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 Coolant Turbine LiF-BeF2 LiF-BeF2-UF4 outlet Primary HX Gas Heater Gas Cooler Generator Reactor core Compressor Coolant inlet Drain Freeze valve Tank
Electrical Warm Turbine Generator Recompressor Main Compressor Saturated Air Cool Dry Air Gas Heater High-Temp Low-Temp Gas Cooler Cooling Water Recuperator Recuperator Accum Surge Short-Term Gas Holdup Cryogenic Storage Long-Term Gas Holdup Accum Surge Decay Fluor Scrub Decay Tank KOH Bi(Th) Bi(Pa,U) Isotopic Quench metallic Th feed H 2 Fuel Fluorinator H2 Reduction HF Electro Bi(Th,FP) Bi(Li) Cell metallic HDLi feed F 2 Waste Tank Drain Tank Water Water Coolant Coolant Torus Torus Fuel Salt ( 7 LiF-BeF 2 -UF 4 ) Fresh Offgas UF 6 -F 2 200-bar CO 2 Blanket Salt ( 7 LiF-ThF 4 -BeF 2 ) 1-day Offgas F 2 77-bar CO 2 Coolant salt ( 7 LiF-BeF 2 ) 3-day Offgas HF-H 2 Water Decay Salt ( 7 LiF-BeF 2 -(Th,Pa)F 4 ) 90-day Offgas H 2 Waste Salt (LiF-CaF 2 -(FP)F 3 ) Helium Bismuth
The Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment was an experimental reactor system that demonstrated key technologies.
Lanthanide Fission Products
Alkali- and Alkaline-Earth Fission Product Fluorides
c zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA ORNL-TM-3884 THE MOLTEN-SALT REACTOR EXPERIMENT zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA THE MIGRATION OF A CLASS OF FISSION PRODUCTS (NOBLE METALS) IN R. J. Ked1
Addressing Molten Salt Contamination
Salt Purification by NF3 Fluorination Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) could be used to purify salts from any oxide or sulfide contamination as well as to remove noble metals. NF3 is much less aggressive towards container materials. 3BeO + 2NF 3 3BeF 2 + N 2 + 1 . 5O 2 → 3Li 2 O + 2NF 3 6LiF + N 2 + 1 . 5O 2 → Mo + 2NF 3 MoF 6 + N 2 → Tc + 2NF 3 TcF 6 + N 2 →
Molybdenum-99 is a fairly common fission product Strontium-90 Molybdenum-99 Lanthanides Krypton Xenon Promethium- 147 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 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 of temperature
Large power reactors make vast amounts of Mo-99 ...which unfortunately due to high pressure is utterly inaccessible... operation and the use of solid nuclear fuel.
Unique Technology Intersection Power-generating Medical-isotope- reactors generating reactors LFTR LWR, HWR, HTGR, NRU, HFR, OPAL, LMFBR, FHR, BR2, Safari, TRIGA, GFR SHINE, TRIUMF
North American Competition for 99 Mo Production ◮ 235 U ( n , f ) 99 Mo 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 ◮ 98 Mo ( n , γ ) 99 Mo in solid molybdenum targets ◮ NorthStar Medical Isotopes, Madison, Wisconsin ◮ GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Wilmington, North Carolina ◮ 3 H ( d , n ) 4 He in subcritical aqueous uranium solution ◮ SHINE Medical Technologies, Monona, Wisconsin ◮ 100 Mo ( e − → γ, n ) 99 Mo in solid molybdenum target ◮ NorthStar Medical Isotopes, Madison, Wisconsin ◮ 100 Mo ( p , 2 n ) 99 m Tc 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
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