Motivation and Development of a Compact Superconducting Accelerator for X-ray Medical Device Sterilization

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development of a compact superconducting accelerator designed to generate high-energy x-ray beams for medical device sterilization, emphasizing technological innovations and industry motivation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 20 kW, 1.6 MeV superconducting accelerator prototype with advanced cooling and efficiency features for medical sterilization applications.

Findings

Prototype assembly in progress with 20 kW, 1.6 MeV capacity

Supports heat management within commercial cryocooler limits

Achieves over 80% wall-plug efficiency

Abstract

Fermilab is developing a compact superconducting CSRF accelerator as a source of a high-power, high-energy electron beam to produce an x-ray beam comparable to $\geq$ 2 MCi of cobalt-60. As part of this development, we are presently assembling a 20 kW, 1.6 MeV prototype that incorporates the four enabling technologies described below. These technologies support a heat budget that is within the capacity of commercially available cryocoolers and eliminate the need for liquid cryogens. The use of superconducting technologies promises efficiencies, wall-plug to beam, of 80% or greater. A summary of the design and progress to date will be given. In addition, we will present a review of developments within the medical device sterilization industry that are motivating the development of this technology.