The thermal neutron irradiation facility is a vertical beamline situated directly underneath the reactor core. The beamline has recently been refurbished and now includes an automated beam control system that is state of the art.

The facility is operational and can be used for experimental as well as clinical irradiations related to developing BNCT. The facility is available to outside (ie non MIT) users.
 
Beam intensity is proportional to the operating power of the reactor with a maximum thermal neutron flux of approximately 5x10 ⁹ n cm ^-2 s available in-air at the position of the field delimiter. Beam contamination from fast neutrons and gamma rays is low and considerably less than the inherent background induced by thermal neutrons in tissue. The maximum available beam intensity is more than sufficient for irradiations to study various animal models or perform clinical investigations, where normal tissue tolerance can be reached in just a few minutes using currently developed capture compounds.