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Simulation of Tc-99m Generator

By: Arella Kangsudarmanto

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Isotope Extraction and Purification Team

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Goals of NEXT

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The mission of Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing (NEXT) is to provide global solutions to the world’s most critical needs. This will be accomplished by advancing the technology of molten salt reactors while educating the next generation of leaders in nuclear science and engineering.

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Objective

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  • Isotope Extraction and Purification team goal: Obtain useful fission fragments
  • Process of radioactive decay where unstable atoms fall apart into smaller, more stable fragments releasing more energy and neutrons
  • Released neutrons go on to cause more splits in other unstable atoms, causing a chain reaction

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Background

Medical Isotopes

  • Half life of 66 hours
  • Decays into Tc-99m
  • Used for cancer detection

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Mo-99

  • First obtained as MoF₆ gas
  • Chemical processing of the gas to make it an aqueous sodium molybdate solution
  • Stored in Tc-99m generator, known as “Moly Cow”

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Figure 1: Tc-99m generator or “Moly Cow”

(Wikimedia Commons)

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How a Tc-99m generator works

  • Column packed with a sorbent inside the generator
  • Mo-99 is flowed into the the generator
  • Saline is flowed through last

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Figure 2: Administration of Tc-99m on a shielded syringe

(By Bionerd - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Pack the column

Experiment

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Packed with acidic alumina using slurry method and pressurized air

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Flow sodium molybdate

Flow .9% NaCl

Experiment

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Flow 1E-4M sodium molybdate solution to flow through the column

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Flow 25 mL of .9% NaCl (saline) solution to flow through the column

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Characterization techniques

Infrared

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UV-Vis

Wavelength (nm)

Absorbance (AU)

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Sodium Molybdate vs. Sorbent

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1.001E-4M sodium molybdate ATR

0.01001M sodium molybdate ATR

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Sodium Molybdate vs. Sorbent

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Saline vs. Sorbent

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.9% NaCl ATR

0.01001M sodium molybdate ATR

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Saline vs. Sorbent

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.9% NaCl filtrate ATR (1700-1500)

0.01001M sodium molybdate ATR

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Saline vs. Sorbent

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Molybdenum Indicator

  • Thiocyanate indicator using a master mix
  • Helps indicate how much Mo-SCN is present
  • Darker colors means higher concentration

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Sodium Molybdate vs. Sorbent in Indicator

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UV-Vis of sodium molybdate + indicator

UV-Vis of sodium molybdate + indicator

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Saline vs. Sorbent in Indicator

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UV-Vis of sodium molybdate + indicator

UV-Vis of saline solution + indicator

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Summary

  • Molybdate ions attach to acidic alumina
  • Molybdate ions stay attached to acidic alumina after saline is flowed through
  • Future experiments: fix the leeching, try different sorbents, column lengths, temperature, finding UV-Vis peak for for alumina

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Acknowledgements

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Dr. Kim Pamplin and Diego Zometa

Kylie Davis, Sophia Wagle, Justin Tobar, Allen Chang

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Resources

  • U.S. Food and Drug Administration. www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2013/017693s025PI.pdf (Accessed 2021-03-31)
  • University of Michigan Environment, Health, and Safety. https://ehs.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Technetium-99m.pdf (Accessed 2021-03-31)
  • Bettinardi, David J.; Tkac, Peter. Recovery of Mo in LEU-Modified Cintichem Process at Elevated Mo Concentrations. Argonne National Laboratory. 2019, 1-9.
  • Youker, Amanda. et al. AMORE Mo-99 Spike Results. Argonne National Laboratory. 2017, 1-8.
  • Youker, Amanda. et al. Compendium of Phase-I Mini-SHINE Experiments. Argonne National Laboratory. 2016, 1-138.

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