INVESTIGATION OF NEUTRON SOURCE PROPERTIES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MEDICAL RADIOISOTOPES

Authors & Affiliations

Mitrofanov K.V., Piksaikin V.M., Egorov A.S., Gremyachkin D.E.
A.I. Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering, Obninsk, Russia

Mitrofanov K.V. – Head of Laboratory, A.I. Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering. Contacts: 1, pl. Bondarenko, Obninsk, Kaluga region, Russia, 249033. Tel.: +7(484) 399-83-49; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Piksaikin V.M. – Leading researcher, Cand. Sci. (Phys.-Math.), A.I. Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering.
Egorov A.S. – Researcher, A.I. Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering.
Gremyachkin D.E. – Junior Researcher, A.I. Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering.

Abstract

The present work is devoted to the results of the experimental substantiation of the possibility of creating a photoneutron source based on liquid gallium target bombarded by an electron beam and intended for the production of radioactive medical isotopes. The energy distribution of the neutrons was measured using the time-of-flight method, the threshold indicator method, and the spectrometer based on the ³He-proportional counter at the IREN facility (JINR, Dubna) on an electron beam with an energy of 33.58 MeV and a current of 1 A in a pulse whose frequency was 25 Hz. The absolute values of the energy spectra of the neutron leakage in the energy range from 10 keV to 15 MeV were measured by the time-of-flight method and using a ³He spectrometer. To estimate the speed of radiopharmaceutical production on a target with liquid gallium, the Monte Carlo method was used, with the help of which a complex multistep process of neutron spectrum generation was modeled. The validity of the spectral characteristics of neutrons obtained by the Monte Carlo method was determined by comparing them with the experimental results obtained at the IREN facility (JINR, Dubna). On the basis of the obtained data on the neutron-physical characteristics of the gallium target, a comparative estimate was made of the production rate of the number of medical radioisotopes in two configurations of the target block with liquid gallium and the PWR reactor (Karpov Institute of Neophysics, Obninsk).

Keywords
giant dipole resonance, photoneutrons, neutron radiative capture, medical radiopharmaceuticals

Article Text (PDF, in Russian)

References

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UDC 539.1.07

Problems of Atomic Science and Technology. Series: Nuclear and Reactor Constants, 2018, issue 3, 3:3

BROND-3.1

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2018, Issue 3

INVESTIGATION OF NEUTRON SOURCE PROPERTIES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MEDICAL RADIOISOTOPES