International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Research Applications and Utilization of Accelerators

4-8 May 2009, Vienna

Opportunities of Basic and Applied Research at MedAustron

H. Leeb¹, F. Aumayr², G. Badurek1, M. Benedikt³, M. Hajek¹, E. Jericha¹, P. Kienle⁴, M.
Krammer⁵, J. Marton¹, E. Widmann⁴, and H. Weber¹

¹Atominstitut der Österreichischen Universitäten, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
²Institut für Allgemeine Physik, TU Wien, Austria
³CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
⁴Stefan-Meyer-Institut der Österr. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, Austria
⁵Institut für Hochenergiephysik der Österr. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, Austria

Corresponding Author: leeb@kph.tuwien.ac.at

MedAustron is a planned centre for hadron therapy and diagnosis in Austria. The central unit of this centre is a synchrotron which should deliver beams of protons up to 800MeV/c and carbon ions up to 400 MeV/c per nucleon with intensities of 10¹⁰ protons/s and 4 x 10⁸ ions/s, respectively. Although the accelerator is primarily dedicated to clinical application, its use for non-clinical research is foreseen for nights, weekends and holidays. In a recent study we clearly indicated the potential of the facility for basic and applied research in physics and technology. Especially, the wide range of intermediate energies delivered by the foreseen accelerator is of interest. It allows the setup of a proton scattering facility for basic research as well as the use of the beam to perform tests of detectors for nuclear and particle physics. The facility offers also opportunities to implement selected applications, e.g., in materials research and in dosimetry. In this contribution we present the outcome of our study and discuss the most appealing applications and possibilities for nonclinical research at such a synchrotron of a hadron therapy centre. In addition we will also discuss the importance of this infrastructure for education and training of young researchers in Austria.

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