A Low-Cost Retrieval System for Preliminary Production of Radiometals
D. Schick-Martin, D. Frattinger, J. Root, T. Toporowski
Sylvia Fedoruk Centre for Nuclear Innovation (D. Schick-Martin, D. Frattinger, J. Root); Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan (T. Toporowski)
Poster
None to declare
A simple, low-cost system for retrieving irradiated coins has been developed at the Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences for the ACSI TR-24 cyclotron. The system is comprised of an aluminum funnel and rail guide to catch and roll the coin target into a custom built lead box. The lead box is a hollowed lead brick with a hinged lid made of lead sheets and all clad in aluminum. A ridged aluminum insert prevents the coin from lying flat, so it can be easily retrieved by tongs or manipulators. Energy degrading disks were cut from standard 0.031” (0.79mm) 6061 aluminum to allow for bombardment of yttrium at 17.8MeV to produce zirconium-89 without any zirconium-88 by-product. A pilot bombardment produced approximately 48MBq of zirconium-89 which was retrieved without a significant dose to the operator (1uSv to body measured by EPD). Once the design was finalized, the system (including degrader disks) cost less than $2000 CAD to produce and took approximately one hour to install. The system will be used to produce zirconium-89, simultaneous with routine fluorine-18 production, in quantities sufficient to support clinical trial work. The same system will also be used in developing a copper-64 production protocol.