The feasibility of producing a99Mo:99mTc generator using the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR)

A theoretical investigation of the feasibility of producing a molybdenum-99: technetium-99m generator from MoO₃ using a 30 kW Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) has been made. At the rated thermal neutron flux of 10¹² n·cm^–2·s^–1 and irradiation time of 2.5 hours per day, for 8 consecutive days, activities of 7.1 mCi and 5.2 mCi were calculated for⁹⁹Mo and^99mTc, respectively. A 20 g sample of 99.5% chemically pure MoO₃ was used. The advantage for operating the reactor for 8 days instead of 6 days would be an increase of 11.4% and 15.5%, respectively, in the amount of⁹⁹Mo and^99mTc produced. it is calculated that an optimum irradiation scheme is achieved when the reactor is operated for an extended period of 5 hours a day for 5 days a week at a lower flux level of 7.5·10¹¹ n·cm^–2·s^–1. With this optimum operation scheme, there would be an increase in the weekly specific activity of 36% and 37.9% for⁹⁹Mo and^99mTc, respectively.