In order to establish a self-sufficient supply of
99mTc, we studied feasibilities to produce its parent nucleus,
99Mo, using Japanese accelerators. The daughter nucleus,
99mTc, is indispensable for medical diagnosis.
99Mo has so far been imported from abroad, which is separated from fission products generated in nuclear reactors using enriched
235U fuel. We investigated
99mTc production possibilities based on the following three scenarios: (1)
99Mo production by the (n, 2n) reaction by spallation neutrons at the J-PARC injector, LINAC; (2)
99Mo production by the (p, pn) reaction at E
p = 50–80 MeV proton at the RCNP cyclotron; (3)
99mTc direct production with a 20 MeV proton beam from the PET cyclotron. Among these three scenarios, scenario (1) is for a scheme on a global scale, scenario (2) works in a local area, and both cases take a long time for negotiations. Scenario (3) is attractive because we can use nearly 50 PET cyclotrons in Japan for
99mTc production. We here consider both the advantages and disadvantages among the three scenarios by taking account of the Japanese accelerator situation.
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