Status of IAEA Mo-99 Activities

1

• Status of IAEA Mo-99 Activities
• Ira N. Goldman, Natesan Ramamoorthy, and Pablo
  Adelfang
• International Atomic Energy Agency
• 11 June 2007
• NAS Medical Radioisotope Study
• Washington, DC

2
IAEA Mo-99 Activities

• Background
• Support HEU minimization
• Consultants Report on Small-Scale Fission
  Molybdenum Production from Low Enriched Uranium,
  IAEA, July 2003
• Consultants Meeting on Mo-99 from LEU, IAEA,
  November 2004
• Coordinated Research Project on Developing
  Techniques for Small-Scale Indigenous Production
  of Mo-99 Using LEU or Neutron Activation
  (T.1.20.18) ongoing 2005-2009

3
IAEA Mo-99 Activities

• CRP Objectives
• Foster capacity building for local/regional
  self-sufficiency and access to nuclear medicine,
  sustainable development.
• Assist member states with adoption of
  LEU-Modified Cintichem (foil targets) or neutron
  activation (gel moly) technology.
• Provide technical and material assistance to
  perform trial irradiations, bench-scale
  separation of Mo-99, meeting purity
  specifications, and prepare TECDOC.
• NOT aimed at existing large-scale producers (but
  they are participating/contributing)

4
IAEA Mo-99 Activities

• CRP Participants
• Contracts
• LEU Foil Chile (CCHEN), Libya (DRETC), Pakistan
  (PINSTECH), Romania (INR Pitesti)
• Neutron Activation/Gel Moly Kazakhstan (INP),
  Romania (IFIN-HH Magurele)
• Agreements
• Argentina (CNEA), India (BARC-BRIT), Indonesia
  (BATAN), Korea (KAERI), US (ANL), US (MURR)
• NEW - Poland (POLATOM)
• RECEIVED Egypt (EAEA)
• EXPECTED Russia (Institute of Nuclear Materials
  Zarechny)

5
IAEA Mo-99 Activities

• 2nd RCM Bucharest April 2007
• Extensive discussions on technical topics
  including
• Foil target thermohydraulics analysis using
  computational fluid dynamics code Fluent
  (University of Missouri College of
  Engineering/MURR)
• Analysis of irradiation of LEU foil in Tajoura
  reactor (Libya)
• Thermal Contact Resistance of LEU foil targets
  (AREVA-CERCA)
• Specification of LEU foils fabricated using the
  cooling-roll casting method developed by KAERI.
• Basic principles of Current Good Manufacturing
  Practices (MURR).
• Operational experience in gel moly production,
  for individual generators (India) and centralised
  facility (Kazakhstan)
• Issues related to gel moly process gadgets.
• Calcining uranyl nitrate solutions (ANL)
• Visit to Pitesti TRIGA reactor and hot cells New
  coordinated work plans and action items adopted,
  country work plans reviewed/revised.
• Requests for additional technical assistance from
  IAEA.

6
IAEA Mo-99 Activities

• Recent and Future Activities
• Report on First Generation 1-D Thermal Contact
  Resistance Model of LEU-Foil in Cylindrical
  Geometry (MURR)
• Report on calculations of LEU foils using ORIGEN
  S from SCALE 4.4a (Chile)
• Future
• Fission Moly
• KAERI LEU foil supply/transport arrangements
  nearly concluded, shipments to occur in coming
  month(s).
• Finalization and submittal of safety cases to
  regulatory authorities (Fall 2007).
• Final preparation of hot cells and waste process
  (Nov 2007).
• LEU-foil target irradiation (December 2007).
• Processing of irradiated targets (February 2008).
• Gel Moly
• Improved gel moly filling (wet systems) in
  generators.
• Documenting engineering features of the process
  gadgets/facility.

7
IAEA Mo-99 Activities

• Homogenous Solution Reactors
• Consultancy Meeting on Assessment of Homogenous
  Aqueous Solution Reactors for the Production of
  Mo-99 and other short-lived radioisotopes,
  Vienna, 20-22 June 2007.
• Info exchange, produce status report on state of
  the art of the technology.
• Expected participants Argentina, China (4 NPIC,
  3 cost-free), France, Netherlands (Tyco),
  Russia (3 including Kurchatov and IPPE), U.S. (3
  including ANL, BWXT)

8
IAEA Mo-99 Activities

• Support
• U.S. Department of Energy (GTRI) direct funding
  for Mo-99 CRP including procurements, in-kind
  thru ANL.
• Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) project
  management support.
• ANSTO, AREVA-CERCA, BWXT, MDS Nordion, NECSA, NRG
  Petten, Tyco Health Care - in-kind

9
IAEA Mo-99 Activities

• Further Info/Points of Contact
• www.iaea.org/OurWork/ST/NE/NEFW/nfcms_researchreac
  tors_Mo99.html
• Natesan Ramamoorthy, Director, Division of
  Physical and Chemical Sciences, Department of
  Nuclear Sciences and Applications
  (n.ramamoorthy_at_iaea.org)
• Pablo Adelfang, Cross-Cutting Coordinator for
  Research Reactors, Department of Nuclear Energy
  (p.adelfang_at_iaea.org)
• Ira Goldman, Department of Nuclear Energy
  (i.goldman_at_iaea.org)
• Edward Bradley, Department of Nuclear Energy
  (e.bradley_at_iaea.org)