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Fusion Science and Technology
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Latest News
Researchers report fastest purification of astatine-211 needed for targeted cancer therapy
Astatine-211 recovery from bismuth metal using a chromatography system. Unlike bismuth, astatine-211 forms chemical bonds with ketones.
In a recent study, Texas A&M University researchers have described a new process to purify astatine-211, a promising radioactive isotope for targeted cancer treatment. Unlike other elaborate purification methods, their technique can extract astatine-211 from bismuth in minutes rather than hours, which can greatly reduce the time between production and delivery to the patient.
“Astatine-211 is currently under evaluation as a cancer therapeutic in clinical trials. But the problem is that the supply chain for this element is very limited because only a few places worldwide can make it,” said Jonathan Burns, research scientist in the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Nuclear Engineering and Science Center. “Texas A&M University is one of a handful of places in the world that can make astatine-211, and we have delineated a rapid astatine-211 separation process that increases the usable quantity of this isotope for research and therapeutic purposes.”
The researchers added that this separation method will bring Texas A&M one step closer to being able to provide astatine-211 for distribution through the Department of Energy’s Isotope Program’s National Isotope Development Center as part of the University Isotope Network.
Details on the chemical reaction to purify astatine-211 are in the journal Separation and Purification Technology.
V. Erckmann; W. Kasparek; G. Gantenbein; F. Hollmann; L. Jonitz; F. Noke; F. Purps; M. Weissgerber; W7-X ECRH Teams at IPP Greifswald, FZK Karlsruhe, IPF Stuttgart
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 55 | Number 1 | January 2009 | Pages 16-22
Technical Paper | Electron Cyclotron Emission and Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating | dx.doi.org/10.13182/FST09-A4049
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) is the main heating system for W7-X. A 10-MW ECRH plant with continuous wave (cw) capability is under construction to support the W7-X operation, which aims at demonstrating the steady-state capability of stellarators at reactor-relevant plasma parameters. The ECRH system consists of ten radio-frequency (rf) modules with 1 MW power each at 140 GHz. The rf beams of the individual gyrotrons are transmitted in common to the W7-X torus via open multibeam mirror lines. The losses of individual components of the transmission system were measured with both low- and high-power methods. Integrated full-power, cw measurements of the long-distance transmission losses are reported and compared to theoretical design estimates.
