Irradiation of Mo-100 Targets and Testing Fe(ll)CI₂ Precipitation for Tc-99 Removal

Technical Report · Fri Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2425860· OSTI ID:2425860

Bettinardi, David J. ^[1]; Gromov, Roman ^[1]; Jonah, Charles ^[1]; Wesolowski, Kenneth ^[1]; Patapenka, Andrei ^[1]; Hlavenka, Josh ^[1]; Mullins, David ^[1]; Chemerisov, Sergey ^[1]; Tkac, Peter ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

The production of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) is a critical step in the generation of technetium-99m (Tc-99m), a radioisotope widely used in medical imaging. NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC is planning to produce the important medical radioisotope Mo-99 through a photonuclear reaction on molybdenum-100 (Mo-100). Accelerator production of Mo-99 using enriched Mo-100 targets yields undesirable isotopes, such as niobium-95 (Nb-95) and zirconium-95 (Zr-95). Previous studies reported that Nb and Zr isotopes can be effectively removed from Mo-99 products through coprecipitation with Fe(III). To enable the potential utilization of the first milking of Tc-99m from a Mo-99/Tc-99m generator, it is desirable to remove long-lived Tc-99. This can be accomplished by substituting Fe(III) with Fe(II) during the precipitation step, without affecting the removal of Zr and Nb isotopes. Previous experiments demonstrated up to 99+% removal of Tc using this method. It was also observed that the presence of hydrogen peroxide significantly impacts Tc removal. This was evident in the processing of enriched Mo-100 targets, where only 25% of Tc was removed. To further investigate this, another irradiation of enriched Mo-100 disks was conducted, followed by Tc-99 removal using Fe(II). Prior to irradiation, experimental conditions for Tc removal were optimized through several test runs using Mo-100 disks spiked with Tc-99. The results of these tests are discussed in this report.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 2425860
• Report Number(s): ANL--23/49; 185555
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE