Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2002 International RERTR Meeting

CONSIDERATIONS IN THE DESIGN OF A HIGH POWER MEDICAL ISOTOPE PRODUCTION REACTOR

Russell M. Ball
Ball Systems Company
Lynchburg, Virginia  USA

H. William Nordyke, CEO, TCI

Roy Brown, VP, TCI
Albuquerque, New Mexico

ABSTRACT

For the low enriched aqueous homogeneous reactor to be economic in the production of medical isotopes, such as Mo-99 and Sr-89, the power level should be of the order of 100 kWth. This is double the earlier designs and this paper discusses the design changes which must be considred to meet this goal.

The topics considered are:

1. Heat removal from the reactor solution
2. Recombination of radiolytic gases
3. Adequate radiation shielding
4. Stability of reactor power with fluctuating reactivity
5. Adequate cooling of the reflector
6. Independent shutdown mechanisms
7. Required volume of the reactor
8. Economic implementation

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