Production scheme for diagnostic-therapeutic radioisotopes by accelerator neutrons

摘要

Interest has been growing in the development of medical radioisotopes used for noninvasive nuclear medicine imaging of disease and cancer therapy. Especially the development of an alternative production scheme of 99 Mo, the mother radioisotope of 99m Tc used for imaging, is required, because the current supply chain of the reactor product 99 Mo is fragile worldwide. We have proposed a new production scheme of 99 Mo as well as therapeutic radioisotopes, such as 64 Cu and 67 Cu, using accelerator neutrons provided by the nat C( d , n ) reaction. Based on this scheme we have obtained high-quality 99m Tc, 64 Cu, and 67 Cu suitable for clinical use by developing both production and separation methods of the radioisotopes. We proposed a new facility to constantly and reliably produce a wide variety of high-quality, carrier-free radioisotopes, including 99 Mo, with accelerator neutrons. We report on the development of the proposed scheme and future prospects of the facility toward the domestic production of medical radioisotopes.