Experimental evaluation of irradiation capsule design efficiency for molybdenum-99 production

IF 2.6 3区工程技术 Q1 NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Nuclear Engineering and Technology Pub Date : 2025-05-09 DOI:10.1016/j.net.2025.103694

D.S. Sairanbayev, M.T. Aitkulov, Sh.Kh. Gizatulin, A.N. Gurin, Ye.T. Chakrova, K.S. Kisselyov, A. Ch Ashibayev, A.A. Shaimerdenov

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Abstract

Currently, technetium-99m is widely used in nuclear diagnostic medicine and is obtained from molybdenum-99. In Kazakhstan, the technology for producing ⁹⁹Mo/^99mTc generators to obtain a radiopharmaceutical was developed and introduced into serial production. Molybdenum-99 is produced via thermal neutron irradiation of molybdenum powder in a WWR-K reactor. However, in this case, the maximum specific activity generated is proportional to the cross-section of the radiation capture of a thermal neutron by the molybdenum-98 nucleus (0.13 b). In contrast, the epithermal neutron region offers higher cross-section resonances (6.9 b), suggesting potential for increased specific activity, which extends the generator operating time and improves its competitiveness. Based on this, an improved irradiation capsule design was developed to produce molybdenum-99 in a WWR-K reactor. The neutron characteristics of an irradiation capsule in the reactor core of a critical facility were also studied. This paper presents the results of experimental studies and demonstrates the effect of the irradiation capsule design on the energy distribution of neutrons. The possibility of increasing the specific activity of molybdenum-99 by 10 % when irradiating molybdenum with a natural isotopic composition and by 23 % when using molybdenum enriched to 98.6 % was demonstrated.

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钼-99生产辐照胶囊设计效率的实验评价

目前，锝-99m被广泛应用于核诊断医学，它是从钼-99中提取的。在哈萨克斯坦，开发了生产99Mo/99mTc发生器以获得放射性药物的技术，并开始批量生产。钼-99是在WWR-K反应堆中通过钼粉的热中子辐照产生的。然而，在这种情况下，产生的最大比活度与热中子被钼-98核捕获的辐射截面成正比（0.13 b）。相比之下，超热中子区域提供了更高的截面共振（6.9 b），表明有可能增加比活度，从而延长了发电机的运行时间并提高了其竞争力。在此基础上，开发了一种改进的辐照胶囊设计，用于在WWR-K反应堆中生产钼-99。对某关键设施反应堆堆芯辐照胶囊的中子特性进行了研究。本文介绍了实验研究的结果，并论证了辐照胶囊设计对中子能量分布的影响。用天然同位素组成的钼进行辐照，可使钼-99的比活度提高10%，富集到98.6%的钼可使钼-99的比活度提高23%。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Nuclear Engineering and Technology 工程技术-核科学技术

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

7.40%

发文量

431

审稿时长

3.5 months

期刊介绍： Nuclear Engineering and Technology (NET), an international journal of the Korean Nuclear Society (KNS), publishes peer-reviewed papers on original research, ideas and developments in all areas of the field of nuclear science and technology. NET bimonthly publishes original articles, reviews, and technical notes. The journal is listed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) of Thomson Reuters. NET covers all fields for peaceful utilization of nuclear energy and radiation as follows: 1) Reactor Physics 2) Thermal Hydraulics 3) Nuclear Safety 4) Nuclear I&C 5) Nuclear Physics, Fusion, and Laser Technology 6) Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Radioactive Waste Management 7) Nuclear Fuel and Reactor Materials 8) Radiation Application 9) Radiation Protection 10) Nuclear Structural Analysis and Plant Management & Maintenance 11) Nuclear Policy, Economics, and Human Resource Development