The Chalk River Electron Test Accelerator; A Prototype for Industrial Irradiator Designs

A cw electron linear accelerator is suggested as an efficient source of high power radiation for large scale material processing. Beams with a radiation equivalent greater than 5 MCi of 60Co have been obtained with the Chalk River Electron Test Accelerator operating at 4 MeV and from simple scaling of the design concepts of the accelerator, radiation yields at least one order of magnitude higher can be confidently predicted. Research in window development is in progress. In a waste water treatment experiment, a 0.76 mm stainless steel window was used at a power dissipation of 1 W/mm2 during a continuous 16 hour run without deterioration. In a separate facility, a 0.25 mm water cooled aluminum window designed to withstand 2 W/mm2 is used to bring the electron beam into air. Results of electron beam distribution measurements in air are discussed. Recent technological developments both at Chalk River and at electron storage facilities using similar technology indicate that the cw electron linear accelerator will predominate in applications where beam powers greater than 200 kW are required.