Molybdenum-99-producing 37-element fuel bundle neutronically and thermal-hydraulically equivalent to a standard CANDU fuel bundle

Abstract

99mTc, the most commonly used radioisotope in diagnostic nuclear medicine, results from the radioactive decay of 99Mo which is currently being produced at various research reactors around the globe. In this study, the potential use of CANDU power reactors for the production of 99Mo is investigated. A modified 37-element fuel bundle, suitable for the production of 99Mo in existing CANDU-type reactors is proposed. The new bundle is specifically designed to be neutronically and thermal-hydraulically equivalent to the standard 37-element CANDU fuel bundle in normal, steady-state operation and, at the same time, be able to produce significant quantities of 99Mo when irradiated in a CANDU reactor. The proposed bundle design uses fuel pins consisting of a depleted-uranium centre surrounded by a thin layer of low-enriched uranium.The new molybdenum-producing bundle is analyzed using the lattice transport code DRAGON and the diffusion code DONJON. The proposed design is shown to produce 4081 six-day Curies of 99Mo activity per bundle when irradiated in the peak-power channel of a CANDU core, while maintaining the necessary reactivity and power rating limits. The calculated 99Mo yield corresponds to approximately one third of the world weekly demand. A production rate of ∼3 bundles per week can meet the global demand of 99Mo.