Research Facilities

The McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR)

MNR offers a suite of facilities found nowhere else in Canada, including the Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) facility, the 60Co hot cell irradiation facility, the neutron radiography and various other reactor beam ports for their work. The NAA facilities allow graduate students access to prompt and delayed activation of small sealed samples using the pneumatic ‘rabbit’ system. In addition, the reactor can be used to make some specialty radioisotopes for specific research projects by using other sites in the reactor core. All graduate students registered in the Health and Radiation Physics and Radiation Sciences – Medical Physics degrees will take courses that use the McMaster Nuclear Reactor. Most students registered in Radiation Sciences – Radiation Biology will also access the facility.

The McMaster Accelerator Laboratory (MAL)

MAL hosts three linear accelerators and a cyclotron; in addition, the MAL staff manages the Taylor Radiobiology source. The McMaster Tandetron Accelerator is a source of low energy neutrons for the testing and development of new types of radiation detectors, primarily detectors that can be used for radiation dosimetry. This facility also has an in vivo measurement facility where the world’s first studies on manganese, magnesium and fluoride in the bone of volunteers were conducted and has been used to study exposure to aluminum.

The McMaster KN accelerator is an additional, lower fluence, source of low energy neutrons. The KN accelerator has been used to study detector responses and evaluate the relationship of neutron fluence, energy spectrum and dose with angle from both thin and thick Li targets. The soon-to-be completed McMaster Microbeam Facility will incorporate a radiobiology laboratory with a single particle irradiation system. The University owns and operates the cyclotron in partnership with Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC), a not-for-profit entity that was spun out from the University in 2008. CPDC produces radioisotopes for local health centres.

In addition, MAL also houses a number of x-ray facilities employing low energy x-ray sets or radioisotope sources. McMaster has one of only two in vivo bone lead XRF measurement systems in Canada, the only system for the in vivo measurement of strontium, and is currently developing systems for the in vivo measurement of chromium, iron and gadolinium. Some of the x-ray facilities are used for the study of tissue samples with an end goal of finding new sensitive methods for differentiating between healthy and diseased tissue.