Development and Application of Cobalt Adjuster Rod for 60Co Medical Radioactive Sources Production in CANDU-6 Reactor

Abstract

60Co radioactive sources are widely used in industrial and medical field. In 2008, Cobalt adjuster rod assemblies were loaded in the core of CANDU-6 reactor in order to produce industrial radioactive sources. Based on successful production and application of 60Co industrial radioactive sources, the program of developing cobalt adjuster rod for 60Co medical radioactive sources production was launched. Comparing with industrial radioactive sources, medical radioactive sources require higher activity ∼220Ci/g and smaller sources size, which cause challenges to cobalt adjuster rod design and manufacturing. In this paper, several types of cobalt pellets have been developed to match the medical radioactive sources size and the corresponding nuclear design, TH design & safety analysis, shielding design & safety analysis was also completed to prove that the design requirements could be satisfied. By now the development of cobalt adjuster rod for 60Co medical radioactive sources production has finished and the first batch of cobalt adjuster rod assemblies have been successfully loaded in core. The first batch of 60Co medical radioactive sources is expected to be put into application in 2019.