Isotope production using novel MoO targets; Contribution by vietnamese institutes, staffs and students

Suematsu, Hisayuki*; Ngo, M. C.*; Quach, N. M.*; Fujita, Yoshitaka   ; Do, T. M. D.*; Nakayama, Tadachika*; Suzuki, Tatsuya*; Nguyen, V. T.*; Niihara, Koichi*

Radiopharmacies have been used in various medical diagnoses/therapies and their market has been growing by ten times in fifteen years. In particular, Tc has been widely used in gamma ray diagnoses. Mo, the raw material for Tc, is currently produced as a fission product by irradiating highly enriched uranium in nuclear reactors. Efforts are being made worldwide to reduce the use of uranium from the perspective of nuclear non-proliferation. A Mo(n,)Mo reaction in low enriched uranium reactors can be an alternative method. In this research, we revealed that -MoO, a low-temperature phase of MoO, as a neutron irradiation target promotes the diffusion of Mo from the target to water due to the hot atom effect. Utilizing this phenomenon can contribute to the stable supply of Mo and Tc. The first nuclear reaction in/water dispersion experiments using an -MoO powder target was carried out in Dalat Nuclear Reactor, Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute to show the hot atom effect. Then, the water recovery efficiency was dramatically improved using a novel -MoO whisker target by Vietnamese students and staffs. Their contributions to this research will be explained in the presentation.