Nuclear data for reactor production of 131Ba and 133Ba

Zachary Kulage; Tyler Cantrell; Justin Griswold; David Denton; Marc Garland; Roy Copping; Saed Mirzadeh

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109645

Nuclear data for reactor production of ¹³¹Ba and ¹³³Ba

Zachary Kulage, Tyler Cantrell, Justin Griswold, David Denton, Marc Garland, Roy Copping, Saed Mirzadeh

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The newest radioisotope for brachytherapy treatment of prostate cancer is ¹³¹Cs (t_1/2 = 9.69 d, 100% EC). Generated via electron capture decay of ¹³¹Ba (t_1/2 = 11.6 d, 100% EC), ¹³¹Cs has been used in brachytherapy for prostate cancer since 2004. The ¹³¹Ba parent is produced through neutron capture of enriched ¹³⁰Ba in a nuclear reactor. For large-scale production of ¹³¹Ba, an accurate knowledge of production and burnup cross sections of ¹³¹Ba are essential. In this paper, we report two group cross sections (thermal and resonance integrals) for ¹³⁰Ba and ¹³¹Ba and a new measure of the half-life of ¹³¹Ba. Targets consisting of milligram quantities of enriched ¹³⁰Ba (∼35%) were irradiated in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor at thermal and resonance neutron fluxes of (1.9–2.1) × 10¹⁵ and (5.8–7.0) × 10¹³ neutrons·cm⁻² s⁻¹, respectively, for durations ranging from 3 to 26 days. In addition, cadmium covered samples of ¹³⁰Ba were irradiated for 1 hour at 12.6% full reactor power (10.7 MW). The yield of ¹³¹Ba approaches a saturation value of ∼60 GBq (∼1.6 Ci) per mg of ¹³⁰Ba for 20 days irradiation at a thermal neutron flux of 1.8 × 10¹⁵ n·s⁻¹·cm⁻², with a thermal/epithermal ratio of ∼30. Under the above experimental conditions, the two group cross sections of ¹³⁰Ba are 6.9 ± 0.5 b (thermal, σ⁰) and 173 ± 7 b (resonance, I⁰). These values represent the sum of cross sections to metastable and ground states of ¹³¹Ba. For ¹³¹Ba, the empirically measured thermal cross section is 200 ± 50 b assuming an I⁰/σ⁰ of 10. This cross section is reported for the first time. Further, the half-life of ¹³¹Ba was remeasured to be 11.657 ± 0.008 d. Lastly, this study also resulted in the co-production of ¹³³Ba (t_1/2 = 10.52 y, 100% EC). The experimental yield of ¹³³Ba is ∼370 MBq (∼10 mCi) per mg of ¹³²Ba (thin target) for one cycle irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor, and measured two-group ¹³²Ba cross sections are 7.2 ± 0.2 b and 39.9 ± 1.3 b. These values also represent the sum of cross sections to metastable and ground states of ¹³³Ba.

Original language	English
Article number	109645
Journal	Applied Radiation and Isotopes
Volume	172
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109645
State	Published - Jun 2021

Funding

This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program, managed by the Office of Science for Isotope R&D and Production. Graduate student research was supported under a DOE Nuclear Energy University Program Graduate Fellowship. A portion of this research was conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor, which is sponsored by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Three students—Patricia Glenn (Georgia Institute of Technology), Elizabeth Bressler (Centre College), and Thomas Khinda (University of Chicago)—contributed to this study. The authors extend their gratitude to the Mr. B. Lewis, Dr. S. Queern and Mr. J. Gaugler (ORNL Isotope Program) for their critical review of the manuscript, and Mr. G. Hirtz (ORNL Research Reactors Division) for coordinating reactor irradiations. This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program, managed by the Office of Science for Isotope R&D and Production. Graduate student research was supported under a DOE Nuclear Energy University Program Graduate Fellowship. A portion of this research was conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor, which is sponsored by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences . Three students—Patricia Glenn (Georgia Institute of Technology), Elizabeth Bressler (Centre College), and Thomas Khinda (University of Chicago)—contributed to this study. The authors extend their gratitude to the Mr. B. Lewis, Dr. S. Queern and Mr. J. Gaugler (ORNL Isotope Program) for their critical review of the manuscript, and Mr. G. Hirtz (ORNL Research Reactors Division) for coordinating reactor irradiations. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).

Funders	Funder number
DOE Nuclear Energy University
Office of Science for Isotope R&D and Production
Thomas Khinda
U.S. Department of Energy
Basic Energy Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Chicago
Centre College

Keywords

Ba
Ba
Cs
HFIR
Neutron capture cross section
Nuclear reaction
Prostate cancer

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109645

Cite this

@article{0bda1dba04294392915f5fad269aa447,

title = "Nuclear data for reactor production of 131Ba and 133Ba",

abstract = "The newest radioisotope for brachytherapy treatment of prostate cancer is 131Cs (t1/2 = 9.69 d, 100% EC). Generated via electron capture decay of 131Ba (t1/2 = 11.6 d, 100% EC), 131Cs has been used in brachytherapy for prostate cancer since 2004. The 131Ba parent is produced through neutron capture of enriched 130Ba in a nuclear reactor. For large-scale production of 131Ba, an accurate knowledge of production and burnup cross sections of 131Ba are essential. In this paper, we report two group cross sections (thermal and resonance integrals) for 130Ba and 131Ba and a new measure of the half-life of 131Ba. Targets consisting of milligram quantities of enriched 130Ba (∼35%) were irradiated in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor at thermal and resonance neutron fluxes of (1.9–2.1) × 1015 and (5.8–7.0) × 1013 neutrons·cm−2 s−1, respectively, for durations ranging from 3 to 26 days. In addition, cadmium covered samples of 130Ba were irradiated for 1 hour at 12.6% full reactor power (10.7 MW). The yield of 131Ba approaches a saturation value of ∼60 GBq (∼1.6 Ci) per mg of 130Ba for 20 days irradiation at a thermal neutron flux of 1.8 × 1015 n·s−1·cm−2, with a thermal/epithermal ratio of ∼30. Under the above experimental conditions, the two group cross sections of 130Ba are 6.9 ± 0.5 b (thermal, σ0) and 173 ± 7 b (resonance, I0). These values represent the sum of cross sections to metastable and ground states of 131Ba. For 131Ba, the empirically measured thermal cross section is 200 ± 50 b assuming an I0/σ0 of 10. This cross section is reported for the first time. Further, the half-life of 131Ba was remeasured to be 11.657 ± 0.008 d. Lastly, this study also resulted in the co-production of 133Ba (t1/2 = 10.52 y, 100% EC). The experimental yield of 133Ba is ∼370 MBq (∼10 mCi) per mg of 132Ba (thin target) for one cycle irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor, and measured two-group 132Ba cross sections are 7.2 ± 0.2 b and 39.9 ± 1.3 b. These values also represent the sum of cross sections to metastable and ground states of 133Ba.",

keywords = "Ba, Ba, Cs, HFIR, Neutron capture cross section, Nuclear reaction, Prostate cancer",

author = "Zachary Kulage and Tyler Cantrell and Justin Griswold and David Denton and Marc Garland and Roy Copping and Saed Mirzadeh",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109645",

language = "English",

volume = "172",

journal = "Applied Radiation and Isotopes",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Nuclear data for reactor production of 131Ba and 133Ba

AU - Kulage, Zachary

AU - Cantrell, Tyler

AU - Griswold, Justin

AU - Denton, David

AU - Garland, Marc

AU - Copping, Roy

AU - Mirzadeh, Saed

PY - 2021/6

Y1 - 2021/6

N2 - The newest radioisotope for brachytherapy treatment of prostate cancer is 131Cs (t1/2 = 9.69 d, 100% EC). Generated via electron capture decay of 131Ba (t1/2 = 11.6 d, 100% EC), 131Cs has been used in brachytherapy for prostate cancer since 2004. The 131Ba parent is produced through neutron capture of enriched 130Ba in a nuclear reactor. For large-scale production of 131Ba, an accurate knowledge of production and burnup cross sections of 131Ba are essential. In this paper, we report two group cross sections (thermal and resonance integrals) for 130Ba and 131Ba and a new measure of the half-life of 131Ba. Targets consisting of milligram quantities of enriched 130Ba (∼35%) were irradiated in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor at thermal and resonance neutron fluxes of (1.9–2.1) × 1015 and (5.8–7.0) × 1013 neutrons·cm−2 s−1, respectively, for durations ranging from 3 to 26 days. In addition, cadmium covered samples of 130Ba were irradiated for 1 hour at 12.6% full reactor power (10.7 MW). The yield of 131Ba approaches a saturation value of ∼60 GBq (∼1.6 Ci) per mg of 130Ba for 20 days irradiation at a thermal neutron flux of 1.8 × 1015 n·s−1·cm−2, with a thermal/epithermal ratio of ∼30. Under the above experimental conditions, the two group cross sections of 130Ba are 6.9 ± 0.5 b (thermal, σ0) and 173 ± 7 b (resonance, I0). These values represent the sum of cross sections to metastable and ground states of 131Ba. For 131Ba, the empirically measured thermal cross section is 200 ± 50 b assuming an I0/σ0 of 10. This cross section is reported for the first time. Further, the half-life of 131Ba was remeasured to be 11.657 ± 0.008 d. Lastly, this study also resulted in the co-production of 133Ba (t1/2 = 10.52 y, 100% EC). The experimental yield of 133Ba is ∼370 MBq (∼10 mCi) per mg of 132Ba (thin target) for one cycle irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor, and measured two-group 132Ba cross sections are 7.2 ± 0.2 b and 39.9 ± 1.3 b. These values also represent the sum of cross sections to metastable and ground states of 133Ba.

AB - The newest radioisotope for brachytherapy treatment of prostate cancer is 131Cs (t1/2 = 9.69 d, 100% EC). Generated via electron capture decay of 131Ba (t1/2 = 11.6 d, 100% EC), 131Cs has been used in brachytherapy for prostate cancer since 2004. The 131Ba parent is produced through neutron capture of enriched 130Ba in a nuclear reactor. For large-scale production of 131Ba, an accurate knowledge of production and burnup cross sections of 131Ba are essential. In this paper, we report two group cross sections (thermal and resonance integrals) for 130Ba and 131Ba and a new measure of the half-life of 131Ba. Targets consisting of milligram quantities of enriched 130Ba (∼35%) were irradiated in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor at thermal and resonance neutron fluxes of (1.9–2.1) × 1015 and (5.8–7.0) × 1013 neutrons·cm−2 s−1, respectively, for durations ranging from 3 to 26 days. In addition, cadmium covered samples of 130Ba were irradiated for 1 hour at 12.6% full reactor power (10.7 MW). The yield of 131Ba approaches a saturation value of ∼60 GBq (∼1.6 Ci) per mg of 130Ba for 20 days irradiation at a thermal neutron flux of 1.8 × 1015 n·s−1·cm−2, with a thermal/epithermal ratio of ∼30. Under the above experimental conditions, the two group cross sections of 130Ba are 6.9 ± 0.5 b (thermal, σ0) and 173 ± 7 b (resonance, I0). These values represent the sum of cross sections to metastable and ground states of 131Ba. For 131Ba, the empirically measured thermal cross section is 200 ± 50 b assuming an I0/σ0 of 10. This cross section is reported for the first time. Further, the half-life of 131Ba was remeasured to be 11.657 ± 0.008 d. Lastly, this study also resulted in the co-production of 133Ba (t1/2 = 10.52 y, 100% EC). The experimental yield of 133Ba is ∼370 MBq (∼10 mCi) per mg of 132Ba (thin target) for one cycle irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor, and measured two-group 132Ba cross sections are 7.2 ± 0.2 b and 39.9 ± 1.3 b. These values also represent the sum of cross sections to metastable and ground states of 133Ba.

KW - Ba

KW - Cs

KW - HFIR

KW - Neutron capture cross section

KW - Nuclear reaction

KW - Prostate cancer

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DO - 10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109645

M3 - Article

C2 - 33689941

AN - SCOPUS:85102008637

SN - 0969-8043

VL - 172

JO - Applied Radiation and Isotopes

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