MAP OF RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION AND BATAN RESEARCH REACTOR UTILIZATION

Currently, Indonesia through BATAN is operating three research reactors, namely the RSG-GAS reactor with the power of 30 MWt at Puspiptek south Tangerang (the first criticality in 1987), the TRIGA 2000 reactor with the power of 2 MW in Bandung which the first criticality in 1965 with the power of 250 kW, was increased to 1 MW in 1971, and further upgraded to 2 MW in 2000. Beside that, there is Kartini reactor with a power of 100 kW located in Yogyakarta (first criticality in 1979). These reactors are quite old, and in accordance with Bapeten regulations, have carried out the first periodic safety review, to obtain a reactor license for the next 10 years of operation. In line with this, one of BATAN's current national research programs is to increase the production of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, where reactors play a very important role in the production of certain isotopes. In tracing the data obtained from operational reports related to irradiation requests from reactor users, namely PTRR, PSTNT, and PT INUKI for radioisotope production, which has been carried out in the last 5 years, May 2015 until 25 August 2020, show that the irradiation request at RSG-GAS is still not optimal. In term of the utilization of RSG-GAS, it can still be optimized, which in this case needs to be balanced with post-irradiation processing capabilities. Meanwhile, from the results of tracing and data collection, it can be shown that at this time the reactors are still operating. The utilization activities of the reactors complement each other according to their age and facilities.

Calculation Results for Enhancing Ability of I-131 Radioisotope Production Using Tellurium Dioxide Target on the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor

The paper presents the calculation results in re-design of neutron trap of the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR) for I-131 radioisotope production using TeO2 target. The new design permits for loading more TeO2 capsules from 9 to 12, 15 and 18 in the neutron trap. The enhancement of radioisotope production was implemented by re-arrangement of the neutron trap without changing the dimension or geometry of irradiation capsules. By using neutronics computer code as MCNP6, the obtained calculation results of I-131 activity in 6 investigated cases showed that the new design by the re-arrangement of the neutron trap can be used effectively for radioisotope production with thermal neutron flux in average range from 5.3×1012 to 1×1013 n/cm2.s and the total activity of I-131 isotope was increased from about 19.2% to 38.8% comparing with the original design using 9 capsules. The negative reactivity insertion was from 0.60 βeff to 0.96 βeff when loading capsules that also met the safety requirements of operational conditions of the DNRR.

Core parametric study for enhancing the radioisotope production in the IEA-R1 research reactor

In this work a parametric study was carried to increase the production of radioisotopes in the IEA-R1 research reactor. The changes proposed to implement in the IEA-R1 reactor core were the substitution of graphite reflectors by beryllium reflectors, the removal of 4 fuel elements to reduce the core size and make available 4 additional locations to be occupied by radioisotope irradiation devices. The key variable analyzed is the thermal neutron flux in the irradiation devices. The proposed configuration with 20 fuel elements in an approximately cylindrical geometry provided higher average neutron flux (average increment of 12.9 %) allowing higher radioisotope production capability. In addition, it provided 4 more positions to install irradiation devices which allow a larger number of simultaneous irradiations practically doubling the capacity of radioisotope production in the IEA-R1 reactor. The insertion of Be reflector elements in the core has to be studied carefully since it tends to promote strong neutron flux redistribution in the core. A verification of design and safety parameters of the proposed core was carried out. The annual fuel consumption will increase about 17 % and more storage space for spent fuel will be required.

Electrochemical deposition of nickel targets from aqueous electrolytes for medical radioisotope production in accelerators: a review

This paper reviews reported methods of the electrochemical deposition of nickel layers which are used as target materials for accelerator production of medical radioisotopes. The review focuses on the electrodeposition carried out from aqueous electrolytes. It describes the main challenges related to the preparation of suitable Ni target layers, such as work with limited amounts of expensive isotopically enriched nickel; electrodeposition of sufficiently thick, smooth and free of cracks layers; and recovery of unreacted Ni isotopes from the irradiated targets and from used electrolytic baths.

An Active Irradiation System with Automatic Beam Positioning and Focusing for a Medical Cyclotron

A novel active focusing system was developed for enhancing the irradiation performance of the 18 MeV medical cyclotron in operation at the Bern University Hospital in view of the production of non-conventional medical radioisotopes using solid targets. In several cases, such as the production of 43Sc and 44Sc, the beam has to be kept stable within a very small target of about 5 mm diameter. For this purpose, we conceived and realized an apparatus based on a compact focusing and steering magnet system followed by a two-dimensional beam monitoring detector and a specific feedback software that drives the magnet to optimize the beam for a given irradiation set-up. We report on the design, realization and validation beam tests performed using the research beam transfer line of the Bern cyclotron. We demonstrated that the beam spot can be kept on target thanks to the fact that the system automatically reacts to perturbations. Compactness is one of the key features of this system, allowing its use in accelerator facilities with limited space, such as medical cyclotrons for radioisotope production.

A novel approach to medical radioisotope production using inverse kinematics

The inverse kinematics methodology using a gas target has been applied to produce medically important radionuclides at the Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M University. The production of the theranostic radionuclide 67Cu (T1/2 = 62 h) through the reaction of a 70Zn beam at 15 MeV/nucleon with a hydrogen gas target was performed. The activities at end of irradiation and the thick target yield were obtained for 67Cu. A test using the forward-focused neutrons from the primary reaction to irradiate natZn to produce 67Cu is also presented.