Neutronic simulation of medical radioisotope 99Mo and 177Lu production in IPR 14 MeV neutron generator facility

H L Swami; A Saxena; S Vala; M Abhangi; Ratnesh Kumar; Rajesh Kumar

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110743

Neutronic simulation of medical radioisotope ⁹⁹Mo and ¹⁷⁷Lu production in IPR 14 MeV neutron generator facility

Appl Radiat Isot. 2023 May:195:110743. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110743. Epub 2023 Feb 25.

Authors

H L Swami¹, A Saxena², S Vala², M Abhangi², Ratnesh Kumar³, Rajesh Kumar²

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 382428, India. Electronic address: hswami@ipr.res.in.
² Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 382428, India; Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, 400094, India.
³ Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 382428, India.

PMID: 36863265
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110743

Abstract

An accelerator based 14 MeV neutron generator is commissioned at Institute for Plasma Research India. The generator is based on the linear accelerator concept where the deuterium ion beam impinged to the tritium target to produce neutrons. The generator is designed to produce 1 × 10¹² neutrons per sec. The 14 MeV neutron source facilities are an emerging tool for the lab scale experiments and research. In order to utilize the generator for the welfare of humanity, the assessment is made for the production of medical radioisotopes using the neutron facility. The usage of radioisotopes in the treatment and diagnosis of a disease is an important factor in the healthcare sector. A series of calculations are conducted to generate radioisotopes, especially ⁹⁹Mo and ¹⁷⁷Lu those are having huge applications in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. ⁹⁹Mo can be also generated through neutron reactions ⁹⁸Mo(n, g)⁹⁹Mo and ¹⁰⁰Mo(n, 2n)⁹⁹Mo apart from fission reaction. The cross section of ⁹⁸Mo(n, g)⁹⁹Mo is high in the thermal energy range whereas ¹⁰⁰Mo(n,2n)⁹⁹Mo occurs at a high energy range. ¹⁷⁷Lu can be produced using the reactions ¹⁷⁶Lu (n, g)¹⁷⁷Lu and ¹⁷⁶Yb (n, g)¹⁷⁷Yb. The cross section of both ¹⁷⁷Lu production routes is higher at thermal energy range. The neutron flux level near the target is around 10¹⁰ cm^-2s^-1. In order to enhance production capabilities, the neutron energy spectrum moderators are used to thermalize the neutrons. The materials used as a moderator are beryllium, HDPE, graphite, etc. Moderators enhance the capabilities of medical isotope production in neutron generators.

Keywords: Lutetium-177; MCNP; Molybdenum-99; Neutron generator; Radioisotopes.