Simulation code for the interaction of 14 MeV neutrons on cells

The structure of the survival curve of melanoma cells irradiated by 14 MeV neutrons displays unusual features at very low dose rate where a marked increase in cell killings at 0.05 Gy is followed by a plateau for survival from 0.1 to 0.32 Gy. In parallel a simulation code was constructed for the interaction of 14 MeV neutrons with cellular cultures. The code describes the interaction of the neutrons with the atomic nuclei of the cellular medium and of the external medium (flask culture and culture medium), and is used to compute the deposited energy into the cell volume. It was found that the large energy transfer events associated with heavy charged recoils can occur and that a large part of the energy deposition events are due to recoil protons emitted from the external medium. It is suggested that such events could partially explain the experimental results.