Sandia National Laboratories Medical Isotope Reactor concept.

Abstract

This report describes the Sandia National Laboratories Medical Isotope Reactor and hot cell facility concepts. The reactor proposed is designed to be capable of producing 100% of the U.S. demand for the medical isotope 99 Mo. The concept is novel in that the fuel for the reactor and the targets for the 99 Mo production are the same. There is no driver core required. The fuel pins that are in the reactor core are processed on a 7 to 21 day irradiation cycle. The fuel is low enriched uranium oxide enriched to less than 20% 235 U. The fuel pins are approximately 1 cm in diameter and 30 to 40 cm in height, clad with Zircaloy (zirconium alloy). Approximately 90 to 150 fuel pins are arranged in the core in a water pool ~30 ft deep. The reactor power level is 1 to 2 MW. The reactor concept is a simple design that is passively safe and maintains negative reactivity coefficients. The total radionuclide inventory in the reactor core is minimized since the fuel/target pins are removed and processed after 7 to 21 days. The fuel fabrication, reactor design and operation, and 99 Mo production processing use well-developed technologies that minimize the technological and licensing risks. There are no impediments that prevent this type of reactor, along with its collocated hot cell facility, from being designed, fabricated, and licensed today.4