Measurement and estimation of the Mo production yield by Mo()Mo

Minato, Futoshi   ; Tsukada, Kazuaki  ; Sato, Nozomi*; Watanabe, Satoshi*; Saeki, Hideya*; Kawabata, Masako*; Hashimoto, Shintaro  ; Nagai, Yasuki*

We have measured the yield of Mo, the mother nuclide of Tc used in nuclear diagnostic procedure. Mo was produced by Mo(,)Mo using neutrons with thermal energy up to about 40 MeV, provided by C(,). The Mo yield agrees with an estimated yield with the use of the latest data of C(,) and the evaluated cross section given in the JENDL. Based on this, a new calculation was carried out to produce Mo to seek for a good economical condition. Various conditions such as the MoO sample mass, the distance between the carbon target and the sample, the radius of the deuteron beam, and the neutron irradiation time were considered. The calculated Mo yield indicates that about 30% of the Mo demand in Japan can be fulfilled with a single accelerator. The elusion of Tc from the Mo twice per day would meet about 50% of the Mo demand.