Although there are numerous ways of procuring this isotope, the most common and most practical, for reasons to be stated later, comes from fission product molybdenum. Molybdenum is produced in all nuclear reactors as a fission fragment with a yield of around 6. Molybdenum has a half-life of just over 2. Since the majority of all Mo produced currently comes from the irradiation of HEU fuel targets, there has been a growing effort to design LEU targets that can yield comparable quantities of high Specific Activity SA Mo Preliminary analysis has already been carried out with targets replacing several fuel elements, and it does not appear to negatively affect the reactor behavior.
The current supply capability of Tcm cannot keep pace with the growing demand. There are few, if any, new production facilities of Mo slated for the future, and many of those presently operating will shutdown in the coming decades. Factoring in the time needed to license and construct new reactors, and the always pressing political and public wariness towards nuclear power, action must be taken immediately to ensure the future supply of this invaluable radioisotope. This research will analyze the viability of operating a low-power research reactor using the newly developed target design as the only source of fissile material.
The normal TRIGA fuel will be offloaded and replaced with the new target elements for some optimal amount of time to produce molybdenum. After Mo production reaches saturation, the normal fuel will be loaded back into the reactor, where normal operation can continue. MCNP5 will be the primary simulation tool used to analyze the behavior of the reactor and verify compliance with all safety limitations set forth in the OSTR Safety and Analysis Report as stated by the U.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The metastable isotope of technetium Tcm is an important diagnostic tool used in the field of nuclear medicine due to the isotope's 6. The conventional source of Tcm comes from the [beta]-decay of molybdenum Mo , an isotope which may be produced via the fission of uranium U atoms [2]. As Mo has a half-life of 2. A handful of geographically dispersed facilities maintain a continuous production of Mo via U fission as a means to satisfy the demand of nuclear medicine worldwide [4].
This centralized production dynamic has been shown to leave the world susceptible to Tcm shortages in the event of multiple reactor shutdowns [5]. Key thermal hydraulic parameters which may impact the safety of the OSTR are identified and presented, and discussed herein.
The U. The EIS includes the analysis that evaluates the environmental impacts of the proposed action and considers the following alternatives to the proposed action: 1 the no-action alternative i. If either of these pools was established, the needed part could reach any facility within the U. Similar records in OSTI. GOV collections:. Full Record Other Related Research. United States: N. Copy to clipboard. United States. Other availability. Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document.
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