Neutron and photon activation studies for trace element analyses and medical isotope production

用于微量元素分析和医用同位素生产的中子和光子活化研究

• 批准号: 5231-2011
• 负责人: Rangacharyulu, Chilakamarri
• 金额: $ 1.6万
• 依托单位: University of Saskatchewan
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=568391
• 关键词: Neutron; photon; activation; studies; trace

Studies of decay radiations subsequent to neutron irradiations is a well known technique of isotope analysis. Also, well known is the production of radioactive materials for medical imaging and therapy purposes. The Saskatchewan Research Council's SLOWPOKE-2 reactor is a well established facility. We intend to use this facility to determine the concentrations of rare earth materials (Nd, Sm, ..) by characteristic photons of products of neutron irradiaton. However, neutron energy spectrum of this facility, an important piece of information required to determine the products of irradiation is not known. Our preliminary measurements of Summer 2010 revealed that there is a significant component of fast neutrons as high as 9 MeV energies are present. We will thus first carryout a set of measurements to determine the neutron spectrum profile. We will measure the post irradiation emissions of several geological sample from different parts of Canada. The characteristic lines of Nd and Sm isotopes will enable us to determine these materials. As the neutron spectrum contains fast component, it is of interest to examine if the Moly isotope of great demand can be produced by this method. A more promising approach is to employ the photon absorption method using photons of 10-20 MeV energies as the yields of 99Mo are expected to be very high due to the occurrence of well known giant nuclear resonances. This is in line with the TRIUMF-CLS_PIPE proposal of bremsstrahlung beam based experiments. However, our approach promises to be a cleaner and also very likely more cost effective.

中子辐照后衰变辐射的研究是一种众所周知的同位素分析技术。同样，众所周知的是用于医学成像和治疗目的的放射性材料的生产。 萨斯喀彻温省研究理事会的SLOWPOKE-2反应堆是一个完善的设施。 我们打算使用该设备来确定稀土材料（Nd，Sm，.）由中子辐照产物的特征光子决定。 然而，该设施的中子能谱（确定辐射产物所需的重要信息）尚不清楚。我们在2010年夏天的初步测量显示，存在一个重要的快中子成分，其能量高达9 MeV。 因此，我们将首先进行一系列测量，以确定中子能谱剖面。 我们将测量来自加拿大不同地区的几个地质样品的辐照后排放。 Nd和Sm同位素的特征线将使我们能够确定这些材料。由于中子能谱中含有快中子成分，因此，用这种方法能否生产出需求量很大的钼同位素是一个值得研究的问题。 一种更有希望的方法是采用光子吸收方法，使用10-20 MeV能量的光子，因为由于发生了众所周知的巨核共振，预计99 Mo的产率非常高。 这与基于韧致辐射束的实验的TRIUMF-CLS_PIPE提议一致。然而，我们的方法有望成为一种更清洁，也很可能更具成本效益的方法。