Experimental study of the method for obtaining the radiopharmaceuticals "Sodium pertechnetate (99mTc)" using an extraction installation in "hot" cells of the NSC "Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology"

This paper presents the results of the first testing of technological equipment to produce radiopharmaceuticals "Sodium pertechnetate (99mTc), extraction, solution for injection" with technological equipment located in the laboratory of radioisotope production at NSC "Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology" (KIPT). The "hot" cells and technological equipment mounted inside the cells meet the requirements of the European standard and guarantee the safety of operators during the production process. The technology for producing radiopharmaceuticals is based on the extraction of 99mTc with methyl ethyl ketone from alkaline solutions of 99Mo. 99mTc is obtained as a daughter product of 99Mo radioactive decay, which is formed as a result of the 98Mo(n, γ)99Mo radiation capture reaction during irradiation of natural molybdenum oxide powder MoO3 (98Mo 24.13 %) with neutrons inside the core of a nuclear facility. Since the NSC KIPT Subcritical Assembly "Neutron Source" is at the stage of physical start-up, the ampoules with MoO3 powder were irradiated in the core of the WWR-M research nuclear reactor of the Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The results of gamma spectrometric studies of the initial solution containing radioisotopes 99Mo + 99mTc and the finished solution with radioisotope 99mTc showed the absence of radionuclide impurities.