Production of Tc-99m from Naturally Occurring Molybdenum Absent Uranium
Authors: K. Pagdon, C. Gentile, A. Cohen, G. Ascione, G. Baker
Abstract: Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) is the world's most widely
used medical isotope. Current production methods involve the
irradiation of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and low enriched
uranium (LEU) targets in nuclear reactors. Molybdenum-99 (Mo-
99) is then extracted from these targets, which decays to Tc-99m.
Currently, this process is centralized, as there are very few
companies that manufacture Mo-99. In an effort to eradicate the
need for uranium to produce this medical isotope, naturally
occurring molybdenum was studied to produce Mo-99. Preliminary
testing at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory included
irradiating naturally occurring Mo coupons for varying amounts of
time using a D-T neutron generator producing 1.5x108 n/sec to
produce Mo-99. Exploiting this technique, Tc-99m was successfully
produced. Proof of principle testing is also underway to confirm the
ability to produce Mo-99 from Mo-100 using high-energy gamma
rays. Future work consists of creating a mobile device that is able to
produce Tc-99m on demand, allowing for a distributed system of
the medical isotope in hospitals and radio pharmacies worldwide.
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Submitted to: 38th International Conference on Plasma Science & 24th Symposium on Fusion Engineering/ICOPS 2011 SOFE, Chicago, IL, June 26-30, 2011
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