Development of Techniques for Small Scale Indigenous ⁹⁹Mo Production Using LEU Targets at ICN Pitesti-Romania [Country report: Romania]

Initiation of the IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) "Development Techniques for Small Scale Indigenous ⁹⁹Mo Production Using LEU Fission or Neutron Activation" during 2005 allowed Member States to participate through their research organization on contractor arrangement to accomplish the CRP objectives. Among these, the participating research organization Institute for Nuclear Research Pitesti Romania (ICN), was the beneficiary of financial support and Argonne National Laboratory assistance provided by US Department of Energy to the CRP for development of techniques for fission ⁹⁹Mo production based on LEU modified CINTICHEM process. The Agency's role in this field was to assist in the transfer and adaptation of existing technology in order to disseminate a technique, which advances international non-proliferation objectives and promotes sustainable development needs, while also contributing to extend the production capacity for addressing supply shortages from the latest years. The Institute for Nuclear Research, considering the existing good conditions of infrastructure of the research reactor with suitable irradiation conditions for radioisotopes, a post irradiation laboratory with direct transfer of irradiated targets from the reactor and handling of high radioactive sources, and simultaneously the existence of an expanding internal market, decided to undertake the necessary steps in order to produce fission molybdenum. The Institute intends to develop the capability to respond to the domestic needs in cooperation with the IFINN–HH from Bucharest, which is able to perform the last step consisting in the loading of fission molybdenum on chromatography generators and dispensing to the final client. The primary scope of the project is the development of the necessary technological steps and chemical processing steps in order to be able to cover the entire process for fission molybdenum production at the required standard of purity.