Critical security applications- the detection of WMD, strategic nuclear materials, contraband and organic/inorganic discrimination, in Seaports, Ports of Entry, air freight shipping centers, and clandestine operations, require fast, high discrimination radiation scanning systems that are compact, easily fielded, and operate low overall radiation levels. A new type of cyclotron, the compact high field superconducting cyclotron, pioneered principally by us for medical applications, may be suitable for security screening. This kind of cyclotron is very compact and simple to operate. At present we are in the final stages of the commissioning of a 12 MeV PET isotope cyclotron that can be operated anywhere, and just by medical staff. It uses 20 kW of total power consumption, about 1/6th of a conventional cyclotron, and weighs less than 3 tonnes, about 1/10th of a conventional cyclotron. It is transportable cold, and has a footprint of less than 1m2. These functional characteristics make it ideal for use in security screening applications, except that the final energy of 12 MeV is sized for PET isotopes, not security applications, which would prefer a proton energy in the 18-20 MeV range. We propose in Phase 1 to perform the fundamental cyclotron design studies to quickly demonstrate the feasibility of scaling this existing 12 MeV cyclotron design to an 18-20 MeV final energy level, in the same footprint, to yield a transportable security cyclotron for Active Interrogation and Proton Radiography Security applications. This demonstration requires some new design and analysis to set the field scaling, including modest modifications to the isochronous field design, the RF acceleration design, and a verification of the needed superconducting magnet operating point and margins against existing benchmarks. All other systems can be used as is, meaning that building a security prototype at 18-20 MeV could be exceptionally cost effective. All work will be carried out at our existing Cyclotron R&D facility in Hampton, NH. In Phase 2, if selected, we would build the prototype 18-20 MeV cyclotron design established in Phase 1, and perform a proof of concept demonstration. We have a security application commercialization partner for this higher energy cyclotron, who are now operating an earlier compact high field cyclotron of our design at a leading research university. There they have demonstrated the production of some of the security application required mono-energetic gamma radiation with protons on solid targets (just accessible at this lower proton energy). And they also plan to develop with this university and us, the detectors and detection algorithms for security applications in parallel with our development of the 18-20 MeV compact high field superconducting cyclotron.
