Development on Mo production technology by molybdenum solution irradiation method

Inaba, Yoshitomo  ; Ishikawa, Koji*; Ishida, Takuya; Tatenuma, Katsuyoshi*; Ishitsuka, Etsuo   

Tc for the medical diagnosis is the most widely used radioisotope in the world and it's demand is growing up year by year. In case of Japan, all Mo which is parent nuclide of Tc, is imported. However, the importance of the domestic production is pointed out from a viewpoint of the stable supply of Mo because of some troubles on transportation or the research reactor, and so on. Therefore, the (n,) method using solid molybdenum target had been planned in JMTR. However, it will be difficult to satisfy domestic demand because of the limited irradiation volumes of the hydraulic rabbit irradiation facility. In order to increase the amount of Mo production, the molybdenum solution irradiation method was proposed as a new production method. This method is based on the neutron irradiation of molybdenum solution, and several advantages can be pointed out such as a large irradiation volume, high efficient and low cost comparing with conventional methods using enriched U(n,f)Mo as the major method or using a solid molybdenum target of MoO as the minor (n,) method. Aiming at the realization of the molybdenum solution irradiation method, un-irradiated and ray irradiated tests of the molybdenum solution were carried out, and the data of chemical stability and compatibility with the structural materials were shown.