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Feasibility study on production of 99Mo, 131I, and 133Xe in the different core loading patterns of Tehran Research Reactor using MCNPX 2.6

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Abstract

The production of 99Mo, 131I, and 133Xe radionuclides is very important for consumption in the field of nuclear medicine. Generally, the use of small core reactors is recommended for the production of large-scale these fission radionuclides. In this paper, we have considered three different core loading patterns of Tehran Research Reactor for the economic and optimum production of 99Mo, 131I and 133Xe from low-enriched uranium. These patterns are the large core, the small core with beryllium reflector (SC-Be), and the small core with graphite reflector. Simulation has been performed by MCNPX2.6 to compute the safety calculations, neutron flux changes, and evaluation of mentioned radionuclides production. The results reveal that the SC-Be is more suitable than the others two, in terms of safety. In this core, the drop of thermal neutron flux after loading the mini-plate targets is 11% and the activity of 99Mo, 131I, and 133Xe is 235, 227, and 592 Ci, respectively, at the 8 days after the end of irradiation. So, if the changing pattern of the small core is considered, the SC-Be should be suggested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Material and Nuclear Fuel Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

    Safar Ali Safari, Mohsen Tabasi & Marzieh Ebrahimkhani

  2. Reactor and Nuclear Safety Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

    Mohamad Amin Amirkhani

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  1. Safar Ali Safari
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  2. Mohsen Tabasi
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  3. Marzieh Ebrahimkhani
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  4. Mohamad Amin Amirkhani
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Correspondence to Mohamad Amin Amirkhani.

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Safari, S.A., Tabasi, M., Ebrahimkhani, M. et al. Feasibility study on production of 99Mo, 131I, and 133Xe in the different core loading patterns of Tehran Research Reactor using MCNPX 2.6. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 135, 441 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00474-w

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