“Cabinet-safe” study of 1–8 MeV electron accelerators

The development of “cabinet-safe” accelerator technology for ≈1–8 MeV electron LINACs would remove the only major barrier to large-scale “field” applications of these accelerators. These applications range from non-destructive evaluation and assay to radiolytic degradation of hazardous waste. All field applications require large forward dose and very little lateral dose. We investigated the origin, energy, and angular distribution of unwanted lateral radiation dose from two different electron LINACS at three energies. We report on the contributions of various beam parameters to unwanted radiation dose and propose methods to control key beam parameters that significantly contribute to these doses.