title: A novel monolithic LEU foil target based on a PVD manufacturing process for99Mo production via fission.
abstract: 99Mo is the most widely used radioactive isotope in nuclear medicine. Its main production route is the fission of uranium. A major challenge for a reliable supply is the conversion from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU). A promising candidate to realize this conversion is the cylindrical LEU irradiation target. The target consists of a uranium foil encapsulated between two coaxial aluminum cladding cylinders. This target allows a separate processing of the irradiated uranium foil and the cladding when recovering the99Mo. Thereby, both the costs and the volume of highly radioactive liquid waste are significantly reduced compared to conventional targets. The presented manufacturing process is based on the direct coating of the uranium on the inside of the outer cladding cylinder. This process was realized by a cylindrical magnetron enhanced physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique. The method features a highly automated process, a good quality of the resulting uranium foils and a high material utilization.
authors.affiliation: Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) and Physik Department E13, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstraße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany. Electronic address: tobias.hollmer@frm2.tum.de.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hollmer
authors.affiliation: Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) and Physik Department E13, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstraße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Petry
keywords: Cylindrical target; Irradiation target; Manufacturing method; Molybdenum 99