Short life fission products extracted from molten salt reactor fuel for radiopharmaceutical applications.

This work studies the potential of using short life fission product (A Fp) radioisotopes e.g. 82 Br, 86 Rb, (90 Sr) - 90m Y, (99 Mo) - 99m Tc, 103 Ru - 103m Rh, 111 Ag, 127 Sb - 127(m) Te, 126 I, 131 I, 133 Xe, 136 Cs, 141 Ce, 143 Ce, 143 Pr, 147 Nd - 147 Pm, 149 Pm, 153 Sm, 156 Eu, 159 Gd and 161 Tb, extracted from a molten salt reactor and their separation using specific thermodynamic and radiochemical conditions. Their utilisation for coupled radiodiagnostics and radiotherapy is a key consideration. A molten salt reactor produces fission products during operation. These radioisotopes can be separated at line from the liquid fuel by evaporation/distillation, chemical reduction (using H2 doped gas), electro-deposition and/or chemical oxidation (using Cl2 doped gas). They can be refined and chemically treated for radiopharmaceutical use for imaging and radiodiagnostics utilising γ radioscopy or positron emission tomography, and potentially in radiotherapy to target specific cancers or viral diseases using β- emitters. Some of the A Fp isotopes are currently used for radiodiagnostics because they emit γ rays of energy 50-200 keV. However, some may also be used in parallel for radiotherapy utilising their β- (EMean  ≈ 100 keV) emission whose mean free pathway of c.a. 100 nm in biological tissue is much smaller than their penetration depth. Focus is given to 86 Rb, 90 Y, 99m Tc, 131 I and 133 Xe as well as on the A Ln isotopes (141 Ce, 143 Ce - 143 Pr, 147 Nd - 147 Pm, 149 Pm and 153 Sm) because of their strong potential for complexation with bio-ligands (e.g. DOTA) or for their ability to form micro-nano-spheres, and because of their potential for dual radiodiagnostics and radiotherapy. It is shown that these radio-lanthanides could also replace 177 Lu for the treatment of specific cancers.