Ion beams are useful tools for induced mutagenesis and breeding of plants. They are characteristic of high linear energy transfer and distinct from gamma-rays or electron beams; wider mutation spectrum, higher mutation frequency, and higher rate of large insertion or deletion on DNA. Not only more than 30 newly registered plant varieties but also new valuable microorganisms have been generated by ion beams accelerated by the AVF cyclotron in TIARA. Developing effective methods to isolate mutants with specific traits is a future challenge.

Today, pharmaceutical manufacturers have very high expectations for the contribution of precise 3D structural information regarding proteins and their complexes that may be obtained using ultra-brilliant synchrotron radiation. These expectations relate to their drug discovery process and to the promise of the actual discovery of innovative drugs in the future.

Since the discovery of X-rays by Röntgen in 1895, X-rays have been used to treat a wide variety of diseases including malignant tumors. The primary principle of radiotherapy (RT) lies in sufficient and precise dose localization in the target while minimizing a damage of the surrounding normal tissues. In this sense, the era of 1950s marked the beginning of modern RT, when high-energy machines such as a tele-cobalt and linear accelerator were developed and introduced in clinical practice. In the late 20^th century, computer technology allowed the development of high-technology treatment such as intensity modulated RT (IMRT) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), which significantly contributed to improvement of treatment results. IMRT delivers photon beams at the target volume from many different directions, thereby permitting high dose concentration in the target while diluting the dose outside the treatment volume. Particle RT has a history of more than 70 years and has enhanced the clinical potentials of RT. Among various types of ion species, particular interest has been focused on protons and carbon-ions. This is based on the fact that, when compared to photons, they share providing beneficial dose distribution. Furthermore, in the case of carbon ions, they possess a large biological effectiveness (RBE), and higher probability of tumor control with limited damage to the surrounding normal tissues can be expected. Currently, there are more than 50 facilities in the world for proton and carbon-ion therapy and still more facilities are under construction or active planning.

Medically important radionuclides are routinely produced by many accelerators deployed widely in our country. Here describes what radionuclides are frequently in use, as well as emerging ones in the field of diagnostic medicine. In order to carry out an efficient and simplified production of these radionuclides particularly non-conventional metals and halogens, we demonstrated a new activation strategy, namely vertical irradiation method coupled with a target vessel made of ceramic. A concept for developing a new type of accelerator is also proposed from a cyclotron user’s viewpoint.

We are developing production technologies of radioisotopes (RIs) for application studies at RIKEN RI Beam Factory (RIBF). About 70 RIs produced at the AVF cyclotron have been used in research fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, medicine, pharmaceutical and environmental sciences. Purified RIs such as ⁶⁵Zn and ¹⁰⁹Cd are delivered to universities and institutes through Japan Radioisotope Association. A gas-jet transport system was installed in the RIKEN gas-filled recoil ion separator at the heavy-ion linear accelerator as a novel technique for chemical studies of the heaviest elements. Perspectives of RI productions for application studies at RIBF are briefly introduced.

Radioactive tracers with life times from several weeks to a few years are applicable for wear diagnostics of machine parts. We are developing a radioactive-ion (RI) beam implantation method for this purpose using ⁷Be and ²²Na from an in-flight RI beam separator CRIB at RIKEN. According to beam studies, we had enough RI-beam intensity and implantation depth for wear diagnostics and the depth profile was reproduced by calculations with measured energy distribution of the RI beams and SRIM calculation for the energy degraders.

Dual-beam irradiation facility for Energy science and Technology (DuET) has been used to support nuclear industry researches as well as those of non-nuclear field. Both the in-situ and post-irradiation experimental techniques, which are critical to understand radiation damage mechanisms such as irradiation creep, irradiation hardening evaluation by nano-indentation method and fabrication procedure of TEM thin foiles, are introduced. Besides radiation induced lattice defect formation, an example of surface modification technology using ion-accelerators is also introduced.

Accelerators and their uses for single event effects testing of semiconductor devices in Japan are showed. Single event effects are malfunctions induced by heavy ions incidence to the semiconductor devises. For increase single event effects tolerance of semiconductor devices, accelerator testing is required.