14 MeV neutrons for medical application: a scientific case for 99Mo/99Tcm production

99Tcm is a widely used radionuclide for SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) diagnostics thanks to its short half-life (about 6h) and the low-energy gamma ray emission (140 keV) well suited for diagnostic devices. The specific method for producing 99Tcm via 100Mo(n,2n)99Mo reaction, as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. Conference series 2018-05, Vol.1021 (1)
Main Authors: Capogni, M., Pietropaolo, A., Quintieri, L., Fazio, A., Pillon, M., De Felice, P., Pizzuto, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computed tomography
Gamma emission
Gamma rays
Ionizing radiation
Neutron irradiation
Neutrons
Photon emission
Physics
Production methods
Radioactive tracers
Radioactivity
Radioisotopes
Research facilities
Tomography
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Summary:99Tcm is a widely used radionuclide for SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) diagnostics thanks to its short half-life (about 6h) and the low-energy gamma ray emission (140 keV) well suited for diagnostic devices. The specific method for producing 99Tcm via 100Mo(n,2n)99Mo reaction, as it was investigated in ENEA, is discussed in detail in this paper. The 99Mo activity achieved by means of 14 MeV neutron irradiation on natural Molybdenum sample irradiated at the Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) facility, at the Research Centre of ENEA-Frascati, was accurately assessed, by tracing it to the activity standards provided by the Italian National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology (INMRI), located at the Research Centre of ENEA-Casaccia. The whole experiment carried out in ENEA was supported by simulations performed with the Fluka Monte Carlo code, whose predictions have been benchmarked against the experimental data collected at ENEA-FNG, relying on the traceability to the activity standards developed and maintained at the ENEA-INMRI Radioactivity laboratories.
ISSN:1742-6588
1742-6596
DOI:10.1088/1742-6596/1021/1/012038