Production of ¹³N Via Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion

This paper describes a proof of principle experiment to produce ¹³N using an inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) fusion device. This radioisotope is often used in positron emission tomography scans to image the heart. The 10-minute half-life of ¹³N limits its use to those areas and clinics that possess an accelerator. A portable IEC device could be brought to remote locations, however, and produce short-lived PET isotopes on-site. Using the 14.7 MeV protons produced from the D-³He fuel cycle, the University of Wisconsin IEC device was used to produce approximately 4 - 8 Bq of ¹³N during two separate experiments.