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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
College students help develop waste-measuring device at Hanford
A partnership between Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) and Washington State University has resulted in the development of a device to measure radioactive and chemical tank waste at the Hanford Site. WRPS is the contractor at Hanford for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management.
Jisue Moon, Kristian Myhre, Hunter Andrews, Joanna McFarlane
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 6 | June 2023 | Pages 787-808
Critical Review | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2022.2158666
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Technitium-99m (99mTc), a widely used radioisotope, is used in tens of millions of medical diagnostic procedures annually. However, it is hard to store and must be immediately used upon production due to its short half-life (i.e., 6 h); thus, it is currently produced from 99Mo, which itself is a result of 235U fission. The majority of 99Mo supplies to U.S. patients are currently provided by foreign producers and produced using highly enriched uranium (HEU). In order to minimize the proliferation risks of HEU-based medical isotope production, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has funded a program to accelerate the development of technologies to produce 99Mo without the use of HEU.
Today, the global supply of 99Mo depends on a limited number of nuclear reactors, and production has been interrupted unexpectedly since 2009 due to the fleet’s advanced age. Alternative options for 99Mo production are discussed in this paper, and one potential option is to obtain 99mTc from molten salt reactors (MSRs). A MSR is a nuclear fission reactor that can operate at or close to atmospheric pressure with liquid fuel, which allows for producing isotopes in a timely manner. In this paper, the past and current production of 99Mo via nuclear reactors is described, and the future of 99Mo production by MSRs is discussed. The behavior and chemical properties of molybdenum in fluoride salts in MSRs and the possible extraction methods are also examined in addition to the limitation of current studies.