Investigation of Mo-99 radioisotope production by d-Li neutron source

Highlights: • We conducted a conceptual study on the Mo-99 production with d-Li neutron source. • We investigated impacts of material and thickness of a shifter and reflector. • Beryllium is the most suitable material for the shifter and reflector. • We can produce the Mo-99 from natural molybdenum to meet the demand in Japan. - Abstract: A plan of an advanced fusion neutron source (A-FNS) by using d-Li reaction is in progress at Rokkasho in Japan. We investigate multipurpose usages of the A-FNS in addition to fusion material irradiation test. Production of medical isotope ⁹⁹Mo is considered as one of the usages. We conducted a conceptual study on a module for radioisotope production which was composed of a neutron spectrum shifter and a neutron reflector. We examined impacts of materials of the shifter and reflector on amounts of the ⁹⁹Mo production, and their thicknesses. It was concluded that beryllium is the most suitable material both for the shifter and the reflector from the viewpoint of the ⁹⁹Mo production. It was shown that we produced an enough amount of the ⁹⁹Mo for the demand in Japan. We can apply natural molybdenum for this purpose. It was also shown that we could use a part of irradiation capsules in high flux test module, which was for the fusion material irradiation test originally, by using isotopically enriched ¹⁰⁰Mo to meet that.