Characterization of the secondary neutron field generated by a compact PET cyclotron with MCNP6 and experimental measurements

B. Samy, I. Vaneycken, T. Lahoutte, P Covens, V. Caveliers, E. Kral, J-M Geets, B. Nactergal, M. Ghyoot, F. Devillet

The production of the most common used PET radioisotope Fluorine-18 with commercial cyclotrons is obtained from the ¹⁸O(p,n)¹⁸F nuclear reaction when ¹⁸O-enriched water is bombarded with a proton beam. We present the characterization of the secondary neutron field spectra produced by this reaction in different locations around the cyclotron, through a comparison between MCNP6 Monte Carlo simulation results and experimental data obtained with Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) of thin target foils of different materials.