An interleaved approach to production of 99{sup left}Mo and 89{sup left}Sr medical radioisotopes

摘要

More than half of the world's annual production of radionuclides is used for medical purposes such as diagnostic imaging of diseases and patient therapy. Using aqueous homogeneous solution reactor technology, production quantities of medical radioisotopes 99{sup left}Mo and 89{sup left}Sr, can be extracted from one reactor cycle. 99{sup left}Mo may be produced directly from UO{sub}2SO{sub}4 uranyl sulfate in an aqueous homogeneous solution nuclear reactor in a manner that produces high purity radionuclides, making efficient use of the reactor's uranium fuel solution. The process is relatively simple, economical, and waste free, eliminating uranium targets. The short-lived radioisotope (99m){sup left}Tc is eluted from 99{sup left}Mo for diagnostic imaging. Radioisotope 89{sup left}Sr infusion is a therapeutic modality that reduces reliance on narcotic analgesia through palliation of metastatic bone pain caused by metastases of the cancer to the bone. Painful disseminated osseous metastases are common with carcinomas of the lung, prostate, and breast. Synergistic interleaving of two manufacturing processes, one producing 99{sup left}Mo and another producing 89{sup left}Sr in the same production cycle of an aqueous homogeneous solution reactor makes full and efficient use of the time for both the neutron irradiation stage and the extraction stage of each radionuclide. Interleaving the capture of 89{sup left}Sr radioisotope with production processing of 99{sup left}Mo radioisotope is achieved, since the extraction and subsequent elimination of radionuclide impurities occurs during separate parts of the reactor cycle. The process applies to either HEU or LEU nuclear fuels in an aqueous homogeneous solution reactor.