Energy-Recovery Linacs for Commercial Radioisotope Production

Technical Report · Sat Nov 19 00:00:00 EST 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1332817· OSTI ID:1332817

Johnson, Rolland Paul ^[1]

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1. Muplus, Inc., Newport News, VA (United States)

Most radioisotopes are produced by nuclear reactors or positive ion accelerators, which are expensive to construct and to operate. Photonuclear reactions using bremsstrahlung photon beams from less-expensive electron linacs can generate isotopes of critical interest, but much of the beam energy in a conventional electron linac is dumped at high energy, making unwanted radioactivation. The largest part of this radioactivation may be completely eliminated by applying energy recovery linac technology to the problem with an additional benefit that the energy cost to produce a given amount of isotope is reduced. Consequently, a Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) is a path to a more diverse and reliable domestic supply of short-lived, high-value, high-demand isotopes at a cost lower than that of isotopes produced by reactors or positive-ion accelerators. A Jefferson Lab approach to this problem involves a thin photon production radiator, which allows the electron beam to recirculate through rf cavities so the beam energy can be recovered while the spent electrons are extracted and absorbed at a low enough energy to minimize unwanted radioactivation. The thicker isotope photoproduction target is not in the beam. MuPlus, with Jefferson Lab and Niowave, proposed to extend this ERL technology to the commercial world of radioisotope production. In Phase I we demonstrated that 1) the ERL advantage for producing radioisotopes is at high energies (~100 MeV), 2) the range of acceptable radiator thickness is narrow (too thin and there is no advantage relative to other methods and too thick means energy recovery is too difficult), 3) using optics techniques developed under an earlier STTR for collider low beta designs greatly improves the fraction of beam energy that can be recovered (patent pending), 4) many potentially useful radioisotopes can be made with this ERL technique that have never before been available in significant commercial quantities. We developed a plan for the Phase II project that started with a Conceptual Design Report (CDR) based on the results of the Phase I studies and concluded with a Technical Design Report (TDR) for a facility to make isotopes that are most attractive based on market analyses.

• Research Organization: Muplus, Inc.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
• Contributing Organization: Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Niowave, Inc.
• DOE Contract Number: SC0013123
• OSTI ID: 1332817
• Report Number(s): DOE-Muplus-13123; TRN: US1700740
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
ELECTRON BEAMS
LINEAR ACCELERATORS
RADIOISOTOPES
DESIGN
ENERGY RECOVERY
PHOTOPRODUCTION
ISOTOPE PRODUCTION
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
RADIOACTIVATION
ENERGY ACCOUNTING
MEV RANGE 10-100
PHOTONUCLEAR REACTIONS
SAFETY REPORTS
THICKNESS
SUPERCONDUCTING CAVITY RESONATORS
BEAM OPTICS
ENERGY LOSSES
TARGETS
electron linac
superconducting
commercial production