Applications of proton and deuteron accelerators

Applications of positive and negative hydrogen and deuterium ion accelerators beyond basic research are increasing. Large scale proposed national laboratory/industrial projects include the Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT) which will utilize protons, and the International Fusion Material Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) which will accelerate a deuteron beam into a lithium target. At the small scale end, radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator based systems have been built for neutron activation analysis and for applications such as explosive detection. At an intermediate scale, the Loma Linda proton therapy accelerator is now successfully treating a full schedule of patients, and more than half a dozen such hospital based units are under active study world-wide. At this same scale, there are also several ongoing negative ion, military accelerator projects which include the Continuous Wave Deuterium Demonstrator (CWDD) and the Neutral Particle Beam Space Experiment (NPBSE). These respective deuterium and hydrogen accelerators, which have not been previously described, are the focus of this paper.