No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Physical and chemical sciences, vienna, austria; 2. international atomic energy agency, division of Nuclear Fuel cycle and Waste technology, vienna, austria; 3. international atomic energy agency, division of Nuclear Fuel cycle and Waste technology, vienna, austria Objectives: There are serious disruptions in supplies of 99 Mo since fall 2007 due to vulnerability of irradiation services from five aged research reactors (RR) used for isotope production. Ageing RR facilities are challenging to safely operate and 99 Mo supply chain remains fragile. Only additional capacity expected in 2009 is from OPAL/ANSTO. AECL announcement of termination of MAPLE reactors in May 2008, NRU re-licensing need in 2011, expected shutdown of OSIRIS in 2015, with no new reactors expected until 2015 at the earliest, increase concerns on long term supplies. Another issue is dependence on highly enriched uranium (HEU) targets for >95% 99 Mo production. In view of security and proliferation concerns, production needs to convert to using low enriched uranium (LEU). NAS study findings/recommendations are significant for sustainability and a call for global efforts.
Methods: The IAEA is implementing activities to foster use of LEU targets as well as help identify and expand the number of reactors engaged in 99 Mo production for better reliability/sustainability. These include coordinating research (CRP) on Developing techniques for small scale indigenous 99 Mo production using LEU fission or neutron activation, encouraging potential facilities to become actual producers (e.g. Egypt) and establishment of RR coalitions to expand/strengthen network of reactors capable of providing irradiation services (e.g. Poland, Romania). The IAEA launched a new CRP in 2008 on feasibility evaluation of Aqueous Homogeneous Reactors of LEU salt solution fuel for production of 99 Mo and other fission isotopes. Use of enriched 98 Mo for n,γ route and photo-fission of 238 U are other likely options in future.
Results: The CRP team includes countries with potential, as evident by either physical progress, e.g. Chile, Egypt, Pakistan, or plans underway, e.g. Libya, Romania, to become part of 99 Mo supply network, especially if supported by major producers. The 3 rd Meeting of CRP held in MURR/USA in Oct 2008 was joined by over 20 observers from industries and governments interested in 99 Mo production and 99m Tc generators, SNM and US-NAS. OECD-NEA, in cooperation with the IAEA, organised a Workshop on Security of supply of medical radioisotopes in Jan 2009 and most stakeholders participated.
Conclusions: Building additional/buffer production capacity and conversion to using LEU targets would impact cost of 99 Mo. It is necessary to engage all stakeholders to achieve international cooperation among industries, reactor centres, end users and governments. The IAEA as global facilitator can bring them together for objective analysis and taking necessary actions.
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