Editing Betatron (section)

==Applications==
Betatrons were historically employed in [[particle physics]] experiments to provide high-energy beams of electrons&mdash;up to about 300 [[MeV]].  If the electron beam is directed at a metal plate, the betatron can be used as a source of energetic [[x-ray]]s, which may be used in industrial and medical applications (historically in [[radiation oncology]]). A small version of a betatron was also used to provide a source of hard X-rays (by deceleration of the electron beam in a target) for prompt initiation of some experimental [[nuclear weapon]]s by means of photon-induced fission and [[photofission]] in the bomb core.<ref>Big Science: The Growth of Large-Scale Research, {{ISBN|978-0-8047-1879-0}}.</ref><ref>[http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Tumblers.html#George Nuclear Weapons Archive, Tumbler shot series, item George].</ref><ref>[http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq4-1.html#4.1.8.2 Nuclear Weapons Archive, Elements of Fission Weapon Design, section 4.1.8.2].</ref>

The Radiation Center, the first private medical center to treat cancer patients with a betatron, was opened by Dr.&nbsp;[[O.&nbsp;Arthur Stiennon]] in a suburb of [[Madison, Wisconsin]] in the late 1950s.<ref>[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/UW/UW-idx?type=turn&entity=UW002406780037&isize=text ''Wisconsin alumnus'', Volume 58, Number 15 (July 25, 1957)].</ref>