Fiscal Year 2003 Changes to the U.S. Department of Energy
Isotope Programs
Amy Taylor
John Carty
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology
Isotope Programs
Abstract. The new fiscal year has brought changes to the Department of Energy’s Isotopes Program: a new protocol for
research isotopes and a new isotope production facility, which will be operational in late 2003.
The Nuclear Energy Protocol for Research Isotopes (NEPRI) is a formal process for selecting research isotopes to be
manufactured and distributed during each fiscal year. According to NEPRI, researchers must request production of
needed isotopes, describe the research in which the isotope will be used, and the importance of the isotope to the
research. The NEPRI committee selects the isotopes by reviewing responses and ranking the research by merit.
A new Isotope Production Facility (IPF) is under construction at Los Alamos National Laboratory. IPF will restore the
laboratory’s isotope production capability, which has been unavailable since 1998. The new facility will operate at an
energy of 100 MeV, a current of 250 µamps, and have a capacity to irradiate three targets simultaneously.
Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE).
Operation of the accelerator facility is scheduled to
begin in late 2003. IPF, like the Brookhaven Linear
Isotope Production (BLIP) facility at Brookhaven
National Laboratory, will be operated by DOE to
irradiate accelerator-produced isotopes.
INTRODUCTION
Beginning fiscal year 2003, which began October
1, 2002 and will end September 31, 2003, a number of
policy changes will affect the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) Isotope Programs. This paper shall
discuss the two changes to the program that have the
greatest significance to DOE and largest impact on
DOE’s customers.
NUCLEAR ENERGY PROTOCOL FOR
RESEARCH ISOTOPES (NEPRI)
The first of these changes is a new policy, the
Nuclear Energy Protocol for Research Isotopes
(NEPRI). This selection process is important because
NEPRI is a peer-reviewed process that will guide the
selection of research isotopes for production and
distribution beginning in fiscal year 2003 and
thereafter.
NEPRI was established to ensure that DOE reactors
and accelerators are utilized only to support the
highest quality research and produce those isotopes
that return the most benefit to the research community
and public. The process also guarantees that isotopes
in short supply are going to the research projects that
will yield the greatest benefits. DOE is committed to
maintaining the infrastructure required to support the
national need for a reliable supply of isotope products,
The second is the completion of the new Isotope
Production Facility (IPF) currently under construction
at Los Alamos National Laboratory as part of the Los
CP680, Application of Accelerators in Research and Industry: 17th Int'l. Conference, edited by J. L. Duggan and I. L. Morgan
2003 American Institute of Physics 0-7354-0149-7/03/$20.00
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and long-lived radioisotopes that are already in
inventory will also be sold, as available. All orders for
NEPRI research isotopes for delivery during the fiscal
year were received by October 1, 2002.
services, and related technology used in medicine,
industry, and research. The NEPRI isotope selection
process for FY2003 is now complete.
TABLE #1. Isotopes Produced in FY2003.
NEPRI Research Isotopes
Commercial Isotopes
Actinium-225
Cadmium-109
Arsenic-73
Californium-252
Copper-67
Cobalt-60
Holmium-166
Germanium-68
Iron-52
Iridium-192
Silicon-32
Iron-55
Tin-117m
Nickel-63
Tungsten-188/Rhenium-188
Selenium-75
Sodium-22
Stronium-82
Yttrium-88
The NEPRI Process
The NEPRI process will be conducted each year. The
process is outlined below:
1.
Solicitation of information from the
researchers (Pre-order Form).
This
information includes: which isotopes will be
needed, in what quantities and form, when the
isotopes will be needed, what organizations
and resources support the research, and the
expected benefits resulting from the research.
2.
Creation of a preliminary NEPRI list of
isotopes based on the researchers’ requests.
This preliminary list is reviewed by DOE
primarily to eliminate any isotopes that cannot
be produced using the Department’s existing
infrastructure or are commercially available.
3.
4.
Fiscal Year 2004 NEPRI Isotopes
The selection process for FY2004 NEPRI isotopes
will begin in early 2003. Pre-order forms will
automatically be sent to all organizations and/or
individuals on the Isotope Programs’ mailing list1.
Preference will be given to the research isotope
customers who file the completed form. Isotopes that
are not requested via a Pre-order Form will not appear
on the NEPRI list and will not be produced in Fiscal
Year 2004.
Peer-review by the Isotope Review Advisory
Panel. The Panel is comprised of several
recognized experts from governmental entities,
research institutions, and the commercial
sector. Each of the isotope requests is reviewed
by the Panel, and recommendations are made
based on the merits of the research as
submitted. The list of commercial isotopes that
DOE will produce is also reviewed by the
Panel.
ISOTOPE PRODUCTION FACILITY
(IPF)
A new Isotope Production Facility (IPF) is under
construction at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
There has been no irradiation capability at the
laboratory since the 800 MeV spallation production
location at the beam stop became unavailable in 1998.
This facility is being constructed to meet the
increasing demand for radioisotopes by the medical
community, academics, researchers, and industry. The
new facility will utilize proton beam from the already
existing Los Alamos Neutron Science Center
(LANSCE). The construction project represents an
approximately twenty million-dollar investment by
DOE.
Publication of list of NEPRI isotopes. The list
of NEPRI isotopes is then published in the
Federal Register and FedBizOps, and
presented at societal meetings and symposia of
selected nuclear and research organizations.
Fiscal Year 2003 NEPRI Isotopes
The NEPRI isotope selection process was
completed in June 2002. The Isotope Review Advisory
Panel reviewed each of the isotope requests and made
it’s recommendations based on the merits of the
research as described in the Pre-order Form. The
Panel also reviewed DOE’s list of commercial
isotopes.
1
To be added to the Isotope Programs’ mailing list
contact the Isotope Business Office at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, P. O. Box 2008, Bethel Valley
Road, MS-6426, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6426,
or [email protected].
Table #1 presents the isotopes, both research and
commercial, that will be produced in fiscal year 2003.
Additional stable isotopes, special nuclear materials,
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from beam to optimize production of isotopes in high
demand, while still enabling DOE to supply a
continuous supply of smaller quantity research
isotopes.
Los Alamos Neutron Science Center
(LANSCE)
LANSCE consists of a high-power 800-millionelectron-volt proton linear accelerator (linac), a Proton
Storage Ring, the Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering
Center and the Weapons Neutron Research facility,
and a variety of associated experiment areas and
spectrometers. LANSCE uses the world's most
powerful proton linear to produce neutrons with
energies that range over 14 orders of magnitude.
Intense sources of pulsed spallation neutrons at
LANSCE, are used by the United States scientific
community to perform experiments that support
national security and civilian research.
IPF Construction Status
Overall construction is 90% complete. IPF has
been judged ready for occupancy, and ownership of
the facility has been transferred to the LANSCE
Facility Manager. Thus far, building construction,
beam line cable installation, and facility safety
documentation have been completed. Equipment has
been installed in the LANSCE beam tunnel and is
currently being installed in the new IPF beam tunnel.
Installation of the beam line controls has also begun.
All fiscal year 2002 performance milestones were
completed either on or ahead of time. The project
completion date is scheduled for September 30, 2003.
The LANSCE accelerator is composed of an
injector (accelerates protons to 750 keV), a drift-tube
linac (accelerates protons to 100 MeV), and a side
coupled cavity linac (accelerates protons to 800 MeV).
A fraction of the 100 MeV-proton beam from the
transition zone between the drift-tube and side coupled
cavity linacs will be extracted by a new kicker magnet
for use by the new Isotope Production Facility.
Meeting Future Demand
The new Isotope Production Facility, together with
BLIP at Brookhaven National Laboratory, will ensure
an adequate supply of medical isotopes that are used
for vital diagnostic procedures and as research
isotopes. IPF will be operational by the end of 2003.
In addition, a conceptual design has been developed
for a 70 MeV cyclotron for dedicated isotope
production. Together, these accelerators could supply
the projected year round uninterrupted short-lived
accelerator-produced isotopes for the next 20 years.
IPF Operation
The new facility consists of an upper and lower
building structure. The lower building contains a new
beam line from the LANSCE proton beam and a target
station. The new facility will have the capability to
insert and remove targets from beam while the main
LANSCE beam is in operation. The targets will be
inserted and removed together, as one unit. Targets
will be raised to a hot cell in the upper building, 30
feet above the target station by a remotely operated
target transport mechanism.
The hot cell will provide a shielded working area
where radioactive targets can be mounted, unmounted,
or loaded into a certified shipping cask. Once
packaged in such a cask, it is possible to transport
targets from the IPF hot cell to the processing hot cells
at a different location in the laboratory.
The new production facility will operate at an
energy of 100 MeV and bear a current of 250 µamps.
A kicker magnet and bending magnet will direct a
portion of the main LANSCE proton beam at a total of
45 degree angle through a tunnel to a new target
station where isotopes will be produced in three target
combinations.
The targets will be arranged in three different target
stacks. The stacks will be inserted into and removed
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