Comprehensive Theoretical Studies on 11-MeV Proton Based Tc-99m Production

Spectral Analysis of Proton-Irradiated Natural MoO3 Relevant for Technetium-99m Radionuclide Production

“…The identified Tc-96 is also supported by the weak gamma ray intensity at 1.127 MeV. This result agrees with previous theoretical calculations [9] and a previous experimental investigation [14]. Note that at this point, Tc-99m is weakly detected due mostly to self absorption of the emitted gamma ray by the solid MoO 3 .…”

“…Since secondary neutrons are also generated during the proton bombardment of the MoO 3 target, Mo-99 could also potentially be produced via a 98 Mo(n,γ) 99 Mo nuclear reaction. Again, based on the TALYS calculated results [9], such a nuclear reaction is very likely to occur due to high nuclear cross-sections for slow to fast neutrons. Thus the most possible nuclear reaction for Mo-99 generation in this experiment was 98 Mo(n,γ) 99 Mo.…”

“…Direct Mo-99 production via 100 Mo(p,d) 99 Mo nuclear reactions. According to the TALYS code calculations performed previously [9], while the proton threshold energy for such a nuclear reaction to occur is only 6.1 MeV, this typical nuclear reaction is very likely undetectable due to very low nuclear cross-section at the 11 MeV proton beam, which is theoretically only 7.5 × 10 -3 mbarn. The presence of a 100 Mo(p,d) 99 Mo nuclear reaction has been suggested by Lebeda and co-workers [14] since they employed 18-MeV proton beams in their investigation.…”

“…Recent theoretical calculations [9] suggest that as much as 42.18 GBq/uA.hr can be produced from 11-MeV proton irradiation of enriched 100 Mo targets at the end of bombardment, while experimental studies highlighted the possibility of generating high yields of Tc-99m using medium-and high-energy cyclotrons [10][11]. Nevertheless, no reports have been published on the commercial use of cyclotron-based Tc-99m radionuclide due to the low Tc-99m yield as well as radionuclide impurities produced during bombardment.…”

A Novel Method for 57/Ni and 57/Co Production using Cyclotron-Generated Secondary Neutrons

“…The metal alloy has been an interesting material in medical radionuclide production studies [14][15][16]. The 11-MeV proton beams produced by the cyclotron hit the 50-µm Havar foil, which result in 56 Fe(p,n) 56 Co nuclear reaction as theoretically calculated and experimentally observed in previous studies [17][18][19][20]. Nuclear reactions between the 11-MeV proton beams and the rest of the Havar's individual atoms were not experimentally observed, though they could potentially generate secondary neutrons at low neutron fluxes.…”