Solution  Target

 Radioisotope  Generator
Technical Review

May 27th 2009

Dr. John Gahl, University of

Missouri
Michael Flagg, University of
Missouri
 Welcome
• Thank you to our partners at Advanced
Medical Isotope Corporation (AMIC).
• Dr. John Gahl is the interim Chair of
Chemical Engineering at MU, Program
Manager for Materials Science at
MURR, serves as core faculty for
Nuclear Engineering and is co-
inventor of the IP discussed today.
• Michael Flagg is a nuclear engineer,
project manager at MURR and co-
inventor of the radioisotope generator
patent.
 Part 1

The Need
 Mo-99 Production
• Mo-99 is the single most important
imaging radioisotope used today
– Supply is insecure
– Over 10,000 “6 day Curies” used in the
U.S. each week
– No producer of Mo-99 in the United
States
– “Fission Product Mo-99” is the most
efficient way of obtaining high specific
activity Mo-99
– Bulk of current Supply is made from HEU
• Over 90% of fission product Mo-99 is
made at facilities that are at least 40
 Part 2

The Technology
 The Core Concepts
• When a photon with an energy of at least
2.224 MeV strikes a deuteron, a
“photoneutron” is ejected from the
deuteron’s nucleus.
• Photons can be generated by accelerating
electrons into a High-Z target. The
number of photons generated by the
electron accelerator increases linearly
with the strength of the accelerator.
• Uranium Salts are soluble in water. Uranyl
Nitrate and Uranyl Sulfate have been used
in Aqueous Homogenous Reactor Designs
since the 1940’s.
• Whenever U-235 fissions, Mo-99 makes up
6% of the fission products.
 The Intellectual Property
• The University of Missouri (MU) holds
the rights to two pieces of IP relevant
to the core concepts:
– IP #1: A photoneutron generator made
up of a photon source driven by an
electron beam accelerator targeted on
a tank of D2O. Patent filed.
– IP #2: A radioisotope generator
composed of the above IP with fissile
material salts as a target material
dispersed in the D2O. Patent filed.
• AMIC holds an option on both pieces of
 System Overview
• Solution Target Radioisotope Generator
– Subcritical loading of Uranium Salts in
Heavy Water (D2O)
– Commercial Electron Beam Accelerator
and standard High-Z electron target to
generate photons
– Photoneutrons are generated, causing
fission in the Uranium Salts
– System is boosted by fission neutrons
and reflectors
• Extraction via columns or other
separation techniques
Generating Photoneutrons
 Simple,
Irradiat
ion
Vessel Direct
Molybdenum
Extraction
Processin
g
Station

Mo-99 extracted
using special
Treatment and polymer sorbent
Sampling
Station material or alumina
columns
No proliferation
risk as the
extraction stations
Other
can be tailored to
Isotope(s) pull only specific
Extraction isotopes
Station(s)
 Production of Mo-99
• All equipment is either simple to
fabricate or off-the-shelf – no new
science
– Tank, pumps, piping, fission product gas
handling, shielding, etc.
• Strength of Electron Beam Accelerator
determines number of photons
• U-235
– LEU is assumed
– Loading of U-235 drives production of
Mo-99
• Optimized reflectors will significantly
boost production
Mo-99 Production Estimates
1.10MeV 1.0mA electrons
2.20kg Uranium
3.D2O fills chamber
4.LEU at 19% enrichment
homogeneously mixed in D2O
5.150hour irradiation (6.25days)
6.100 cm x 100 cm tank
7.Reflector Material Varies
•
 Production Slides Removed, Propriety
Data
 Extraction
• Mo-99 has been extracted from
uranyl sulfate solution in Russia
using sorbent columns (Ball,
Pavshook, et al, 1998)
• Various methods exist to remove Mo-
99 and concentrate it to meet
European Pharmacopeia standards
(no official US Pharmacopeia
standards for Mo-99 as bulk API)
 Part 3

The Prototypes
 Prototype 1
• Used existing accelerator
infrastructure at Idaho State
University
• Tested and collected data on
configurations of heavy water and
reflectors – no fissile target
material
• Proved the principle of significant
photoneutron production in heavy
water
• Established that computer codes
 Prototype 2
• Production facility to test system with
fissile salts present and produce
relevant amounts of Mo-99 for sale
• Would include series of cold runs and
benchtop chemistry to confirm
removal of alpha-emitting
impurities
• Siting critical to rapid construction
and testing of Prototype 2
 Rapid Path to Market
• Subcritical system
– NOT a reactor
– Less onerous regulatory regime
• Waste stream far less than hard
target fission Mo-99 production
• $1 million/year for every increment
of 100 6-day Curies produced and
sold at $200/Ci
Questions?