Side-reaction products identified for photo-nuclear production of 99 Mo
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Side-reaction products identified for photo-nuclear production of99Mo Peter Tkac1 · Sergey Chemerisov2 · Roman Gromov2 · Jeongseog Song3 · Jerry Nolen3 · Vakhtang Makarashvili4 · George Vandegrift1 Received: 7 May 2020 © This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2020
Abstract Production of 99Mo by the 100Mo (γ, n)99Mo reaction through the bremsstrahlung process using an electron accelerator is one of the feasible options currently pursued by several countries. Here we report experimental results on identification of side-reaction products after the irradiation of natural and enriched 100Mo targets. Side-reaction products identified include various Mo, Nb and Zr isotopes. Comparison of experimentally determined reaction production rates with those determined based on theoretical cross-sections will be presented. Moreover, activation products formed due to presence of impurities introduced during the manufacturing of the Mo targets will also be discussed. Keywords Molybdenum · Mo-99 · Accelerator production · Side-reaction products · Monte Carlo
Introduction The most-used medical isotope for imaging, technetium99m, the daughter of 99Mo, is currently produced by fission of 235U in nuclear reactors because of the very high fission yield (6.1%) and the high thermal neutron fission cross section [1]. Most of the reactors used for the production of 99Mo have been operating for decades. Recently, one of the major suppliers of 99Mo, Nordion (Canada) ended processing of irradiated targets for production of 99Mo, since the Chalk River reactor in Canada ceased its operation due to the age of the reactor. Many countries are looking for alternative production pathways for 99Mo because of the regulatory approvals required for fission-made molybdenum and the complicated and expensive waste disposal options. Although neutron capture in a reactor using enriched 98Mo targets by the 98Mo(n,γ)99Mo reaction can be used, the process still relies on the availability of a research or commercial reactor. * Peter Tkac [email protected] 1
Chemical and Fuel Cycle Technologies Division, 9700 S. Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
2
Experimental Operations and Facilities Division, 9700 S. Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
3
Physics Division, 9700 S. Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
4
Argonne Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
Accelerator technology provides a valuable alternative: The direct production of 99mTc using the 100Mo(p,2n)99mTc reaction by cyclotrons [2–6] can be adopted by countries that have an infrastructure of strategically placed cyclotrons currently being used for the production of other medical isotopes, such as 18F. In addition, electron-beam accelerators can be used for production of 99Mo through the bremsstrahlung process via the 100Mo(γ,n)99Mo reaction [7–10]. This is a very strong alternative because of the commercial availability of these accelerators, an easier waste disposal pathway, and the potential fo
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