Medical Isotope Production in Liquid-Fluoride Reactors Kirk - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Medical Isotope Production in Liquid-Fluoride Reactors

Kirk Sorensen Flibe Energy Huntsville, Alabama kirk.sorensen@flibe-energy.com 256 679 9985

Flibe Energy was formed in order to develop liquid-fluoride reactor technology and to supply the world with affordable and sustainable energy, water and fuel.

Liquid-Fluoride Reactor Concept

Reactor Containment Boundary

Reactor core

Drain Tank Freeze valve Primary HX LiF-BeF2-UF4 Gas Heater LiF-BeF2 Generator Turbine Compressor Gas Cooler Coolant inlet Coolant

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Gas Heater High-Temp Recuperator Low-Temp Recuperator Gas Cooler Turbine Electrical Generator Recompressor Main Compressor Cooling Water Warm Saturated Air Cool Dry Air Drain Tank Water Coolant Torus Water Coolant Torus Short-Term Gas Holdup Surge Accum Long-Term Gas Holdup Surge Accum Cryogenic Storage Bi(Th) Bi(Pa,U)

Decay Fluor Decay Tank

Isotopic Quench

metallic Th feed

Fuel Fluorinator H2 Reduction

Bi(Li) Bi(Th,FP) Waste Tank metallic HDLi feed Scrub KOH

Electro Cell

HF H2 F2

Blanket Salt (7LiF-ThF4-BeF2) Coolant salt (7LiF-BeF2) Decay Salt (7LiF-BeF2-(Th,Pa)F4) Waste Salt (LiF-CaF2-(FP)F3) Fresh Offgas 1-day Offgas 3-day Offgas 90-day Offgas Helium UF6-F2 F2 HF-H2 H2 Bismuth 200-bar CO2 77-bar CO2 Water Fuel Salt (7LiF-BeF2-UF4)

The Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment was an experimental reactor system that demonstrated key technologies.

Lanthanide Fission Products

Alkali- and Alkaline-Earth Fission Product Fluorides

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ORNL-TM-3884

THE MIGRATION OF A CLASS OF FISSION PRODUCTS (NOBLE METALS) IN THE MOLTEN-SALT REACTOR EXPERIMENT zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

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Addressing Molten Salt Contamination

Salt Purification by NF3 Fluorination

Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) could be used to purify salts from any oxide

• r sulfide contamination as well as to remove noble metals. NF3 is

much less aggressive towards container materials. 3BeO + 2NF3 → 3BeF2 + N2 + 1.5O2 3Li2O + 2NF3 → 6LiF + N2 + 1.5O2 Mo + 2NF3 → MoF6 + N2 Tc + 2NF3 → TcF6 + N2

Molybdenum-99 is a fairly common fission product

79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 101 103 105 107 109 111 113 115 117 119 121 123 125 127 129 131 133 135 137 139 141 143 145 147 149 151 153 155

Krypton Lanthanides Xenon Strontium-90 Molybdenum-99 Promethium- 147 About 5% of the fission reactions in uranium-233 generate molybdenum-99.

Vastly Simplified 99Mo Production in LFTR

Fluoride salts are safe and versatile

Chemically stable in air and water Unpressurized liquid with 1000◦C range

• f temperature

Large power reactors make vast amounts of Mo-99

...which unfortunately is utterly inaccessible... due to high pressure

• peration and the use of

solid nuclear fuel.

Unique Technology Intersection

Power-generating reactors LWR, HWR, HTGR, LMFBR, FHR, GFR Medical-isotope- generating reactors NRU, HFR, OPAL, BR2, Safari, TRIGA, SHINE, TRIUMF LFTR

North American Competition for 99Mo Production

◮ 235U (n, f) 99Mo in solid uranium targets (LEU or HEU)

◮ NorthWest Medical Isotopes, Corvallis, Oregon ◮ Coqui Pharmaceuticals, Coral Gables, Florida ◮ Eden Radioisotopes, Albuquerque, New Mexico ◮ General Atomics, San Diego, California

◮ 98Mo (n, γ) 99Mo in solid molybdenum targets

◮ NorthStar Medical Isotopes, Madison, Wisconsin ◮ GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Wilmington, North Carolina

◮ 3H (d, n) 4He in subcritical aqueous uranium solution

◮ SHINE Medical Technologies, Monona, Wisconsin

◮ 100Mo (e− → γ, n) 99Mo in solid molybdenum target

◮ NorthStar Medical Isotopes, Madison, Wisconsin

◮ 100Mo (p, 2n) 99mTc in solid molybdenum target

◮ TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia

Small MSR would produce globally-significant 99Mo

100 MWt Facility for Assured Power Generation

2015 TECHNICAL REPORT

Program on Technology Innovation: Technology Assessment of a Molten Salt Reactor Design

The Liquid-Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR)

My Own Little Medical Radioisotope Experience