J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 78 (2009) 033201 (4 pages)  |Previous Article| |Next Article|  |Table of Contents|
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Letters

Production of ⁹⁹Mo for Nuclear Medicine by ¹⁰⁰Mo(n,2n)⁹⁹Mo

Yasuki Nagai^1,2 and Yuichi Hatsukawa³

(Received January 7, 2009; Accepted January 20, 2009; Published March 10, 2009)

We have proposed a new route to produce ⁹⁹Mo for nuclear medicine by the ¹⁰⁰Mo(n,2n)⁹⁹Mo reaction. The reaction cross section is known to be ∼1.5 b in the neutron energy, E_n, range from 12 to 17 MeV: 10-times larger than the thermal-neutron capture cross section of ⁹⁸Mo. By irradiating an enriched ¹⁰⁰Mo target for 198 h with neutrons of ∼10¹³ n/(cm² s) at E_n∼14 MeV, one can produce 79 GBq/g specific activity of ⁹⁹Mo. Since the cross sections for ¹⁰⁰Mo(n, p)¹⁰⁰Nb, ¹⁰⁰Mo(n,n p)⁹⁹Nb and ¹⁰⁰Mo(n,α)⁹⁷Zr at 12≤E_n≤17 MeV are small, less than a few mb, radioactive waste during and/or after chemical processing of ⁹⁹Mo would not be a serious problem. The proposed route could bring a major breakthrough in the solution of ensuring a constant and reliable supply of ⁹⁹Mo without using highly enriched ²³⁵U. ©2009 The Physical Society of Japan

KEYWORDS: nuclear medicine, neutron induced reaction, ¹⁰⁰Mo(n,2n)⁹⁹Mo, Ru(n,x), intense neutron source
URL: http://jpsj.ipap.jp/link?JPSJ/78/033201/
DOI: 10.1143/JPSJ.78.033201

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