratio can be expected through application of a simple threshold. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Novel methods for estimating 3D distributions of radioactive isotopes in materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iwamoto, Y., E-mail: y.iwamoto0805@ruri.waseda.jp [Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555 (Japan); Kataoka, J.; Kishimoto, A.; Nishiyama, T.; Taya, T.; Okochi, H.; Ogata, H. [Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555 (Japan); Yamamoto, S. [Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-20, Daikominami, Higashi-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi 461-8673 (Japan)

2016-09-21

In recent years, various gamma-ray visualization techniques, or gamma cameras, have been proposed. These techniques are extremely effective for identifying “hot spots” or regions where radioactive isotopes are accumulated. Examples of such would be nuclear-disaster-affected areas such as Fukushima or the vicinity of nuclear reactors. However, the images acquired with a gamma camera do not include distance information between radioactive isotopes and the camera, and hence are “degenerated” in the direction of the isotopes. Moreover, depth information in the images is lost when the isotopes are embedded in materials, such as water, sand, and concrete. Here, we propose two methods of obtaining depth information of radioactive isotopes embedded in materials by comparing (1) their spectra and (2) images of incident gamma rays scattered by the materials and direct gamma rays. In the first method, the spectra of radioactive isotopes and the ratios of scattered to direct gamma rays are obtained. We verify experimentally that the ratio increases with increasing depth, as predicted by simulations. Although the method using energy spectra has been studied for a long time, an advantage of our method is the use of low-energy (50–150 keV) photons as scattered gamma rays. In the second method, the spatial extent of images obtained for direct and scattered gamma rays is compared. By performing detailed Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4, we verify that the spatial extent of the position where gamma rays are scattered increases with increasing depth. To demonstrate this, we are developing various gamma cameras to compare low-energy (scattered) gamma-ray images with fully photo-absorbed gamma-ray images. We also demonstrate that the 3D reconstruction of isotopes/hotspots is possible with our proposed methods. These methods have potential applications in the medical fields, and in severe environments such as the nuclear-disaster-affected areas in Fukushima.

Novel methods for estimating 3D distributions of radioactive isotopes in materials

Science.gov (United States)

Iwamoto, Y.; Kataoka, J.; Kishimoto, A.; Nishiyama, T.; Taya, T.; Okochi, H.; Ogata, H.; Yamamoto, S.

2016-09-01

In recent years, various gamma-ray visualization techniques, or gamma cameras, have been proposed. These techniques are extremely effective for identifying "hot spots" or regions where radioactive isotopes are accumulated. Examples of such would be nuclear-disaster-affected areas such as Fukushima or the vicinity of nuclear reactors. However, the images acquired with a gamma camera do not include distance information between radioactive isotopes and the camera, and hence are "degenerated" in the direction of the isotopes. Moreover, depth information in the images is lost when the isotopes are embedded in materials, such as water, sand, and concrete. Here, we propose two methods of obtaining depth information of radioactive isotopes embedded in materials by comparing (1) their spectra and (2) images of incident gamma rays scattered by the materials and direct gamma rays. In the first method, the spectra of radioactive isotopes and the ratios of scattered to direct gamma rays are obtained. We verify experimentally that the ratio increases with increasing depth, as predicted by simulations. Although the method using energy spectra has been studied for a long time, an advantage of our method is the use of low-energy (50-150 keV) photons as scattered gamma rays. In the second method, the spatial extent of images obtained for direct and scattered gamma rays is compared. By performing detailed Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4, we verify that the spatial extent of the position where gamma rays are scattered increases with increasing depth. To demonstrate this, we are developing various gamma cameras to compare low-energy (scattered) gamma-ray images with fully photo-absorbed gamma-ray images. We also demonstrate that the 3D reconstruction of isotopes/hotspots is possible with our proposed methods. These methods have potential applications in the medical fields, and in severe environments such as the nuclear-disaster-affected areas in Fukushima.

Study of radioactive sources accumulation with application of thermoluminescence dosemeters on the base of alkaline earth metals sulfates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokbergenov, I.; Sadykov, T.

2001-01-01

Methodic for study of accumulation and distribution of radioactive sources in a nature objects is developed. An essence of the method consists of in that quantity of accumulated radioactive sources in a nature objects is defining by absorption dose measured with help of thermoluminescent dosemeters on the base of alkaline earth metals sulfates such as CaSO 4 :Dy and SrSO 4 :Eu

Radioactive contamination of the Guatemalan marine environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perez-Sabino, J F; Oliva de Sandoval, B E; Orozco-Chilel, R M; Aguilar-Sandoval, E [Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas y Farmacia, Unidad de Analisis Instrumental, Guatemala C.A. (Guatemala)

1999-07-01

As part of the IAEA TC project GUA/2/005 `Radioactivity and Contamination of the Marine Environment in Guatemala`, concentrations of artificial and natural radionuclides have been determined in marine water and sediments, giving important information to establish the base line of the natural radioactivity and the radioactive contamination in this area that not have been studying 4 refs, 1 fig., 4 tabs

GEANT4 hadronic cascade models analysis of proton and charged pion transverse momentum spectra from p plus Cu and Pb collisions at 3, 8, and 15 GeV/c

CERN Document Server

Abdel-Waged, Khaled; Uzhinskii, V V

2011-01-01

We describe how various hadronic cascade models, which are implemented in the GEANT4 toolkit, describe proton and charged pion transverse momentum spectra from p + Cu and Pb collisions at 3, 8, and 15 GeV/c, recently measured in the hadron production (HARP) experiment at CERN. The Binary, ultrarelativistic quantum molecular dynamics (UrQMD) and modified FRITIOF (FTF) hadronic cascade models are chosen for investigation. The first two models are based on limited (Binary) and branched (UrQMD) binary scattering between cascade particles which can be either a baryon or meson, in the three-dimensional space of the nucleus, while the latter (FTF) considers collective interactions between nucleons only, on the plane of impact parameter. It is found that the slow (p(T) 0.3 GeV/c) proton spectra are not strongly affected by the differences between the FTF and UrQMD models. It is also shown that the UrQMD and FTF combined with Binary (FTFB) models could reproduce both proton and charged pion spectra from p + Cu and Pb...

Number distribution of leakage neutrons for single neutron emission event and one source emission event in multiplying medium for two variables - a GEANT4 study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, Arup Singha; Raman, Anand; Chaudhury, Probal; Thomas, Renju G.

2018-01-01

A quantitative knowledge about the neutron multiplying character of a neutron multiplying medium such as High enriched Uranium (HEU), Weapon Graded plutonium (WGPu) and similar special nuclear materials is essential for improving the probability of detection of these materials to check against illicit trafficking. The objective of this study is to gain a deeper insight in to the neutron and gamma multiplication behaviour of these materials. The leakage number distribution of neutron and gamma initiated by a source emission event (Spontaneous Fission) as well as single neutron emission event has been obtained in the course of this study. The computations for this study were carried out through GEANT4 simulation and also with the help of FREYA incorporated into it. This helped to carry out a detailed analysis of each history more realistically and obtain more reliable results

Simulation calculations using the code Geant III for the EUROGAM device

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beck, F A; Curien, D; Duchene, G; France, G de; Wei, L [Strasbourg-1 Univ., 67 (France). Centre de Recherches Nucleaires

1992-08-01

Simulation calculations are good tools to determine, at a low cost, the characteristics of a detector. It enables to change the geometry of the counter in an iterative way to optimize its response leading to the best performances for the whole multi-detector device. This kind of calculations have been performed using the Geant III code for the EUROGAM device. (author). 3 tabs., 5 figs.

Monte-Carlo Application for Nondestructive Nuclear Waste Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Carasco, C.; Engels, R.; Frank, M.; Furletov, S.; Furletova, J.; Genreith, C.; Havenith, A.; Kemmerling, G.; Kettler, J.; Krings, T.; Ma, J.-L.; Mauerhofer, E.; Neike, D.; Payan, E.; Perot, B.; Rossbach, M.; Schitthelm, O.; Schumann, M.; Vasquez, R.

2014-06-01

Radioactive waste has to undergo a process of quality checking in order to check its conformance with national regulations prior to its transport, intermediate storage and final disposal. Within the quality checking of radioactive waste packages non-destructive assays are required to characterize their radio-toxic and chemo-toxic contents. The Institute of Energy and Climate Research - Nuclear Waste Management and Reactor Safety of the Forschungszentrum Jülich develops in the framework of cooperation nondestructive analytical techniques for the routine characterization of radioactive waste packages at industrial-scale. During the phase of research and development Monte Carlo techniques are used to simulate the transport of particle, especially photons, electrons and neutrons, through matter and to obtain the response of detection systems. The radiological characterization of low and intermediate level radioactive waste drums is performed by segmented γ-scanning (SGS). To precisely and accurately reconstruct the isotope specific activity content in waste drums by SGS measurement, an innovative method called SGSreco was developed. The Geant4 code was used to simulate the response of the collimated detection system for waste drums with different activity and matrix configurations. These simulations allow a far more detailed optimization, validation and benchmark of SGSreco, since the construction of test drums covering a broad range of activity and matrix properties is time consuming and cost intensive. The MEDINA (Multi Element Detection based on Instrumental Neutron Activation) test facility was developed to identify and quantify non-radioactive elements and substances in radioactive waste drums. MEDINA is based on prompt and delayed gamma neutron activation analysis (P&DGNAA) using a 14 MeV neutron generator. MCNP simulations were carried out to study the response of the MEDINA facility in terms of gamma spectra, time dependence of the neutron energy spectrum

Lateral variations of radiobiological properties of therapeutic fields of 1H, 4He, 12C and 16O ions studied with Geant4 and microdosimetric kinetic model

Science.gov (United States)

Dewey, Sophie; Burigo, Lucas; Pshenichnov, Igor; Mishustin, Igor; Bleicher, Marcus

2017-07-01

As known, in cancer therapy with ion beams the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of ions changes in the course of their propagation in tissues. Such changes are caused not only by increasing the linear energy transfer (LET) of beam particles with the penetration depth towards the Bragg peak, but also by nuclear reactions induced by beam nuclei leading to the production of various secondary particles. Although the changes of RBE along the beam axis have been studied quite well, much less attention has been paid to the evolution of RBE in the transverse direction, perpendicular to the beam axis. In order to fill this gap, we simulated radiation fields of 1H, 4He, 12C and 16O nuclei of 20 mm in diameter by means of a Geant4-based Monte Carlo model for heavy-ion therapy connected with the modified microdosimetric kinetic model to describe the response of normal ((α/β)_x-rays=3.8 Gy) and early-responding ((α/β)_x-rays=10 Gy) tissues. Depth and radial distributions of saturation-corrected dose-mean lineal energy, RBE and RBE-weighted dose are investigated for passive beam shaping and active beam scanning. The field of 4He has a small lateral spread as compared with 1H field, and it is characterised by a modest lateral variation of RBE suggesting the use of fixed RBE values across the field transverse cross section at each depth. Reduced uncertainties of RBE on the boundary of a 4He treatment field can be advantageous in a specific case of an organ at risk located in lateral proximity to the target volume. It is found that the lateral distributions of RBE calculated for 12C and 16O fields demonstrate fast variations in the radial direction due to changes of dose and composition of secondary fragments in the field penumbra. Nevertheless, the radiation fields of all four projectiles at radii larger than 20 mm can be characterized by a common RBE value defined by tissue radiosensitivity. These findings can help, in particular, in accessing the transverse

Radioactive source monitoring system based on RFID and GPRS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Haiyang; Zhou Hongliang; Zhang Hongjian; Zhang Sheng; Zhou Junru; Weng Guojie

2011-01-01

Nuclear radiation produced by radioactive source is harmful to the health of human body, and the lost and theft of radioactive source will cause environmental pollution and social panic. In order to solve the abnormal leaks, accidental loss, theft and other problems of the radioactive source, a radioactive source monitoring system based on RFID, GPS, GPRS and GSM technology is put forward. Radiation dose detector and GPS wireless location module are used to obtain the information of radiation dose and location respectively, RFID reader reads the status of a tag fixed on the bottom of the radioactive source. All information is transmitted to the remote monitoring center via GPRS wireless transmission. There will be an audible and visual alarm when radiation dose is out of limits or the state of radioactive source is abnormal, and the monitoring center will send alarming text messages to the managers through GSM Modem at the same time. Thus, the functions of monitoring and alarming are achieved. The system has already been put into operation and is being kept in functional order. It can provide stable statistics as well as accurate alarm, improving the supervision of radioactive source effectively. (authors)

Calibration of a gamma spectrometer for natural radioactivity measurement. Experimental measurements and Monte Carlo modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courtine, Fabien

2007-03-01

The thesis proceeded in the context of dating by thermoluminescence. This method requires laboratory measurements of the natural radioactivity. For that purpose, we have been using a germanium spectrometer. To refine the calibration of this one, we modelled it by using a Monte-Carlo computer code: Geant4. We developed a geometrical model which takes into account the presence of inactive zones and zones of poor charge-collection within the germanium crystal. The parameters of the model were adjusted by comparison with experimental results obtained with a source of 137 Cs. It appeared that the form of the inactive zones is less simple than is presented in the specialized literature. This model was widened to the case of a more complex source, with cascade effect and angular correlations between photons: the 60 Co. Lastly, applied to extended sources, it gave correct results and allowed us to validate the simulation of matrix effect. (author)

Development of Data Base on Radioactive Discharges and Environmental Activity Levels in Slovenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vokal, B.; Krizman, M.

2003-01-01

Radioactivity monitoring in the environment in Slovenia has been currently performed on a regular basis as a monitoring of global radioactive contamination and as operational monitoring in the surroundings of facilities with radioactive discharges. Environmental radioactivity monitoring due to atmospheric nuclear bomb tests in Slovenia started in 1961, while monitoring of radioactive discharges from nuclear facilities in Slovenia started in early 1980s with the extent programmes: in the Krsko nuclear power plant in 1981, in the uranium mining and milling facility at Zirovski vrh (1985) and in the research reactor at Brinje near Ljubljana (1986). Both categories of the results are documented in written reports and sent to the competent authorities, mostly on annual basis. According to the requirements of the European Commission (Commission Recommendation of 8. June 2000 on the application of Article 36 of the Euratom Treaty concerning the monitoring of the levels of the radioactivity in the environment for the purpose of assessing the exposure of the population as a whole (2000/473/Euratom) and Commission Recommendation of 6. December 1999 on the application of Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty (1999/829/Euratom)) and on initiative of the IAEA (IAEA Document International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Project International Data base on Discharges of Radioactive Material to the Environment, 2000) the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) started in 2002 with development of the computerised data base on environmental data and radioactive discharges data for the most facilities, specially for the nuclear fuel cycle. At present the environmental database contains the data on global contamination of air, surface waters, tap water sources and food chain (1 37C s, 9 0S r) and also on levels of major natural radionuclides (7 B e, 2 10P b, 2 26R a, 4 0K ). Data base on radioactive discharges for the recent years comprises the activities of fission and activation

Variation of Bragg curve characteristic induced by changing the position of inhomogeneous material: Geant4 simulation study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, So-Hyun; Jung, Won-Gyun; Suh, Tae-Suk [Catholic University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Jang, Hong-Seok; Choi, Byeong-Oak [Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Rah, Jeong-Eun; Park, Sun-Gyong; Lee, Se-Byeong [National Cancer Center, Ilsan (Korea, Republic of)

2011-02-15

When proton beam passes through the human body, the stopping power and the depth-dose distribution of the proton are influenced by the relative location among adjacent materials or the difference in material conditions. Our study demonstrates the effect of inhomogeneous materials placed in the Plateau and Bragg peak regions of the Bragg curve in water. We evaluated the Bragg peak position, range, penumbra and integrated doses by using the Geant4 simulation toolkit. The positions of inhomogeneities were selected as the proximal 36% and 50% points of the maximum dose, which indicates the location at entrance regions of the Plateau and the Bragg peak, respectively. Bone (density {rho} = 1.85 g/cm{sup 3}) and adipose tissue (density {rho} = 0.92 g/cm{sup 3}) were selected as inhomogeneous materials. The thickness of each material was varied by 0.1 cm between 0.1 cm and 1.0 cm. In addition, the initial energy of the proton beam was changed in 30 MeV steps between 108 MeV and 220 MeV. The effects of inhomogeneous conditions were performed for various parameters: Bragg peak position, range, penumbra width, full width at half maximum and dose of Bragg curve. A dose perturbation was observed in the region of the Bragg peak and inhomogeneous material, especially, When the bone equivalent material was inserted within the Bragg curve. However, there were no significant variations in the other parameters, except for the dose perturbation depending on the inserted location of each material. This study shows the characteristic changes in the Bragg curve due to inhomogeneous materials.

Study on light output and energy resolution of PbWO4 crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su Guanghui; Yue Ke; Sun Zhiyu

2010-01-01

The light output and energy resolution of PbWO 4 crystal are studied with different wrapping materials and methods. The Wrapping condition was optimized by analyzing the experimental data to gain higher light output and better energy resolution. A GEANT4-based package has been developed to simulate the corresponding features of PbWO 4 crystal, and the simulation results are consistent with the experimental data. (authors)

Calibration of a gamma spectrometer for measuring natural radioactivity. Experimental measurements and modeling by Monte-Carlo methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courtine, Fabien

2007-01-01

The thesis proceeded in the context of dating by thermoluminescence. This method requires laboratory measurements of the natural radioactivity. For that purpose, we have been using a germanium spectrometer. To refine the calibration of this one, we modelled it by using a Monte-Carlo computer code: Geant4. We developed a geometrical model which takes into account the presence of inactive zones and zones of poor charge-collection within the germanium crystal. The parameters of the model were adjusted by comparison with experimental results obtained with a source of 137 Cs. It appeared that the form of the inactive zones is less simple than is presented in the specialized literature. This model was widened to the case of a more complex source, with cascade effect and angular correlations between photons: the 60 Co. Lastly, applied to extended sources, it gave correct results and allowed us to validate the simulation of matrix effect. (author)

Note: Real time optical sensing of alpha-radiation emitting radioactive aerosols based on solid state nuclear track detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, A.; Bak, M. S.; Ha, S.; Joshirao, P.; Manchanda, V.; Kim, T.

2015-01-01

A sensitive radioactive aerosols sensor has been designed and developed. Its design guidance is based on the need for a low operational cost and reliable measurements to provide daily aerosol monitoring. The exposure of diethylene-glycol bis (allylcarbonate) to radiation causes modification of its physico-chemical properties like surface roughness and reflectance. In the present study, optical sensor based on the reflectance measurement has been developed with an aim to monitor real time presence of alpha radioactive aerosols emitted from thorium nitrate hydrate. The results shows that the fabricated sensor can detect 0.0157 kBq to 0.1572 kBq of radio activity by radioactive aerosols generated from (Th(NO 3 ) 4 ⋅ 5H 2 O) at 0.1 ml/min flow rate. The proposed instrument will be helpful to monitor radioactive aerosols in/around a nuclear facility, building construction sites, mines, and granite polishing factories

Note: Real time optical sensing of alpha-radiation emitting radioactive aerosols based on solid state nuclear track detector

Science.gov (United States)

Kulkarni, A.; Ha, S.; Joshirao, P.; Manchanda, V.; Bak, M. S.; Kim, T.

2015-06-01

A sensitive radioactive aerosols sensor has been designed and developed. Its design guidance is based on the need for a low operational cost and reliable measurements to provide daily aerosol monitoring. The exposure of diethylene-glycol bis (allylcarbonate) to radiation causes modification of its physico-chemical properties like surface roughness and reflectance. In the present study, optical sensor based on the reflectance measurement has been developed with an aim to monitor real time presence of alpha radioactive aerosols emitted from thorium nitrate hydrate. The results shows that the fabricated sensor can detect 0.0157 kBq to 0.1572 kBq of radio activity by radioactive aerosols generated from (Th(NO3)4 ṡ 5H2O) at 0.1 ml/min flow rate. The proposed instrument will be helpful to monitor radioactive aerosols in/around a nuclear facility, building construction sites, mines, and granite polishing factories.

Note: Real time optical sensing of alpha-radiation emitting radioactive aerosols based on solid state nuclear track detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kulkarni, A.; Bak, M. S., E-mail: tkim@skku.edu, E-mail: moonsoo@skku.edu [School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Ha, S. [SKKU Advanced Institute of Nano Technology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Joshirao, P.; Manchanda, V. [Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, T., E-mail: tkim@skku.edu, E-mail: moonsoo@skku.edu [School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); SKKU Advanced Institute of Nano Technology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-06-15

A sensitive radioactive aerosols sensor has been designed and developed. Its design guidance is based on the need for a low operational cost and reliable measurements to provide daily aerosol monitoring. The exposure of diethylene-glycol bis (allylcarbonate) to radiation causes modification of its physico-chemical properties like surface roughness and reflectance. In the present study, optical sensor based on the reflectance measurement has been developed with an aim to monitor real time presence of alpha radioactive aerosols emitted from thorium nitrate hydrate. The results shows that the fabricated sensor can detect 0.0157 kBq to 0.1572 kBq of radio activity by radioactive aerosols generated from (Th(NO{sub 3}){sub 4} ⋅ 5H{sub 2}O) at 0.1 ml/min flow rate. The proposed instrument will be helpful to monitor radioactive aerosols in/around a nuclear facility, building construction sites, mines, and granite polishing factories.

Design and Construction of a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Unit and Medical Applications with GEANT Detector Simulation Package

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karagoz, Muge [Bogazici Univ., Istanbul (Turkey)

1998-01-01

In order to investigate the possibility of the construction of a sample PET coincidence unit in our HEP laboratory, a setup with two face to face PMTs and two 2x8 Csi(Tl) scintillator matrices has been constructed. In this setup, 1-D projections of a pointlike 22 Na positron source at different angles have been measured. Using these projections a 2-D image has been formed. Monte Carlo studies of this setup have been implemented using the detector simulation tool in CERN program library, GEANT. Again with GEANT a sample human body is created to study the effects of proton therapy. Utilization of the simulation as a pretherapy tool is also investigated.

Ion exchanger material based on Titanium phosphate for liquid radioactive waste treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maslova, M.; Gerasimova, L. [Tananaev Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Rare Elements and Mineral Resources, Kola Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Apatity (Russian Federation)

2013-07-01

A comparative study of the physicochemical and service properties of samples of Ti(OH) 1.36(HPO4) 1.32 * 2.3H2O sorbent in the finely dispersed and granulated forms, mastered for commercial production, was made. The sorption of Cs and Sr cations from solutions of various, compositions was studied in batch experiments, and the diffusion coefficients of the exchanging ions were determined. The hydrolytic stability of the. sorbents was examined with the aim to determine the optimal operation conditions. Experiments showed that the cation exchangers based on titanium phosphate are the most efficient in removal from liquid radioactive waste of induced radioactive isotopes of corrosion products, which is due to formation of weakly dissociating compounds of nonferrous metal ions with functional groups of the ion exchangers in the sorbent phase. (author)

Calibration method based on direct radioactivity measurement for radioactive gas monitoring instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Makoto; Ohi, Yoshihiro; Chida, Tohru; Wu, Youyang.

1993-01-01

A calibration method for radioactive gas monitoring instruments was studied. In the method, gaseous radioactivity standards were provided on the basis of the direct radioactivity measurement by the diffusion-in long proportional counter method (DLPC method). The radioactivity concentration of the gas mixture through a monitoring instrument was determined by sampling the known volume of the gas mixture into the proportional counter used for the DLPC method. Since oxygen in the gas mixture decreased the counting efficiency in a proportional counter, the influence on calibration was experimentally estimated. It was not serious and able to be easily corrected. By the present method, the relation between radioactivity concentration and ionization current was determined for a gas-flow ionization chamber with 1.5 l effective volume. It showed good agreement with the results in other works. (author)

Long term governance for radioactive waste management. Final report of Cowan2 - work package 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, Th.; Schieber, C.; Lavele, S.

2006-12-01

This report aims at identifying key features for the long term governance of radioactive waste. It is proposed by the COWAN2 Work Package 4 the purpose of which was to identify, discuss and analyse the institutional, ethical, economic and legal considerations raised by long term radioactive waste storage or disposal on the three interrelated issues of: responsibility and ownership of radioactive waste on the long term, continuity of local dialogue between stakeholders and monitoring of radioactive waste management facilities, and compensation and sustainable development. The aim is also to propose guidelines in order to better address long term issues in decision-making processes and start long term governance

Long term governance for radioactive waste management. Final report of Cowan2 - work package 4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, Th.; Schieber, C.; Lavele, S.

2006-12-15

This report aims at identifying key features for the long term governance of radioactive waste. It is proposed by the COWAN2 Work Package 4 the purpose of which was to identify, discuss and analyse the institutional, ethical, economic and legal considerations raised by long term radioactive waste storage or disposal on the three interrelated issues of: responsibility and ownership of radioactive waste on the long term, continuity of local dialogue between stakeholders and monitoring of radioactive waste management facilities, and compensation and sustainable development. The aim is also to propose guidelines in order to better address long term issues in decision-making processes and start long term governance

Radioactivity Distribution in Malaysian Marine Environment. Chapter 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zal U'yun Wan Mahmood; Abdul Kadir Ishak; Norfaizal Mohamad; Wo, Y.M.; Kamarudin Samuding

2015-01-01

The marine radioactivity distribution mapping in malaysia was developed with the aim to illustrate the pattern of the distribution of both anthropogenic and natural radionuclides in seawater and sediments. The data collected will form the basis for an anthropogenic radioactivity.

Radioactivity nuclide identification based on BP and LM algorithm neural network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jihong; Sun Jian; Wang Lianghou

2012-01-01

The paper provides the method which can identify radioactive nuclide based on the BP and LM algorithm neural network. Then, this paper compares the above-mentioned method with FR algorithm. Through the result of the Matlab simulation, the method of radioactivity nuclide identification based on the BP and LM algorithm neural network is superior to the FR algorithm. With the better effect and the higher accuracy, it will be the best choice. (authors)

Order of 4 august 1989 on licensing the release of gaseous radioactive effluents by the Cattenom nuclear production centre (units 3 and 4)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-08-01

This Order fixes the conditions and limits of authorised releases of gaseous radioactive effluents from Units 3 and 4 of the Cattenom nuclear power plant. It specifies these are maximum limits, below which the radioactive releases should be as low as possible [fr

Radiological protection. Radioactivity and health. 4. rev. ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borsch, P.; Feinendegen, L.; Paschke, M.; Feldmann, A.

1991-12-01

The brochure tries to make understandable also for nonprofessionals the conncetion between radioactivity and health. After briefly discussing the foundations of radioactivity, radiation emanating from radioactive materials, and the terms of dose, it deals with natural and man-made exposure of man in the age of industry. Its effects on man are thoroughly considered with regard to possible health injuries and genotype changes. The explanation of radioecological correlations, from radioactive effluents from nuclear installations to the determination of radiation exposure of man, takes into account effluents during normal operation and effluents caused by accidents, giving as an example the Chernobyl reactor accident. It is supplemented by describing the risks involved in the application of ionizing radiation in medicine. Subsequent chapters reflect the results obtained in many years of research into questions of radiation hazards, and they are to contribute to a matter-of-fact information about this important area. A comprehensive bibliography facilitates access to specialized literature. (orig.) [de

Detector Simulations with DD4hep

Science.gov (United States)

Petrič, M.; Frank, M.; Gaede, F.; Lu, S.; Nikiforou, N.; Sailer, A.

2017-10-01

Detector description is a key component of detector design studies, test beam analyses, and most of particle physics experiments that require the simulation of more and more different detector geometries and event types. This paper describes DD4hep, which is an easy-to-use yet flexible and powerful detector description framework that can be used for detector simulation and also extended to specific needs for a particular working environment. Linear collider detector concepts ILD, SiD and CLICdp as well as detector development collaborations CALICE and FCal have chosen to adopt the DD4hep geometry framework and its DDG4 pathway to Geant4 as its core simulation and reconstruction tools. The DDG4 plugins suite includes a wide variety of input formats, provides access to the Geant4 particle gun or general particles source and allows for handling of Monte Carlo truth information, eg. by linking hits and the primary particle that caused them, which is indispensable for performance and efficiency studies. An extendable array of segmentations and sensitive detectors allows the simulation of a wide variety of detector technologies. This paper shows how DD4hep allows to perform complex Geant4 detector simulations without compiling a single line of additional code by providing a palette of sub-detector components that can be combined and configured via compact XML files. Simulation is controlled either completely via the command line or via simple Python steering files interpreted by a Python executable. It also discusses how additional plugins and extensions can be created to increase the functionality.

Principle of natural and artificial radioactive series equivalency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasilyeva, A.N.; Starkov, O.V.

2001-01-01

In the present paper one approach used under development of radioactive waste management conception is under consideration. This approach is based on the principle of natural and artificial radioactive series radiotoxic equivalency. The radioactivity of natural and artificial radioactive series has been calculated for 10 9 - years period. The toxicity evaluation for natural and artificial series has also been made. The correlation between natural radioactive series and their predecessors - actinides produced in thermal and fast reactors - has been considered. It has been shown that systematized reactor series data had great scientific significance and the principle of differential calculation of radiotoxicity was necessary to realize long-lived radioactive waste and uranium and thorium ore radiotoxicity equivalency conception. The calculations show that the execution of equivalency principle is possible for uranium series (4n+2, 4n+1). It is a problem for thorium. series. This principle is impracticable for neptunium series. (author)

ASN: regional day of information and exchange on transport of radioactive materials - 4 February 2010

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

This document gathers Power Point presentations made during a meeting on the transport of radioactive materials. The contributions addressed the following topics: results of a survey based on questionnaires sent to actors of this sector, regulatory framework and radioprotection plan, case of parcels not submitted to the authority concerned, declaration of transport interesting or significant events, ASN inspections, the transport of radioactive products by the IBt Bebig company in France, the activities of the Institut de Soudure Industrie (industry welding institute), the activities of the ISO Life company specialized in health product transportation, the activities of the Securidis company (a consulting company for activities related to hazardous materials transportation, and notably radioactive materials), the activities a the ACE Environnement company (specialized in building diagnosis), the point of view of an academic research unit on radioactive material transportation, the experience of the hospital sector in radioactive source transportation, the experience of the Advanced Accelerator Applications company in radioactive material transportation, and a discussion on regulation application

Elimination of radioactivity after intratracheal instillation of tritiated 3, 4-benzopyrene in hamsters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pylev, L N; Roe, F J.C.; Warwick, G P

1969-01-01

Injection and recovery experiments of tritiated 3,4-benzopyrene (BaP) injected alone or with particulate carriers into hamsters were performed. After 21 days, asbestos or carbon black carriers had significantly increased the retention of BaP in the lung. Elimination was rapid at first (2 weeks: and little influenced by carrier; slower rate of elimination was noted after that. Carriers increased recoverable macrophages but decreased the amount of radioactivity per macrophage. Radioactivity was similar in all groups for kidney, liver, blood, feces, and urine.

Chapter 4. Radioactivity of waters and factors influencing its value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toelgyessy, J.; Harangozo, M.

2000-01-01

This is a chapter of textbook of radioecology for university students. In this chapter authors deal with radioactivity of waters and factors influencing its value. Chapter consists of next parts: (1) Natural radioactivity of hydrosphere; (2) Radioactive contamination of hydrosphere

The study of the particle trajectories in the magnetic fields of MARUSYA setup using GEANT 3 package

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Argintaru, Danut; Besliu, Calin; Jipa, Alexandru; Esanu, Tiberiu; Calin, Marius; Argintaru, Cristina

2005-01-01

Using the GEANT 3 package we simulate the trajectories of the detected particles in the MARUSYA (JINR Dubna) setup. The dependence between the particle momenta and TOF, dE/dx, velocities and angles are important both for the detectors design and particle identification (PID). (authors)

NRI's research on radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexa, J.; Dlouhy, Z.; Kepak, F.; Kourim, V.; Napravnik, J.; Razga, J.; Ralkova, J.; Uher, E.; Vojtech, O.

1976-01-01

A survey is given (including 41 references) of work carried out at the Nuclear Research Institute. Discussed are sorption processes (a selective sorbent for 90 Sr based on BaSO 4 , etc.), sorption on inorganic ion exchangers (heteropolyacid salts, ferrocyanides for 137 Cs capture), on organic cation exchangers (separation of lanthanides), electrocoagulation. The process is described of vitrification of highly radioactive wastes, the arrest of emissions, the deposition of radioactive wastes and surface decontamination. (M.K.)

GEANT4 simulation of the neutron background of the C{sub 6}D{sub 6} set-up for capture studies at n{sub T}OF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Žugec, P., E-mail: pzugec@phy.hr [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb (Croatia); Colonna, N. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Bari (Italy); Bosnar, D. [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb (Croatia); Altstadt, S. [Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Universität, Frankfurt (Germany); Andrzejewski, J. [Uniwersytet Łódzki, Lodz (Poland); Audouin, L. [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/IN2P3 – IPN, Orsay (France); Barbagallo, M. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Bari (Italy); Bécares, V. [Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid (Spain); Bečvář, F. [Charles University, Prague (Czech Republic); Belloni, F. [Commissariat à l' Énergie Atomique (CEA) Saclay – Irfu, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Berthoumieux, E. [Commissariat à l' Énergie Atomique (CEA) Saclay – Irfu, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva (Switzerland); Billowes, J. [University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester (United Kingdom); Boccone, V.; Brugger, M.; Calviani, M. [European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva (Switzerland); Calviño, F. [Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain); Cano-Ott, D. [Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid (Spain); Carrapiço, C. [Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Lisboa (Portugal); Cerutti, F. [European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva (Switzerland); and others

2014-10-01

The neutron sensitivity of the C{sub 6}D{sub 6} detector setup used at n{sub T}OF facility for capture measurements has been studied by means of detailed GEANT4 simulations. A realistic software replica of the entire n{sub T}OF experimental hall, including the neutron beam line, sample, detector supports and the walls of the experimental area has been implemented in the simulations. The simulations have been analyzed in the same manner as experimental data, in particular by applying the Pulse Height Weighting Technique. The simulations have been validated against a measurement of the neutron background performed with a {sup nat}C sample, showing an excellent agreement above 1 keV. At lower energies, an additional component in the measured {sup nat}C yield has been discovered, which prevents the use of {sup nat}C data for neutron background estimates at neutron energies below a few hundred eV. The origin and time structure of the neutron background have been derived from the simulations. Examples of the neutron background for two different samples are demonstrating the important role of accurate simulations of the neutron background in capture cross-section measurements.

Geant4 simulation of clinical proton and carbon ion beams for the treatment of ocular melanomas with the full 3-D pencil beam scanning system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farina, Edoardo; Riccardi, Cristina; Rimoldi, Adele; Tamborini, Aurora [University of Pavia and the INFN section of Pavia, via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia (Italy); Piersimoni, Pierluigi [Division of Radiation Research, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92354 (United States); Ciocca, Mario [Medical Physics Unit, CNAO Foundation, Strada Campeggi 53, 27100 Pavia (Italy)

2015-07-01

This work investigates the possibility to use carbon ion beams delivered with active scanning modality, for the treatment of ocular melanomas at the Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica (CNAO) in Pavia. The radiotherapy with carbon ions offers many advantages with respect to the radiotherapy with protons or photons, such as a higher relative radio-biological effectiveness (RBE) and a dose release better localized to the tumor. The Monte Carlo (MC) Geant4 10.00 patch-03 toolkit is used to reproduce the complete CNAO extraction beam line, including all the active and passive components characterizing it. The simulation of proton and carbon ion beams and radiation scanned field is validated against CNAO experimental data. For the irradiation study of the ocular melanoma an eye-detector, representing a model of a human eye, is implemented in the simulation. Each element of the eye is reproduced with its chemical and physical properties. Inside the eye-detector a realistic tumor volume is placed and used as the irradiation target. A comparison between protons and carbon ions eye irradiations allows to study possible treatment benefits if carbon ions are used instead of protons. (authors)

Modeling of very low frequency (VLF radio wave signal profile due to solar flares using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation coupled with ionospheric chemistry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Palit

2013-09-01

Full Text Available X-ray photons emitted during solar flares cause ionization in the lower ionosphere (~60 to 100 km in excess of what is expected to occur due to a quiet sun. Very low frequency (VLF radio wave signals reflected from the D-region of the ionosphere are affected by this excess ionization. In this paper, we reproduce the deviation in VLF signal strength during solar flares by numerical modeling. We use GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation code to compute the rate of ionization due to a M-class flare and a X-class flare. The output of the simulation is then used in a simplified ionospheric chemistry model to calculate the time variation of electron density at different altitudes in the D-region of the ionosphere. The resulting electron density variation profile is then self-consistently used in the LWPC code to obtain the time variation of the change in VLF signal. We did the modeling of the VLF signal along the NWC (Australia to IERC/ICSP (India propagation path and compared the results with observations. The agreement is found to be very satisfactory.

Radioactive waste management status and trends - Issue no. 4, February 2005

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-03-01

The purpose of this publication is to compile and disseminate information about the status of and trends in radioactive waste management in IAEA Member States in a timely manner. The publication is suitable for radioactive waste managers and regulators, and decision making organizations in both governmental and private sectors. Currently, the report is targeted at readers with a good knowledge of radioactive waste management. It addresses national systems for radioactive waste management, classification of radioactive waste, sources of radioactive waste, decommissioning of nuclear facilities, predisposal management of radioactive waste, managing the consequences of best practices, data collection and reporting and highlights of the work of the IAEA and other international organizations in 2003. It ends with achievements and challenges, acronyms, abbreviations, symbols and expressions. The plan is to have the publication evolve to serve a broader audience using easy-to-understand graphical and tabular data

Radioactive waste management status and trends - Issue no. 4, February 2005

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-03-15

The purpose of this publication is to compile and disseminate information about the status of and trends in radioactive waste management in IAEA Member States in a timely manner. The publication is suitable for radioactive waste managers and regulators, and decision making organizations in both governmental and private sectors. Currently, the report is targeted at readers with a good knowledge of radioactive waste management. It addresses national systems for radioactive waste management, classification of radioactive waste, sources of radioactive waste, decommissioning of nuclear facilities, predisposal management of radioactive waste, managing the consequences of best practices, data collection and reporting and highlights of the work of the IAEA and other international organizations in 2003. It ends with achievements and challenges, acronyms, abbreviations, symbols and expressions. The plan is to have the publication evolve to serve a broader audience using easy-to-understand graphical and tabular data.

Transportation legislative data base: State radioactive materials transportation statute compilation, 1989--1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-04-01

The Transportation Legislative Data Base (TLDB) is a computer-based information service containing summaries of federal, state and certain local government statutes and regulations relating to the transportation of radioactive materials in the United States. The TLDB has been operated by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) under cooperative agreement with the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management since 1992. The data base system serves the legislative and regulatory information needs of federal, state, tribal and local governments, the affected private sector and interested members of the general public. Users must be approved by DOE and NCSL. This report is a state statute compilation that updates the 1989 compilation produced by Battelle Memorial Institute, the previous manager of the data base. This compilation includes statutes not included in the prior compilation, as well as newly enacted laws. Statutes not included in the prior compilation show an enactment date prior to 1989. Statutes that deal with low-level radioactive waste transportation are included in the data base as are statutes from the states of Alaska and Hawaii. Over 155 new entries to the data base are summarized in this compilation

Enhancing usability of augmented-reality-based mobile escape guidelines for radioactive accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, Ming-Kuan; Yau, Nie-Jia

2013-01-01

When radioactive accidents occur, modern tools in information technology for emergency response are good solutions to reduce the impact. Since few information-technology-based applications were developed for people during radioactive accidents, a previous study (Tsai et al., 2012) proposed augmented-reality-based mobile escape guidelines. However, because of the lack of transparent escape routes and indoor escape guidelines, the usability of the guidelines is limited. Therefore, this study introduces route planning and mobile three-dimensional (3D) graphics techniques to address the identified problems. The proposed approach could correctly present the geographical relationship from user locations to the anticipated shelters, and quickly show the floor-plan drawings as users are in the buildings. Based on the testing results, in contrast to the previous study, this study offered better escape routes, when the participants performed self-evacuation in outdoor and indoor environments. Overall, this study is not only a useful reference for similar studies, but also a beneficial tool for emergency response during radioactive accidents. -- Highlights: ► Enhancing the efficiency when people escape from radioactive accidents. ► The spatial relationship is transparently displayed in real time. ► In contrast to a previous study, this study offers better escape guidelines

The Geant4-Based ATLAS Fast Electromagnetic Shower Simulation

CERN Document Server

Barberio, E; Butler, B; Cheung, S L; Dell'Acqua, A; Di Simone, A; Ehrenfeld, W; Gallas, M V; Glasow, A; Hughes, E; Marshall, Z; Müller, J; Placakyte, R; Rimoldi, A; Savard, P; Tsulaia, V; Waugh, A; Young, C C; 10th ICATPP Conference on Astroparticle, Particle, Space Physics, Detectors and Medical Physics Applications

2008-01-01

We present a three-pronged approach to fast electromagnetic shower simulation in ATLAS. Parameterisation is used for high-energy, shower libraries for medium-energy, and an averaged energy deposition for very low-energy particles. We present a comparison between the fast simulation and full simulation in an ATLAS Monte Carlo production.

Detector simulations with DD4hep

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(SzGeCERN)668365; Frank, Markus; Gaede, Frank-Dieter; Lu, Shaojun; Nikiforou, Nikiforos; Sailer, Andre

2017-01-01

Detector description is a key component of detector design studies, test beam analyses, and most of particle physics experiments that require the simulation of more and more different detector geometries and event types. This paper describes DD4hep, which is an easy-to-use yet flexible and powerful detector description framework that can be used for detector simulation and also extended to specific needs for a particular working environment. Linear collider detector concepts ILD, SiD and CLICdp as well as detector development collaborations CALICE and FCal have chosen to adopt the DD4hep geometry framework and its DDG4 pathway to Geant4 as its core simulation and reconstruction tools. The DDG4 plugins suite includes a wide variety of input formats, provides access to the Geant4 particle gun or general particles source and allows for handling of Monte Carlo truth information, e.g. by linking hits and the primary particle that caused them, which is indispensable for performance and efficiency studies. An extend...

Radiation risk from natural radioactivity in oil and gas production industry. Vol. 4

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eid, M A [National Center for Radiation Research and Technology, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, (Egypt)

1996-03-01

This paper throws light on the natural radioactive materials as well as the radiation background level in Egypt and other global areas. It also describes the deposition of naturally occurring radioactivity as well as the gamma-ray exposure rate primarily due to {sub 226} Ra and daughters which concentrate as scale or sludge in oil field piping and equipment. The potential hazards arising during normal operation, maintenance, and cleaning are considered. Occupational annual personnel doses are estimated and examined relative to work function. The measures to reduce occupational radiation exposure and radioactive contamination were investigated. The data indicated that relatively higher exposure rates are associated with areas around water discharge system, separator and descaling operations where the dose rates varying between 0.02-6 m R/h. The annual collective effective dose equivalent was estimated about 4.58 man-Rem, and the mean annual dose equivalent of about 120 mrem were measured. 3 tabs.

Map of calculated radioactivity of fission product, (4)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Tsuneo

1978-07-01

The overall radioactivities of fission products depending on irradiation time and cooling time were calculated for 18 different neutron fluxes, which are presented in contour maps and tables. Irradiation condition etc. are the followings: neutron flux (n sub(th)) 1 x 10 12 - 6.8 x 10 14 n/cm 2 /sec, uranium quantity 1 mole (6 x 10 23 atoms, ca. 271 g UO 2 ), U-235 enrichment 2.7%, irradiation time 60. - 6 x 10 7 sec (1 min - 1.9 y), cooling time 0. and 60. - 6 x 10 7 sec (1 min - 1.9 y). The enrichment value represents those for LWRs. To calculate the overall radioactivities, 595 fission product nuclides were introduced. Overall radioactivities calculations were made for 68,000 combinations of irradiation time, cooling time and neutron flux. The many complex decay chains of fission products were treated with CODAC-No.6 computer code. (author)

Removal of nitrogen oxides, 106RuO4 vapors and radioactive aerosols from the gas originating in radioactive wastes solidification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kepak, F.; Pecak, V.; Uher, E.; Kanka, J.; Koutova, S.; Matous, V.

1985-01-01

Procedures and equipment for the disposal of nitrogen oxides, RuO 4 vapors and radioactive aerosols of 90 Sr, 137 Cs, 60 Co and 125 Sb contained in the gas generated in the solidification of high- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes were tested on models. Nitrogen oxides were disposed of by absorption and chemical decomposition in various solutions of which the best results gave solutions of ammonium salts. Absorption in solutions, physical and chemical sorption on inorganic sorbents were tested for the disposal of RuO 4 . Aerosols were disposed of by absorption in absorption media with subsequent filtration. Of fibrous filter materials, Czechoslovak AEROS-2 and RA-2 filter papers were proven in the tests. Attention was also devoted to granular filter materials of which silica gel was chosen. On the basis of laboratory tests a multi-step treatment system was designed which consists of a condenser, a nitrogen oxide absorber, a liquid aerosol separator, absorption columns and aerosol filters. The whole system has been manufactured on pilot plant scale and the different parts are being produced. (Z.M.)

Security of Radioactive Waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldammer, W.

2003-01-01

Measures to achieve radioactive waste security are discussed. Categorization of waste in order to implement adequate and consistent security measures based on potential consequences is made. The measures include appropriate treatment/storage/disposal of waste to minimize the potential and consequences of malicious acts; management of waste only within an authorised, regulated, legal framework; management of the security of personnel and information; measures to minimize the acquisition of radioactive waste by those with malicious intent. The specific measures are: deter unauthorized access to the waste; detect any such attempt or any loss or theft of waste; delay unauthorized access; provide timely response to counter any attempt to gain unauthorised access; measures to minimize acts of sabotage; efforts to recover any lost or stolen waste; mitigation and emergency plans in case of release of radioactivity. An approach to develop guidance, starting with the categorisation of sources and identification of dangerous sources, is presented. Dosimetric criteria for internal and external irradiation are set. Different exposure scenarios are considered. Waste categories and security categories based on the IAEA INFCIRC/225/Rev.4 are presented

Integrated Data Base for 1992: US spent fuel and radioactive waste inventories, projections, and characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-10-01

The Integrated Data Base (IDB) Program has compiled current data on inventories and characteristics of commercial spent fuel and both commercial and US government-owned radioactive wastes through December 31, 1991. These data are based on the most reliable information available from government sources, the open literature, technical reports, and direct contacts. The information forecasted is consistent with the latest US Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration (DOE/EIA) projections of US commercial nuclear power growth and the expected DOE-related and private industrial and institutional (I/I) activities. The radioactive materials considered, on a chapter-by-chapter basis, are spent nuclear fuel, high-level waste, transuranic waste, low-level waste, commercial uranium mill tailings, environmental restoration wastes, commercial reactor and fuel cycle facility decommissioning wastes, and mixed (hazardous and radioactive) low-level waste. For most of these categories, current and projected inventories are given through the year 2030, and the radioactivity and thermal power are calculated based on reported or estimated isotopic compositions. In addition, characteristics and current inventories are reported for miscellaneous radioactive materials that may require geologic disposal

Development of a software package for solid-angle calculations using the Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jie; Chen, Xiulian; Zhang, Changsheng; Li, Gang; Xu, Jiayun; Sun, Guangai

2014-01-01

Solid-angle calculations play an important role in the absolute calibration of radioactivity measurement systems and in the determination of the activity of radioactive sources, which are often complicated. In the present paper, a software package is developed to provide a convenient tool for solid-angle calculations in nuclear physics. The proposed software calculates solid angles using the Monte Carlo method, in which a new type of variance reduction technique was integrated. The package, developed under the environment of Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) in Microsoft Visual C ++ , has a graphical user interface, in which, the visualization function is integrated in conjunction with OpenGL. One advantage of the proposed software package is that it can calculate the solid angle subtended by a detector with different geometric shapes (e.g., cylinder, square prism, regular triangular prism or regular hexagonal prism) to a point, circular or cylindrical source without any difficulty. The results obtained from the proposed software package were compared with those obtained from previous studies and calculated using Geant4. It shows that the proposed software package can produce accurate solid-angle values with a greater computation speed than Geant4. -- Highlights: • This software package (SAC) can give accurate solid-angle values. • SAC calculate solid angles using the Monte Carlo method and it has higher computation speed than Geant4. • A simple but effective variance reduction technique which was put forward by the authors has been applied in SAC. • A visualization function and a graphical user interface are also integrated in SAC

Integrated Data Base for 1989: Spent fuel and radioactive waste inventories, projections, and characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-11-01

The Integrated Data Base (IDB) Program has compiled current data on inventories and characteristics of commercial spent fuel and both commercial and US government-owned radioactive wastes through December 31, 1988. These data are based on the most reliable information available from government sources, the open literature, technical reports, and direct contacts. The current projections of future waste and spent fuel to be generated through the year 2020 and characteristics of these materials are also presented. The information forecasted is consistent with the latest US Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration (DOE/EIA) projections of US commercial nuclear power growth and the expected defense-related and private industrial and institutional (I/I) activities. The radioactive materials considered, on a chapter-by-chapter basis, are spent fuel, high-level waste, transuranic waste, low-level waste, commercial uranium mill tailings, remedial action waste, commercial reactor and fuel cycle facility decommissioning waste, and mixed (hazardous and radioactive) low-level waste. For most of these categories, current and projected inventories are given through the year 2020, and the radioactivity and thermal power are calculated based on reported or estimated isotopic compositions. In addition, characteristics and current inventories are reported for miscellaneous, highly radioactive materials that may require geologic disposal. 45 figs., 119 tabs

Radioactivity Handbook

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Firestone, R.B.; Browne, E.

1985-01-01

The Radioactivity Handbook will be published in 1985. This handbook is intended primarily for applied users of nuclear data. It will contain recommended radiation data for all radioactive isotopes. Pages from the Radioactivity Handbook for A = 221 are shown as examples. These have been produced from the LBL Isotopes Project extended ENDSF data-base. The skeleton schemes have been manually updated from the Table of Isotopes and the tabular data are prepared using UNIX with a phototypesetter. Some of the features of the Radioactivity Handbook are discussed here

Design and development of the network based system for the supervision of radioactive sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Yaoyun; Su Genghua; Zhang Hui; Li Junli; Zhu Li

2010-01-01

Objective: To help the environmental protection authorities to upgrade the management of the related organizations and radioactive sources and improve the information level of nuclear technology utilization's supervision. Methods: On the basis of investigation of requirements, the network based system for the supervision of radioactive sources was divided into application system and supervision system, based on MYSQL and SQL Server2005 respectively. Results: The system satisfied the current requirements of the nuclear technology utilization's supervision and is in nationwide operation. Conclusion: The system achieved the dynamic tracking management of radioactive sources and improved the efficiency and level of radiation safety supervision in nuclear technology utilizations. (authors)

Radioactivity in food crops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drury, J.S.; Baldauf, M.F.; Daniel, E.W.; Fore, C.S.; Uziel, M.S.

1983-05-01

Published levels of radioactivity in food crops from 21 countries and 4 island chains of Oceania are listed. The tabulation includes more than 3000 examples of 100 different crops. Data are arranged alphabetically by food crop and geographical origin. The sampling date, nuclide measured, mean radioactivity, range of radioactivities, sample basis, number of samples analyzed, and bibliographic citation are given for each entry, when available. Analyses were reported most frequently for 137 Cs, 40 K, 90 Sr, 226 Ra, 228 Ra, plutonium, uranium, total alpha, and total beta, but a few authors also reported data for 241 Am, 7 Be, 60 Co, 55 Fe, 3 H, 131 I, 54 Mn, 95 Nb, 210 Pb, 210 Po, 106 Ru, 125 Sb, 228 Th, 232 Th, and 95 Zr. Based on the reported data it appears that radioactivity from alpha emitters in food crops is usually low, on the order of 0.1 Bq.g -1 (wet weight) or less. Reported values of beta radiation in a given crop generally appear to be several orders of magnitude greater than those of alpha emitters. The most striking aspect of the data is the great range of radioactivity reported for a given nuclide in similar food crops with different geographical origins

Preliminary analysis of the induced structural radioactivity inventory of the base-case aqueous accelerator transmutation of waste reactor concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bezdecny, J.A.; Vance, K.M.; Henderson, D.L.

1995-01-01

The purpose of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Accelerator Transmutation of (Nuclear) Waste (ATW) project is the substantial reduction in volume of long-lived high-level radioactive waste of the US in a safe and energy-efficient manner. An evaluation of the ATW concept has four aspects: material balance, energy balance, performance, and cost. An evaluation of the material balance compares the amount of long-lived high-level waste transmuted with the amount and type, of waste created in the process. One component of the material balance is the activation of structural materials over the lifetime of the transmutation reactor. A preliminary radioactivity and radioactive mass balance analysis has been performed on four structure regions of the reaction chamber: the tungsten target, the lead annulus, six tubing materials carrying the actinide slurry, and five reaction vessel structural materials. The amount of radioactive material remaining after a 100-yr cooling period for the base-case ATW was found to be 338 kg of radionuclides. The bulk of this material (313 kg) was generated in the zirconium-niobium (Zr-Nb) actinide tubing material. Replacement of the Zr-Nb tubing material with one of the alternative tubing materials analyzed would significantly reduce the short- and long-term radioactive mass produced. The alternative vessel material Al-6061 alloys, Tenelon, HT-9, and 2 1/4 Cr-1 Mo and the alternative actinide tubing materials Al-6061 alloy, carbon-carbon matrix, silicon carbide, and Ti-6 Al-4 V qualify for shallow land burial. Alternative disposal options for the base-case structural material Type 304L stainless steel and the actinide tubing material Zr-Nb will need to be considered as neither qualifies for shallow land burial

Simulation framework and XML detector description for the CMS experiment

CERN Document Server

Arce, P; Boccali, T; Case, M; de Roeck, A; Lara, V; Liendl, M; Nikitenko, A N; Schröder, M; Strässner, A; Wellisch, H P; Wenzel, H

2003-01-01

Currently CMS event simulation is based on GEANT3 while the detector description is built from different sources for simulation and reconstruction. A new simulation framework based on GEANT4 is under development. A full description of the detector is available, and the tuning of the GEANT4 performance and the checking of the ability of the physics processes to describe the detector response is ongoing. Its integration on the CMS mass production system and GRID is also currently under development. The Detector Description Database project aims at providing a common source of information for Simulation, Reconstruction, Analysis, and Visualisation, while allowing for different representations as well as specific information for each application. A functional prototype, based on XML, is already released. Also examples of the integration of DDD in the GEANT4 simulation and in the reconstruction applications are provided.

Integrated data base for 1993: US spent fuel and radioactive waste inventories, projections, and characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klein, J.A.; Storch, S.N.; Ashline, R.C.

1994-03-01

The Integrated Data Base (IDB) Program has compiled historic data on inventories and characteristics of both commercial and DOE spent fuel; also, commercial and U.S. government-owned radioactive wastes through December 31, 1992. These data are based on the most reliable information available from government sources, the open literature, technical reports, and direct contacts. The information forecasted is consistent with the latest U.S. Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration (DOE/EIA) projections of U.S. commercial nuclear power growth and the expected DOE-related and private industrial and institutional (I/I) activities. The radioactive materials considered, on a chapter-by-chapter basis, are spent nuclear fuel, high-level waste (HLW), transuranic (TRU), waste, low-level waste (LLW), commercial uranium mill tailings, environmental restoration wastes, commercial reactor and fuel-cycle facility decommissioning wastes, and mixed (hazardous and radioactive) LLW. For most of these categories, current and projected inventories are given through the calendar-year (CY) 2030, and the radioactivity and thermal power are calculated based on reported or estimated isotopic compositions. In addition, characteristics and current inventories are reported for miscellaneous radioactive materials that may require geologic disposal

Environmental radioactivity survey in Andong

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Zi Hong; Jo, Kum Ju [Andong Regional Radioactivity Monitoring Station, Andong National Univ., Andong (Korea, Republic of)

2003-12-15

The objectives of the project are to monitor an abnormal level in Andong area and to provide a base line data on environmental radiation/radioactivity levels in case of any radiological emergency situation. The project is important in view of protecting the public health from the potential hazards of radiation and keeping up the clean environment. This report simonizes and interprets environmental radiation/radioactivity monitoring samples : Gamma exposure rates, airborne dust, precipitation, fall out and drinking-water. Environmental samples 2 kinds of indicator plant, 4 kinds of mushroom, 7 kinds of nut and seeds, and drinking waters. Among the all 2003 radiological monitoring and environmental data in Andong area were not found the extraordinary data. And a nation-wide environmental radiation/radioactivity level survey results were all background levels attributed to terrestrial and cosmic radiation.

Environmental radioactivity survey in Andong

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Zi Hong; Jo, Kum Ju [Andong Regional Radioactivity Monitoring Station, Andong National Univ., Andong (Korea, Republic of)

2002-12-15

The objectives of the project are to monitor an abnormal level in Andong area and to provide a base-line data on environmental radiation/radioactivity levels in case of any radiological emergency situation. The project is important in view of protecting the public health from the potential hazards of radiation and keeping up the clean environment. This report summarizes and interprets environmental radiation/radioactivity monitoring samples Gamma exposure rates, airborne dust, precipitation, fall-out and drinking-water. Environmental samples 2 kinds of indicator plant, 4 kinds of mushroom, 7 kinds of nut and seeds, and drinking waters. Among the all 2002 radiological monitoring and environmental data in Andong area were not found the extraordinary data. And a nation-wide environmental radiation/radioactivity level survey results were all background levels attributed to terrestrial and cosmic radiation.

Safe transport of radioactive material. 4. ed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

The IAEA has been publishing Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material since 1961. Meeting its statutory obligation to foster the exchange and training of scientists and experts in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy, the IAEA has developed a standardized approach to transport safety training. This training manual is an anchor of the standardized approach to training. It is a compendium of training modules for courses related to the different aspects of safety of transport of radioactive material. Keeping in view the specific needs of the potential users, the manual includes material that can be used for a variety of training programmes of duration ranging from half-a-day to ten days, for specific audiences such as competent authority personnel, public authorities, emergency response personnel and cargo handlers

Radioactive waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawakami, Yutaka

2008-01-01

Radioactive waste generated from utilization of radioisotopes and each step of the nuclear fuel cycle and decommissioning of nuclear facilities are presented. On the safe management of radioactive waste management, international safety standards are established such as ''The Principles of Radioactive Waste Management (IAEA)'' and T he Joint Convention on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management . Basic steps of radioactive waste management consist of treatment, conditioning and disposal. Disposal is the final step of radioactive waste management and its safety is confirmed by safety assessment in the licensing process. Safety assessment means evaluation of radiation dose rate caused by radioactive materials contained in disposed radioactive waste. The results of the safety assessment are compared with dose limits. The key issues of radioactive waste disposal are establishment of long term national strategies and regulations for safe management of radioactive waste, siting of repository, continuity of management activities and financial bases for long term, and security of human resources. (Author)

GPU-based parallel computing in real-time modeling of atmospheric transport and diffusion of radioactive material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Marcelo C. dos; Pereira, Claudio M.N.A.; Schirru, Roberto; Pinheiro, André, E-mail: jovitamarcelo@gmail.com, E-mail: cmnap@ien.gov.br, E-mail: schirru@lmp.ufrj.br, E-mail: apinheiro99@gmail.com [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Coordenacao de Pos-Graduacao e Pesquisa de Engenharia (COPPE/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Programa de Engenharia Nuclear

2017-07-01

Atmospheric radionuclide dispersion systems (ARDS) are essential mechanisms to predict the consequences of unexpected radioactive releases from nuclear power plants. Considering, that during an eventuality of an accident with a radioactive material release, an accurate forecast is vital to guide the evacuation plan of the possible affected areas. However, in order to predict the dispersion of the radioactive material and its impact on the environment, the model must process information about source term (radioactive materials released, activities and location), weather condition (wind, humidity and precipitation) and geographical characteristics (topography). Furthermore, ARDS is basically composed of 4 main modules: Source Term, Wind Field, Plume Dispersion and Doses Calculations. The Wind Field and Plume Dispersion modules are the ones that require a high computational performance to achieve accurate results within an acceptable time. Taking this into account, this work focuses on the development of a GPU-based parallel Plume Dispersion module, focusing on the radionuclide transport and diffusion calculations, which use a given wind field and a released source term as parameters. The program is being developed using the C ++ programming language, allied with CUDA libraries. In comparative case study between a parallel and sequential version of the slower function of the Plume Dispersion module, a speedup of 11.63 times could be observed. (author)

GPU-based parallel computing in real-time modeling of atmospheric transport and diffusion of radioactive material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, Marcelo C. dos; Pereira, Claudio M.N.A.; Schirru, Roberto; Pinheiro, André; Coordenacao de Pos-Graduacao e Pesquisa de Engenharia

2017-01-01

Atmospheric radionuclide dispersion systems (ARDS) are essential mechanisms to predict the consequences of unexpected radioactive releases from nuclear power plants. Considering, that during an eventuality of an accident with a radioactive material release, an accurate forecast is vital to guide the evacuation plan of the possible affected areas. However, in order to predict the dispersion of the radioactive material and its impact on the environment, the model must process information about source term (radioactive materials released, activities and location), weather condition (wind, humidity and precipitation) and geographical characteristics (topography). Furthermore, ARDS is basically composed of 4 main modules: Source Term, Wind Field, Plume Dispersion and Doses Calculations. The Wind Field and Plume Dispersion modules are the ones that require a high computational performance to achieve accurate results within an acceptable time. Taking this into account, this work focuses on the development of a GPU-based parallel Plume Dispersion module, focusing on the radionuclide transport and diffusion calculations, which use a given wind field and a released source term as parameters. The program is being developed using the C ++ programming language, allied with CUDA libraries. In comparative case study between a parallel and sequential version of the slower function of the Plume Dispersion module, a speedup of 11.63 times could be observed. (author)

Development of radioactive source scanner based on PLC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Guogui; Gao Xiang; Guo Hongli

2013-01-01

The radioactive radial uniformity of 68 Ge line radioactive sources is a critical quality parameter. The radioactive source scanner with linear scanning function is developed by making use of high-speed pulse counters, high-speed pulse output ports, and the powerful instruction system of Siemens S7-200 series programmable logic controller (PLC). A computer used as a host computer of the instrument communicate with. the PLC by point to point interface (PPI) protocol, The instrument with functions of data collection, transmission, displaying, saving, motion control and instrument parameter settings, can be used to measure the radioactive radial uniformity and total activity of line radioactive source. The advantages of Using the PLC to develop nuclear instrumentation are development speed, strong anti-interference ability, and low-cost. This paper mainly describes the control system implementation and feature of the instrument. (authors)

Clays in natural and engineered barriers for radioactive waste confinement - 4. International meeting. Book of abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

The 4. edition of the International Meeting 'Clays in Natural and Engineered Barriers for Radioactive Waste Confinement' took place at the 'Cite Internationale des Congres' of Nantes (France). Approximately 500 participants (from about 20 different countries) attended the meeting. All the abstracts (oral and poster sessions) are included in these proceedings. The purpose of this 4. international conference is to gather specialists in the different disciplines related to clays and clay minerals, with scientists from organisations engaged in radioactive waste disposal, in order to evaluate the progress of the research conducted in that field. Multidisciplinary approaches including geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, rheology, geomechanics of clays are required in order to provide a detailed characterisation of the geological host formations considered for the disposal of radioactive waste and to assess the behaviour of engineered and natural barriers when submitted to various types of perturbations induced by disposal facilities. The major objectives for the experimental programs are constituted by the performance evaluation for the natural barrier as well as the impact of repository-induced disturbances upon the confinement properties of clay-rich geological formations. This is being or will be conducted in underground research laboratories, for interpreting the subsequent scientific results, for modelling the long-term behaviour of radioactive waste repositories and for carrying out safety assessment exercises. This conference covers all the aspects of clay characterisation and behaviour relevant to the confinement of radionuclides in clay, considered at various time scales and locations, from the descriptions of basic phenomenological processes to the global understanding of the performance and safety at repository and geological scales. Most of the topics covered by the programme of the conference are in line with the general objectives

Application of the GEANT3 geometry package to the description of the OPAL detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allison, J; Brun, R; Bruyant, F; Zanarini, P; Bullock, F W; Hobson, P R; Chang, C Y; Dumont, J J; Hemingway, R J; McPherson, A C

1987-10-01

We present the general features of the GEANT3 package for coding the geometrical structure of a large and complex detector in the computer programs used for their design and analysis. This package has been developed in the context of Monte Carlo studies of detector performance but should be well matched to the problem of analysis. As a specific example, we illustrate the description of the OPAL detector for the Large Electron Positron collider at CERN and show the results of a sample study using this description.

Transportation legislative data base : state radioactive materials transportation statute compilation, 1989-1993

Science.gov (United States)

1994-04-30

The Transportation Legislative Data Base (TLDB) is a computer-based information service containing summaries of federal, state and certain local government statutes and regulations relating to the transportation of radioactive materials in the United...

Ab initio quantum chemical calculations of the interaction between radioactive elements and imidazolium based ionic liquids

Science.gov (United States)

Saravanan, A. V. Sai; Abishek, B.; Anantharaj, R.

2018-04-01

The fundamental natures of the molecular level interaction and charge transfer between specific radioactive elements and ionic liquids of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([BMIM]+[NTf2]-), 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate ([BMIM]+[ES]-) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIM]+[BF4]-) were investigated utilising HF theory and B3LYP hybrid DFT. The ambiguity in reaction mechanism of the interacting species dictates to employ Effective Core Potential (ECP) basis sets such as UGBS, SDD, and SDDAll to account for the relativistic effects of deep core electrons in the system involving potential, heavy and hazardous radioactive elements present in nuclear waste. The SCF energy convergence of each system validates the characterisation of the molecular orbitals as a linear combination of atomic orbitals utilising fixed MO coefficients and the optimized geometry of each system is visualised based on which Mulliken partial charge analysis is carried out to account for the polarising behaviour of the radioactive element and charge transfer between the IL phase by comparison with the bare IL species.

Bases for safety of shipping radioactive materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frejman, Eh.S.; Shchupanovskij, V.D.; Kaloshin, V.M.

1986-01-01

Classification is presented and design of packaging containers for radioactive substance shipment is described. Standard documents and the main activities related to the shipment radiation safety provision are considered. Practical recommendations on environment and personnel protection during radioactive cargo shipment by all types of vehicles are presented

Experience base for Radioactive Waste Thermal Processing Systems: A preliminary survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayberry, J.; Geimer, R.; Gillins, R.; Steverson, E.M.; Dalton, D.; Anderson, G.L.

1992-04-01

In the process of considering thermal technologies for potential treatment of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory mixed transuranic contaminated wastes, a preliminary survey of the experience base available from Radioactive Waste Thermal Processing Systems is reported. A list of known commercial radioactive waste facilities in the United States and some international thermal treatment facilities are provided. Survey focus is upon the US Department of Energy thermal treatment facilities. A brief facility description and a preliminary summary of facility status, and problems experienced is provided for a selected subset of the DOE facilities

Integrated data base report - 1996: US spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste inventories, projections, and characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-12-01

The Integrated Data Base Program has compiled historic data on inventories and characteristics of both commercial and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and commercial and U.S. government-owned radioactive wastes. Inventories of most of these materials are reported as of the end of fiscal year (FY) 1996, which is September 30, 1996. Commercial SNF and commercial uranium mill tailings inventories are reported on an end-of-calendar year (CY) basis. All SNF and radioactive waste data reported are based on the most reliable information available from government sources, the open literature, technical reports, and direct contacts. The information forecasted is consistent with the latest DOE/Energy Information Administration (EIA) projections of U.S. commercial nuclear power growth and the expected DOE-related and private industrial and institutional activities. The radioactive materials considered, on a chapter-by-chapter basis, are SNF, high-level waste, transuranic waste, low-level waste, uranium mill tailings, DOE Environmental Restoration Program contaminated environmental media, naturally occurring and accelerator-produced radioactive material, and mixed (hazardous and radioactive) low-level waste. For most of these categories, current and projected inventories are given through FY 2030, and the radioactivity and thermal power are calculated based on reported or estimated isotopic compositions

WE-AB-204-11: Development of a Nuclear Medicine Dosimetry Module for the GPU-Based Monte Carlo Code ARCHER

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, T; Lin, H; Xu, X [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY (United States); Stabin, M [Vanderbilt Univ Medical Ctr, Nashville, TN (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: To develop a nuclear medicine dosimetry module for the GPU-based Monte Carlo code ARCHER. Methods: We have developed a nuclear medicine dosimetry module for the fast Monte Carlo code ARCHER. The coupled electron-photon Monte Carlo transport kernel included in ARCHER is built upon the Dose Planning Method code (DPM). The developed module manages the radioactive decay simulation by consecutively tracking several types of radiation on a per disintegration basis using the statistical sampling method. Optimization techniques such as persistent threads and prefetching are studied and implemented. The developed module is verified against the VIDA code, which is based on Geant4 toolkit and has previously been verified against OLINDA/EXM. A voxelized geometry is used in the preliminary test: a sphere made of ICRP soft tissue is surrounded by a box filled with water. Uniform activity distribution of I-131 is assumed in the sphere. Results: The self-absorption dose factors (mGy/MBqs) of the sphere with varying diameters are calculated by ARCHER and VIDA respectively. ARCHER’s result is in agreement with VIDA’s that are obtained from a previous publication. VIDA takes hours of CPU time to finish the computation, while it takes ARCHER 4.31 seconds for the 12.4-cm uniform activity sphere case. For a fairer CPU-GPU comparison, more effort will be made to eliminate the algorithmic differences. Conclusion: The coupled electron-photon Monte Carlo code ARCHER has been extended to radioactive decay simulation for nuclear medicine dosimetry. The developed code exhibits good performance in our preliminary test. The GPU-based Monte Carlo code is developed with grant support from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering through an R01 grant (R01EB015478)

Integrated data base for 1988: Spent fuel and radioactive waste inventories, projections, and characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-09-01

The Integrated Data Base (IDB) Program has compiled current data on inventories and characteristics of commercial spent fuel and both commercial and US government-owned radioactive wastes through December 31, 1987. These data are based on the most reliable information available from government sources, the open literature, technical reports, and direct contacts. The current projections of future waste and spent fuel to be generated through the year 2020 and characteristics of these materials are also presented. The information forecasted is consistent with the latest US Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration (DOE/EIA) projections of US commercial nuclear power growth and the expected defense-related and private industrial and institutional (I/I) activities. The radioactive materials considered, on a chapter-by-chapter basis are: spent fuel, high-level waste, transuranic waste, low-level waste, commercial uranium mill tailings, remedial action waste, and decommissioning waste. For each category, current and projected inventories are given through the year 2020, and the radioactivity and thermal power are calculated based on reported or estimated isotopic compositions. In addition, characteristics and current inventories are reportd for miscellaneous, highly radioactive materials that may require geologic disposal. 89 refs., 46 figs., 104 tabs

Low-level Radioactive waste Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

This meeting describes low-level radioactive waste management problems and contains 8 papers: 1 Low-level radioactive waste management: exemption concept and criteria used by international organizations. 2 Low-level radioactive waste management: french and foreign regulations 3 Low-level radioactive waste management in EDF nuclear power plants (FRANCE) 4 Low-level radioactive waste management in COGEMA (FRANCE) 5 Importance of low-level radioactive wastes in dismantling strategy in CEA (FRANCE) 6 Low-level radioactive waste management in hospitals 7 Low-level radioactive waste disposal: radiation protection laws 8 Methods of low-level radioactive materials measurements during reactor dismantling or nuclear facilities demolition (FRANCE)

Integrated data base for 1990: US spent fuel and radioactive waste inventories, projections, and characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-10-01

The Integrated Data Base (IDB) Program has compiled current data on inventories and characteristics of commercial spent fuel and both commercial and US government-owned radioactive wastes through December 31, 1989. These data are based on the most reliable information available from government sources, the open literature, technical reports, and direct contacts. The current projections of future waste and spent fuel to be generated through the year 2020 and characteristics of these materials are also presented. The information forecasted is consistent with the latest US Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration (DOE/EIA) projections of US commercial nuclear power growth and the expected DOE-related and private industrial and institutional (I/I) activities. The radioactive materials considered, on a chapter-by-chapter basis, are spent fuel, high-level waste, transuranic waste, low-level waste, commercial uranium mill tailings, environmental restoration wastes, commercial reactor and fuel cycle facility decommissioning wastes, and mixed (hazardous and radioactive) low-level waste. For most of these categories, current and projected inventories are given through the year 2020, and the radioactivity and thermal power are calculated based on reported or estimated isotopic compositions. In addition, characteristics and current inventories are reported for miscellaneous radioactive materials that may require geologic disposal. 22 refs., 48 figs., 109 tabs

Integrated Data Base for 1991: US spent fuel and radioactive waste inventories, projections, and characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-10-01

The Integrated Data Base (IDB) Program has compiled current data on inventories and characteristics of commercial spent fuel and both commercial and US government-owned radioactive wastes through December 31, 1990. These data are based on the most reliable information available form government sources, the open literature, technical reports, and direct contacts. The current projections of future waste and spent fuel to be generated generally through the year 2020 and characteristics of these materials are also presented. The information forecasted is consistent with the latest US Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration (DOE/EIA) projections of US commercial nuclear power growth and the expected DOE-related and private industrial and institutional (I/I) activities. The radioactive materials considered are spent fuel, high-level waste, transuranic waste, low-level waste, commercial uranium mill tailings, environmental restoration wastes, commercial reactor and fuel cycle facility decommissioning wastes, and mixed (hazardous and radioactive) low-level waste. For most of these categories, current and projected inventories are given through the year 2020, and the radioactivity and thermal power are calculated based on reported or estimated isotopic compositions. In addition, characteristics and current inventories are reported for miscellaneous radioactive materials that may require geologic disposal. 160 refs., 61 figs., 142 tabs

Establishment of radioactive source retirement mechanism based on the method of environmental liability insurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Hongwei

2013-01-01

The retirement of radioactive source is a difficult problem that we are facing during the radiation safety regulation in China. This paper analyses the reason of the problem regarding the retirement of radioactive source both from the utilization units and the regulatory body. It is considered that the basic reason is the enterprises don't arrange and use the retirement funds reasonably, which is an economic problem. There exists a limitation when facing the radioactive source retirement in light of licensing and regulation mechanism of the manufacture, selling, uses of radioactive sources in China, and the key to solve this economic problem is to introduce economic method, Some measures and suggestions are given to establish radioactive sources retirement mechanism by using economic methods, based on the comprehensive analysis of the concept, development and function of the environmental liability insurance. (author)

Radiotherapy Based On α Emitting Radionuclides: Geant4 For Dosimetry And Micro-/Nano-Dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guatelli, Susanna

2013-01-01

Possible physics approaches to evaluate the efficacy of TAT are dosimetry, microdosimetry and nanodosimetry. Dosimetry is adequate when mean absorbed dose to a macroscopic target volume is important to understand the biological effect of radiation. General purpose Monte Carlo (MC) codes, based on condensed history approach, are a very useful, cost effective tool to solve dosimetric problems. The condensed history approach is based on the use of multiple scattering theories to calculate the energy losses and angular changes in the direction of the particle. The short α particle range and high LET make the microdosimetric approach more suitable than dosimetry to study TAT from first physics principles, as this approach takes into account the stochastic nature of energy deposition at cellular level

Radioactivity in food crops

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drury, J.S.; Baldauf, M.F.; Daniel, E.W.; Fore, C.S.; Uziel, M.S.

1983-05-01

Published levels of radioactivity in food crops from 21 countries and 4 island chains of Oceania are listed. The tabulation includes more than 3000 examples of 100 different crops. Data are arranged alphabetically by food crop and geographical origin. The sampling date, nuclide measured, mean radioactivity, range of radioactivities, sample basis, number of samples analyzed, and bibliographic citation are given for each entry, when available. Analyses were reported most frequently for /sup 137/Cs, /sup 40/K, /sup 90/Sr, /sup 226/Ra, /sup 228/Ra, plutonium, uranium, total alpha, and total beta, but a few authors also reported data for /sup 241/Am, /sup 7/Be, /sup 60/Co, /sup 55/Fe, /sup 3/H, /sup 131/I, /sup 54/Mn, /sup 95/Nb, /sup 210/Pb, /sup 210/Po, /sup 106/Ru, /sup 125/Sb, /sup 228/Th, /sup 232/Th, and /sup 95/Zr. Based on the reported data it appears that radioactivity from alpha emitters in food crops is usually low, on the order of 0.1 Bq.g/sup -1/ (wet weight) or less. Reported values of beta radiation in a given crop generally appear to be several orders of magnitude greater than those of alpha emitters. The most striking aspect of the data is the great range of radioactivity reported for a given nuclide in similar food crops with different geographical origins.

4th Quarter Transportation Report FY 2014: Radioactive Waste Shipments to and from the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gregory, Louis

2014-01-01

This report satisfies the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO) commitment to prepare a quarterly summary report of radioactive waste shipments to and from the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) at Area 5. There were no shipments sent for offsite treatment and returned to the NNSS this quarter. There was one shipment of two drums sent for offsite treatment and disposal. This report summarizes the 4th quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and mixed low-level radioactive waste (MLLW) shipments. This report also includes annual summaries for FY 2014.

Evaluation of radioactivity in the bodies of mice induced by neutron exposure from an epi-thermal neutron source of an accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy system

Science.gov (United States)

NAKAMURA, Satoshi; IMAMICHI, Shoji; MASUMOTO, Kazuyoshi; ITO, Masashi; WAKITA, Akihisa; OKAMOTO, Hiroyuki; NISHIOKA, Shie; IIJIMA, Kotaro; KOBAYASHI, Kazuma; ABE, Yoshihisa; IGAKI, Hiroshi; KURITA, Kazuyoshi; NISHIO, Teiji; MASUTANI, Mitsuko; ITAMI, Jun

2017-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate the residual radioactivity in mice induced by neutron irradiation with an accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) system using a solid Li target. The radionuclides and their activities were evaluated using a high-purity germanium (HP-Ge) detector. The saturated radioactivity of the irradiated mouse was estimated to assess the radiation protection needs for using the accelerator-based BNCT system. 24Na, 38Cl, 80mBr, 82Br, 56Mn, and 42K were identified, and their saturated radioactivities were (1.4 ± 0.1) × 102, (2.2 ± 0.1) × 101, (3.4 ± 0.4) × 102, 2.8 ± 0.1, 8.0 ± 0.1, and (3.8 ± 0.1) × 101 Bq/g/mA, respectively. The 24Na activation rate at a given neutron fluence was found to be consistent with the value reported from nuclear-reactor-based BNCT experiments. The induced activity of each nuclide can be estimated by entering the saturated activity of each nuclide, sample mass, irradiation time, and proton current into the derived activation equation in our accelerator-based BNCT system. PMID:29225308

Low-level radioactive waste source terms for the 1992 integrated data base

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loghry, S.L.; Kibbey, A.H.; Godbee, H.W.; Icenhour, A.S.; DePaoli, S.M.

1995-01-01

This technical manual presents updated generic source terms (i.e., unitized amounts and radionuclide compositions) which have been developed for use in the Integrated Data Base (IDB) Program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These source terms were used in the IDB annual report, Integrated Data Base for 1992: Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Inventories, Projections, and Characteristics, DOE/RW-0006, Rev. 8, October 1992. They are useful as a basis for projecting future amounts (volume and radioactivity) of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) shipped for disposal at commercial burial grounds or sent for storage at DOE solid-waste sites. Commercial fuel cycle LLW categories include boiling-water reactor, pressurized-water reactor, fuel fabrication, and uranium hexafluoride (UF 6 ) conversion. Commercial nonfuel cycle LLW includes institutional/industrial (I/I) waste. The LLW from DOE operations is category as uranium/thorium fission product, induced activity, tritium, alpha, and open-quotes otherclose quotes. Fuel cycle commercial LLW source terms are normalized on the basis of net electrical output [MW(e)-year], except for UF 6 conversion, which is normalized on the basis of heavy metal requirement [metric tons of initial heavy metal ]. The nonfuel cycle commercial LLW source term is normalized on the basis of volume (cubic meters) and radioactivity (curies) for each subclass within the I/I category. The DOE LLW is normalized in a manner similar to that for commercial I/I waste. The revised source terms are based on the best available historical data through 1992

Outlines on data base for the use of radioactive sources, and environmental impact in egypt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hathout, A M; Amin, E; El-Said, Kh M [National Center for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Control, AEA Cairo (Egypt); Gomaa, M A [Reactors Division Nuclear Research Center, AEA Cairo, (Egypt)

1997-12-31

Radio isotopes and radioactive sources have shown increase applications in scientific research, agriculture, medicine and industry. The prime concern in regulating activities involving the release of radioactive materials into the environment, is ensuring the safety of individuals and population. The management of radioactive wastes generated from medical centers, research institutes, industrial facilities, mining operations, and research reactors caused serious accidents. Radiation sources mismanagement resulted in injuries or fatalities to individuals. The objectives of this work is to develop the required data base and establish the necessary rules for safe management of radioactive sources. 1 fig., 3 tabs.

gemcWeb: A Cloud Based Nuclear Physics Simulation Software

Science.gov (United States)

Markelon, Sam

2017-09-01

gemcWeb allows users to run nuclear physics simulations from the web. Being completely device agnostic, scientists can run simulations from anywhere with an Internet connection. Having a full user system, gemcWeb allows users to revisit and revise their projects, and share configurations and results with collaborators. gemcWeb is based on simulation software gemc, which is based on standard GEant4. gemcWeb requires no C++, gemc, or GEant4 knowledge. Using a simple but powerful GUI allows users to configure their project from geometries and configurations stored on the deployment server. Simulations are then run on the server, with results being posted to the user, and then securely stored. Python based and open-source, the main version of gemcWeb is hosted internally at Jefferson National Labratory and used by the CLAS12 and Electron-Ion Collider Project groups. However, as the software is open-source, and hosted as a GitHub repository, an instance can be deployed on the open web, or any institution's intra-net. An instance can be configured to host experiments specific to an institution, and the code base can be modified by any individual or group. Special thanks to: Maurizio Ungaro, PhD., creator of gemc; Markus Diefenthaler, PhD., advisor; and Kyungseon Joo, PhD., advisor.

Development programs in the United States of America for the application of cement-based grouts in radioactive waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dole, L.R.; Row, T.H.

1984-01-01

This paper briefly reviews seven cement-based waste form development programs at six of the US Department of Energy (DOE) sites. These sites have developed a variety of processes that range from producing 25 mm (1 in.) diameter pellets in a glove box to producing 240 m (800 ft.) diameter grout sheets within the bedding planes of a deep shale formation. These successful applications of cement-based waste forms to the many radioactive waste streams from nuclear facilities bear witness to the flexibility and reliability of this class of materials. This paper also discusses the major issues regarding the application of cement-based waste forms to radioactive waste management problems. These issues are (1) leachability, (2) radiation stability, (3) thermal stability, (4) phase complexity of the matrix, and (5) effects of the waste stream composition. A cursory review of current research in each of these areas is given This paper also discusses future trends in cement-based waste form development and applications. 31 references, 11 figures

Development programs in the United States of America for the application of cement-based grouts in radioactive waste management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dole, L.R.; Row, T.H.

1984-01-01

This paper briefly reviews seven cement-based waste form development programs at six of the US Department of Energy (DOE) sites. These sites have developed a variety of processes that range from producing 25 mm (1 in.) diameter pellets in a glove box to producing 240 m (800 ft.) diameter grout sheets within the bedding planes of a deep shale formation. These successful applications of cement-based waste forms to the many radioactive waste streams from nuclear facilities bear witness to the flexibility and reliability of this class of materials. This paper also discusses the major issues regarding the application of cement-based waste forms to radioactive waste management problems. These issues are (1) leachability, (2) radiation stability, (3) thermal stability, (4) phase complexity of the matrix, and (5) effects of the waste stream composition. A cursory review of current research in each of these areas is given This paper also discusses future trends in cement-based waste form development and applications. 31 references, 11 figures.

Analysis of Benchmark 2 results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bacha, F.; Lefievre, B.; Maillard, J.; Silva, J.

1994-01-01

The code GEANT315 has been compared to different codes in two benchmarks. We analyze its performances through our results, especially in the thick target case. In spite of gaps in nucleus-nucleus interaction theories at intermediate energies, benchmarks allow possible improvements of physical models used in our codes. Thereafter, a scheme of radioactive waste burning system is studied. (authors). 4 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

Uav-Based Detection of Unknown Radioactive Biomass Deposits in Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone

Science.gov (United States)

Briechle, S.; Sizov, A.; Tretyak, O.; Antropov, V.; Molitor, N.; Krzystek, P.

2018-05-01

Shortly after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) in 1986, radioactive fall-out and contaminated trees (socalled Red Forest) were buried in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ). These days, exact locations of the buried contaminated material are needed. Moreover, 3D vegetation maps are necessary to simulate the impact of tornados and forest fire. After 30 years, some of the so-called trenches and clamps are visible. However, some of them are overgrown and have slightly settled in the centimeter and decimeter range. This paper presents a pipeline that comprises 3D vegetation mapping and machine learning methods to precisely map trenches and clamps from remote sensing data. The dataset for our experiments consists of UAV-based LiDAR data, multi-spectral data, and aerial gamma-spectrometry data. Depending on the study areas overall accuracies ranging from 95.6 % to 99.0 % were reached for the classification of radioactive deposits. Our first results demonstrate an accurate and reliable UAV-based detection of unknown radioactive biomass deposits in the ChEZ.

Dossier: transport of radioactive materials; Dossier: le transport des matieres radioactives