Using Monte Carlo methods to estimate occupational dosage during ²²⁵Ac production

Technical Report · Fri Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1466627· OSTI ID:1466627

Niedzielski, Drake ^[1]; Yip, Kin ^[2]

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1. Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States)
2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Since alpha emitting isotopes such as ²²⁵Ac, ideal for radiation treatment, are in short supply, the Medical Isotope Research and Production program at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is devel- oping new pathways for ²²⁵Ac production. One proposed pathway is to resurrect the EBCO cyclotron at BNL to irradiate a ²²⁶Ra target for 40 hours in a 16 MeV proton beam. Using MCNPX and CINDER software to simulate this process, we found that 1.26 Ci of ²²⁵Ac could be produced from 300 mg of ²²⁶Ra. To ensure workplace safety, we modeled the detailed geometry of lab 2-66C in Bldg. 801 and performed Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the radiation outside the lab as the irradiated sample is processed in a hot cell. We found the maximum dose outside the lab to be about 9 x 10^-5 rem/h. To reduce occupational dose, we recommend 200 thick steel shielding covering the sample insertion passage. These ²²⁵Ac production runs could help cover the EBCO cyclotron's operational costs.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0012704
• OSTI ID: 1466627
• Report Number(s): BNL-207965-2018-TECH; EP&S/170; TRN: US1901677
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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