Research study of possibility producing radioisotope Mo-99 in the active core of the BN-600 reactor using an irradiated assembly with a high flux of thermal and resonance neutrons

Abstract

Abstract It is fact that production of secondary fuel isotopes (plutonium) is carried out in fast neutron reactors, and the possibility of production of non-fuel radioactive isotopes for use in medicine and industry is being considered. BN-600 has a high power density in the core. This makes it possible to achieve a high rate of fission of target nuclei, which is especially important in the case of the production of radioisotopes, due to their short half-life. To meet the growing demand for isotopes, it is planned to use irradiation devices in high-power sodium fast reactors. This type of irradiation device assumes a massive production of the necessary isotopes. The paper considers the design of irradiation devices for the production of molybdenum-99 isotope in the BN reactor. The presented design of the irradiation assembly contains a moderator in order to combine the advantages of the high neutron flux inherent in fast reactors and the thermal neutron spectrum inherent in thermal reactors.