An alumina ceramic target vessel for the remote production of metallic radionuclides by in situ target dissolution

Introduction: As the use of metallic radionuclides increases, so does the demand for a simple production method. In this study, we demonstrated an in situ target processing concept for automated metallic radionuclide production without the use of any robotic device. Methods: An alumina ceramic vessel for a vertical irradiation system was designed and developed. The ceramic vessel was evaluated by the production of Zr-89 using an yttrium powder target. The irradiated Y was dissolved remotely in HCl in the ceramic vessel and transferred as a solution to a hotcell through a Teflon tube. The crude Zr-89 was then purified by an automated apparatus. The Zr-89 was eluted with 100 μL of oxalic acid (solution) as the final product. Results: The ceramic vessel gave a sufficient yield of Zr-89 (57 ± 11 MBq/μAh), showed good operability, and could be reused up to 10 times. With nominal irradiation (10 μA × 2 h) in ∼ 90 μL, the product (∼ 940 MBq) was obtained with > 99.9% radionuclidic purity. Conclusion: The combination of the ceramic vessel and vertical irradiation has great potential for the remote production of various metallic radionuclides.