MCNP design of thermal and epithermal neutron beam for BNCT at the Isfahan MNSR

•Thermal and epithermal neutron beam have been designed based on Isfahan Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) for BNCT.•The neutron fluxes at the designed beam exits are suitable for BNCT applications.•The designed epithermal neutron beam can be used for treatment of deep-seated brain tumors in acceptable time.

Thermal and epithermal neutron beam have been designed based on Isfahan Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) using MCNP4C Monte Carlo code to meet BNCT neutron beam criteria recommended by International Atomic Energy Agency. The results show that the thermal and epithermal neutron fluxes at the beam exits are 1.39 × 109 (ncm−2s−1) and 0.635 × 109 (ncm−2s−1) respectively which are suitable for BNCT application. In-phantom dose analysis indicates that the designed epithermal neutron beam can be used for treatment of deep-seated brain tumors in acceptable time of about 70 min.