Production of Isotopes
| Atoms are the building blocks of nature. The periodic table of the elements lists as many as 118 different types of atom, called elements, such as hydrogen, nitrogen or carbon. Atoms of any element can occur in more than one weight, depending on the number of neutrons they contain. Two atoms of carbon for instance may weigh 12 and 13 a.m.u.. They are both carbon atoms, but one has an extra neutron. They are referred to as isotopes of carbon.
Not all isotopes are stable. An unstable isotope will decay to a more stable state, releasing energy and possibly one or more particles. These particles and/or the energy emitted by said radioisotopes is used in a great variety of medical, industrial and scientific applications. |
With the construction of the earlier NRX reactor, it was possible for the first time to commercially manufacture isotopes that were not commonly found in nature. In the core of an operating reactor there are billions of free neutrons. By inserting a piece of target material into the core, atoms in the target can capture some of those neutrons and become heavier isotopes. Manufacturing medical isotopes was a Canadian medical innovation in the early 1950s.
The NRU reactor continued the legacy of NRX and today produces more medical isotopes than any facility in the world.
- Cobalt-60 from NRU is used in Radiation therapy machines that treat cancer in 15 million patients in 80 counties each year. The NRU produces about 75% of the global supply. Cobalt-60 emits a lot of energy as it decays, enough to kill a cancer cell.
- Technetium-99m from NRU is used in the diagnosis of 5 million patients each year, representing about 80 per cent of all nuclear medicine procedures. The NRU produces over half of the world's total supply. Technetium-99m emits less energy as it decays than most gamma emitters, roughly as much as the X-rays from an X-ray tube. This can act as an in situ source for a special camera that creates an image of the patient called a SPECT scan. NRU actually produces the more stable parent isotope, molybdenum-99, which is shipped to medical labs. There it decays into technetium-99m, which is separated and used for testing.
- NRU produces xenon-133, iodine-131 and iodine-125, which are used in a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
- Carbon-14 produced in NRU is sold to chemistry, bioscience and environmental labs to use as a tracer.
- Iridium-192 from NRU is used in several industries to inspect welds or other metal components to ensure they are safe for use.
The core of the NRU reactor is about 3 m wide and 3 m high, which is unusually large for a research reactor. That large volume enables the bulk production of isotopes. Other research reactors in the world produce isotopes for medical and industrial uses, for example the European High Flux Reactor at Petten in the Netherlands, and the OPAL reactor in Australia which began operation in April 2007.
Read more about this topic: National Research Universal Reactor
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