Radiation monitoring at high energy proton accelerators poses a considerable challenge due to the complexity of the encountered stray radiation fields. These environments comprise a wide variety of different particle types and span from fractions of electron-volts up to several terra electron-volts. As a consequence the use of Monte Carlo simulation programs like FLUKA is indispensable to obtain appropriate field-specific calibration factors. At many locations of the LHC a large contribution to the particle fluence is expected to originate from high-energy neutrons and thus, benchmark experiments with mono-energetic neutron beams are of high importance to verify the aforementioned detector response calculations. This paper summarizes the results of a series of benchmark experiments with quasi mono-energetic neutrons of 100, 140, 200, 250 and 392 MeV that have been carried out at RCNP - Osaka University, during several campaigns between 2006 and 2014.

MedAustron is a synchrotron based accelerator facility for cancer therapy and research in Wiener Neustadt, 50 km south of Vienna. The facility will provide protons up to kinetic energies of 250 MeV and carbon ions up to 400 MeV/n for ion beam therapy. Additionally, protons up to 800 MeV kinetic energy will be used in a dedicated room for non-clinical research. In order to obtain a shielding concept for this facility a detailed geometry of the accelerator facility was implemented into the Monte-Carlo code FLUKA and shielding simulations were performed. In the course of these simulations the contributions of different particle types to the mixed fields around the accelerator and behind shielding were analysed. In an iterative process with the architect the final design of the shielding concept was developed until it was capable of reducing the effect of secondary radiation on humans and the environment below Austrian legal limits.

This paper describes the conceptual steps in reaching the design of the AWAKE experiment currently under construction at CERN. We start with an introduction to plasma wakefield acceleration and the motivation for using proton drivers. We then describe the self-modulation instability – a key to an early realization of the concept. This is then followed by the historical development of the experimental design, where the critical issues that arose and their solutions are described. We conclude with the design of the experiment as it is being realized at CERN and some words on the future outlook. A summary of the AWAKE design and construction status as presented in this conference is given in Gschwendtner et al. [1].

New acceleration technology is mandatory for the future elucidation of fundamental particles and their interactions. A promising approach is to exploit the properties of plasmas. Past research has focused on creating large-amplitude plasma waves by injecting an intense laser pulse or an electron bunch into the plasma. However, the maximum energy gain of electrons accelerated in a single plasma stage is limited by the energy of the driver. Proton bunches are the most promising drivers of wakefields to accelerate electrons to the TeV energy scale in a single stage. An experimental program at CERN -- the AWAKE experiment -- has been launched to study in detail the important physical processes and to demonstrate the power of proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. Here we review the physical principles and some experimental considerations for a future proton-driven plasma wakefield accelerator.

This paper describes the results of calibration measurements for a Bonner sphere spectrometer (BSS) with 3He proportional counter performed in quasi-monoenergetic neutron fields at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) at the University of Osaka, Japan. Using 246 MeV and 389 MeV proton beams, neutron fields with nominal peak energies of 244 MeV and 387 MeV were generated via 7Li(p,n)7Be reactions. At high energies, the neutron spectra were measured by means of the time-of-flight (TOF) method. The low-energy part of the neutron spectra were determined by BSS measurements down to thermal energies using the MSANDB unfolding code and three different sets of response functions. These were obtained by means of Monte Carlo (MC) calculations including various codes and intra-nuclear cascade (INC) models. Unfolded BSS fluence rates were additionally confirmed by GEANT4 calculations. For calibration of the BSS, measured count rates were corrected for low-energy contributions and compared with count rates calculated using TOF data and various response functions. In addition, measured response values were compared with mono-energetic response calculations, and best agreement was found with GEANT4 results using the Bertini INC model.

The authors measured the neutron energy spectra of a quasi-monoenergetic 7Li(p,n) neutron source with 246 and 389 MeV protons set at seven angles (0°, 2.5°, 5°, 10°, 15°, 20° and 30°), using a time-of-flight (TOF) method employing organic scintillators NE213 at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) of Osaka University. The energy spectra of the source neutrons were precisely deduced down to 2 MeV at 0° and 10 MeV at other angles. The cross-sections of the peak neutron production reaction at 0° were on the 35–40 mb line of other experimental data, and the peak neutron angular distribution agreed well with the Taddeucci formula. Neutron energy spectra below 100 MeV at all angles were comparable, but the shapes of the continuum above 150 MeV changed considerably with the angle. In order to consider the correction required to derive the response in the peak region from the measured total response for high-energy neutron monitors such as DARWIN and Wendi-2, the authors showed the subtractions of H⁎(10) obtained at larger angles (10°, 15°, 20° and 30°) from the 0° data in the continuum part for the 246 and 389 MeV 7Li(p,n) reactions. It was found that subtracting the dose equivalent at about 20° from the 0° data almost eliminates the continuum component. This method has potential to eliminate problems associated with continuum correction for high-energy neutron monitors.