• S.R. Koscielniak, N.S. Lockyer, L. Merminga
  TRIUMF, Vancouver

The medical isotope Molybdenum-99 is presently used for 80-85% of all nuclear medicine procedures and is produced by irradiating highly enriched uranium U-235 targets in nuclear reactors. It has been proposed* that an electron linac be used for the production of 99Mo via photo-fission of a natural uranium target. The nominal linac parameters are 50 MeV electron energy, 100 mA beam current and 100% duty factor. This paper describes two possible superconducting RF accelerator design concepts based on the frequencies of 704 MHz and 1.3 GHz. We present design parameters, efficiency and reliability estimates, and comparisons between the two options. Finally, we describe how the proposed e-linac project at TRIUMF can be used for proof-of-principle demonstration and critical validation tests of the accelerator-based production of 99Mo.

*Making Medical Isotopes: Report of the Task Force on Alternatives for
Medical-Isotope Production (2008)