Production of 89Sr in solution reactor

• Published in: Applied radiation and isotopes Vol. 65; no. 10; pp. 1087 - 1094
• Main Authors: Chuvilin, D.Yu, Khvostionov, V.E., Markovskij, D.V., Pavshook, V.A., Ponomarev-Stepnoy, N.N., Udovenko, A.N., Shatrov, A.V., Vereschagin, Yu. I., Rice, J., Tome, L.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2007
• Subjects: Medical radioisotope; New production technology; Nuclear Reactors - instrumentation; Radioactive Waste; Radioisotopes - chemistry; Radiopharmaceuticals - chemistry; Solution reactor; Sr-89; Strontium Radioisotopes - chemistry; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Sr-89; Solution reactor; Medical radioisotope; New production technology
• ISSN: 0969-8043; 1872-9800
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2007.05.002

The new method for medical
89Sr production in a reactor with solution fuel is proposed which is characterized by simplicity, high production efficiency and low buildup of radioactive waste. The main advantages of the new technology were validated by numerous experiments.
The proposed new technology selectively extracts
89Sr from a fuel of solution reactor and precludes penetration of
90Sr into the final product. This method is based on the presence of gaseous radionuclide
89Kr (
T
1/2=190.7
s) in the decay chain
89Se→
89Br→
89Kr→
89Rb→
89Sr. The performed experiments on taking the gas probes from internal volume of the solution 20
kW mini-reactor “Argus” have confirmed that the mechanism for
89Sr delivery to the sorption volume of the reactor experimental loop is based on transport of gaseous
89Sr predecessor-radionuclide
89Kr.
According to the measurements of radioactive impurities in a final
89SrCl
2 solution, the filtration of the gas flow with cermet filters followed by cleaning of
89Sr chloride solution in chromatographic columns with DOWEX-50×8 or Sr-Resin ensures reception of
89Sr fully meeting the requirements for medical application.
The experimental estimations have shown that the proposed new technology is multiply more productive than the traditional industrial methods of
89Sr reception.