STATUS OF INDUSTRIAL ELECTRON ACCELERATORS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME AT BARC, INDIA

摘要

Electron accelerators from 500 keV to 10MeV energy are employed for surface irradiation, food preservation, medical sterilization, cargo scanning and other industrial products. At EBC, a 10 MeV Linac has been indigenously developed and is operational for radiation processing. This is an on-axis coupled cavity standing-wave type of RF linac operating with 50-70 keV electron gun with LaB_6 cathode and klystron-based RF source at 2856 MHz. The linac is currently operating at 10 MeV, 130 mA (peak), 10 μs pulses at a prf of 415 and is employed for various experiments. A similar 9 MeV linac is operational for cargo scanning. A compact 6 MeV linac is under development. A 500 keV, 3 kW DC accelerator, based on Cockcroft Walton multiplier, is operational for industrial surface processing. A 3MeV DC accelerator based on parallel coupled multiplier column is operational at 1 MeV, 4.6 kW level. A 700 keV, 5 kW DC machine for cross-linking and graft polymerization is being developed. A 100 MeV, 100 kW electron Linac to produce intense neutron source has been proposed for development. Technological developments, operating experiences and utilization for industrial applications will be described.