Photonuclear production of yttrium-88 – A high energy gamma emitter for hydrocarbon extraction applications

Multiparticle natSr(γ, ) reactions induced with bremsstrahlung end-point energies of 55, 60, and 65 MeV *

“…The mechanism behind photonuclear reactions changes according to the energy of the incident photons. However, to date, most photonuclear reactions have been studied in terms of bremsstrahlung photons in the energy range of 10-30 MeV [5][6][7][8] and have involved the use of medical electron linear accelerators (linacs). In this energy range, only simple reactions, such as (γ,n), (γ,2n), and (γ,p), can take place [5,[9][10][11], with the compound reaction mechanism playing a dominant role.…”

Large-scale production of 88Y and 88Zr/88Y generators: A proof of concept study for a 70 MeV H− cyclotron

“…The radiotracers 192 Ir (T 1/2 = 73.8 d), 110m Ag (T 1/2 = 249.8 d) and 46 Sc (T 1/2 = 83.8 d) are in common use in fracking operations. Recently, Dale et al (2018) also proposed 88 Y for this purpose. In order to extract oil and natural gas from vast shale reservoirs, a proppant is injected into the cracks to ensure the hydrocarbons have open pathways to flow.…”

“…J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f tion of 88 Y. Dale et al (2018) suggested the photonuclear reaction 89 Y(γ,n) 88 Y, using a 30-40 MeV electron accelerator in conjunction with a metal bremsstrahlung converter to produce a high photon flux. The specific activity of 88 Y produced in this way will be sufficient for the fracking application but not for radiolabelling studies.…”