The production of spallation radio nuclides for medical applications at BLIP

Journal Article · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1983 · IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/TNS.1983.4332644· OSTI ID:5692683

Mausner, L F; Richards, P

The Brookhaven LINAC Isotope Producer (BLIP) is the first facility to demonstrate the capability of a large linear accelerator for efficient and economical production of difficult-to-make, medically useful radionuclides. It utilizes the excess beam capacity of a LINAC that injects 200 MeV protons into the 33 GeV Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. The LINAC provides an integrated beam current of 60 ..mu..A for radionuclide production, operating 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The 200 MeV proton energy is very suitable for isotope production since the spallation process provides a route to copious quantities of radionuclides unavailable at lower energy accelerators, or reactors. Further, the energy is high enough to allow simultaneous irradiation of multiple targets leading to reduced cost per nuclide. Careful choice of target position in the array makes it possible to select the proper proton energy range to maximize the yield of a particular nuclide from a given target and minimize the amounts of undesirable by-products. The proton beam enters the BLIP irradiation chamber under 32 feet of water which serves as a transparent shield for gamma rays and the high energy neutrons produced by spallation interactions. Guide tubes are used for introducing independent target assemblies into the proton beam, enabling both very short irradiations and very long ones. The targets are individually water cooled by means of a flexible stainless steel water hose that travels with the assembly. The basic target types are encapsulated salt pellets, gases, and metallic foils. The medically important isotopes /sup 123/I, /SUP 81m/ Kr, /sup 52/Fe, and /sup 127/Xe are routinely produced.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY
• OSTI ID: 5692683
• Journal Information: IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.; (United States), Journal Name: IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci.; (United States) Vol. 30:2; ISSN IETNA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
400700* -- Radiochemistry & Nuclear Chemistry
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
430100 -- Particle Accelerators-- Design
Development
& Operation
430200 -- Particle Accelerators-- Beam Dynamics
Field Calculations
& Ion Optics
ACCELERATORS
BEAM CURRENTS
BEAM EMITTANCE
BEAM INJECTION
BEAMS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BROOKHAVEN 200-MEV LINAC
BROOKHAVEN AGS
CURRENTS
CYCLIC ACCELERATORS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DESIGN
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
IODINE 123
IODINE ISOTOPES
IRON 52
IRON ISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE PRODUCTION
ISOTOPES
KRYPTON 81
KRYPTON ISOTOPES
MEDICINE
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
NUCLEON BEAMS
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OPERATION
PARTICLE BEAMS
PROTON BEAMS
RADIOISOTOPES
SECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
SPALLATION
SYNCHROTRONS
XENON 127
XENON ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES