13–17 Apr 2026
Clarion Hotel Malmö Live
Europe/Stockholm timezone

Conceptual Development of a Remote Automated Target Assembly for Accelerator-Based Mo-99 Production

14 Apr 2026, 15:40
20m
Live 1 (Clarion Hotel Malmö Live)

Live 1

Clarion Hotel Malmö Live

Oral Presentation Technical talks

Speaker

Tarek El-Kordy (FH Aachen, Forschungszentrum Jülich ITE)

Description

The joint project 99MoBest explores a reactor-independent, accelerator-driven approach for the large-scale production of Mo-99. Its daughter nuclide, Tc-99m, remains the most widely used radionuclide in the field of diagnostic imaging. This project seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of weekly production rates of up to 2400 Ci of Mo-99 through neutron capture on remotely exchangeable molybdenum targets, tailored to the use case of the proposed High-Brilliance Neutron Source at Forschungszentrum Jülich, driven by a 100 mA pulsed 70 MeV proton linac.
This contribution presents a concept for an automated molybdenum target exchange system, enabling remote transfer between the target assembly and a hot cell. To validate operational sequences and control strategies, a Software-in-the-Loop simulation, built on a digital twin of the complete system, was developed. Furthermore, the role of digital twins in high-radiation environments is emphasized, and their applicability not only during the conceptual design phase but also throughout subsequent stages of the project lifecycle is illustrated.

Other Target Station Design and Automization (for a neutron-based radioisotope production facility)

Author

Tarek El-Kordy (FH Aachen, Forschungszentrum Jülich ITE)

Co-authors

Prof. Christoph Langer (FH Aachen) Prof. Michael Butzek (FH Aachen)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.