# US 2014/0192942 A1 · Molybdenum-converter based electron linear accelerator and method for producing radioisotopes

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- Number: US 2014/0192942 A1
- Document ID: US20140192942A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/239,567
- Filed: 2012-08-22
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2011-08-25
- Assignees: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Research and Development Authority
- Inventors: Alexander Tsechanski
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140192942A1

## CPC

- G21G 1/001: {Recovery of specific isotopes from irradiated targets}
- G21G 1/12: by electromagnetic irradiation, e.g. with gamma or X-rays (applications of radiation G21H5/00; irradiation devices G21K5/00)
- G21G 1/10: by bombardment with electrically charged particles (irradiation devices G21K5/00)
- G21G: CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS; RADIOACTIVE SOURCES (applications of radiation in general G21H5/00; handling particles, e.g. neutrons, or electromagnetic radiation not otherwise provided for G21K)

## Abstract

The present invention provides a method for producing molybdenum-99 comprising: i) providing an electron accelerator; ii) providing a molybdenum converter/target unit (Mo-CTU) comprising one or more metallic components, wherein each one of said metallic components is made of a material selected from the group consisting of natural molybdenum, molybdenum-100, molybdenum-98, and mixtures thereof; iii) directing an electron beam generated via said electron accelerator onto said Mo-CTU to produce a braking radiation (bremsstrahlung); iv) employing said bremsstrahlung onto said Mo-CTU to produce molybdenum-99 and neutrons via a photo-neutron reaction; v) slowing down the neutrons produced in step iv) with a low atomic liquid, e.g. distilled water; and optionally vi) employing the neutrons produced in step iv) to produce a complementary amount of molybdenum-99 via a neutron capture reaction on said Mo-CTU. The invention further provides an apparatus for producing molybdenum-99.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for producing molybdenum-99 comprising:
i) providing an electron accelerator;
ii) providing a molybdenum converter/target unit (Mo-CTU) comprising one or more metallic components, wherein each one of said metallic components is made of a material selected from the group consisting of natural molybdenum, molybdenum-100, molybdenum-98, and mixtures thereof;
iii) directing an electron beam generated via said electron accelerator onto said Mo-CTU to produce a braking radiation (bremsstrahlung);
iv) employing said bremsstrahlung onto said Mo-CTU to produce molybdenum-99 and neutrons via a photo-neutron reaction;
v) slowing down the neutrons produced in step iv) with a low atomic liquid, e.g. distilled water; and optionally
vi) employing the neutrons produced in step iv) to produce a complementary amount of molybdenum-99 via a neutron capture reaction on said Mo-CTU.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein production and accumulation of the isotope Mo-99 is carried out in the Mo-CTU itself which is located inside the target assembly of the linear accelerator.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the high fluxes of high energy bremsstrahlung photons and neutrons that are found around the target assembly outside the accelerator are used to produce other radioactive isotopes via the (γ,n) and (n,γ) reactions on appropriate target materials placed outside the accelerator target assembly and adjacent to it.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein an external target of the stable isotope Xe-124 is used to produce simultaneously the primary radioisotope Mo-99 inside the accelerator Mo-target and two radioisotopes of iodine: I-123 via the (γ,n) reaction and I-125 via the (n,γ) reaction.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the short-lived radioisotopes F-18, O-15, N-13, and C-11 are produced by placing an external target from the appropriate stable isotope adjacent to the accelerator target assembly.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1, wherein the high flux of high energy bremsstrahlung photons exiting the accelerator target assembly is used for photo-fission (γ,f) of LEU samples placed outside the accelerator target assembly and adjacent to it.

### Claim 7

An apparatus for producing molybdenum-99, comprising:
a) an electron accelerator;
b) a molybdenum converter/target unit (Mo-CTU) comprising one or more metallic components, wherein each one of said metallic components is made of a material selected from the group consisting of natural molybdenum, molybdenum-100, molybdenum-98, and mixtures thereof;
c) means for directing an electron beam generated via said electron accelerator onto said Mo-CTU to produce a braking radiation (bremsstrahlung);
d) means for directing said bremsstrahlung onto said Mo-CTU to produce molybdenum-99 and neutrons via a photo-neutron reaction; and
e) a low atomic number liquid, e.g. distilled water, for slowing down the neutrons produced in step d).