Isotope production

Overview

By accelerating ion beams onto various targets from across the periodic table, our research teams can induce nuclear reactions and transmutation to produce unique radionuclides. The nuclear reactions can generate new data, characterize the survivability of targets under irradiation, and produce radioisotopes for the benefit of radiotracer development.

Through collaborations with nuclear and radiochemistry researchers, our isotope production research supports novel targetry that can be used to develop next-generation nuclear medicine research techniques. Researchers use the same approach for tracers in shots at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) and when developing novel chemistry techniques.

Producing novel radiotracers for nuclear forensics research

A target prepared for irradiation. — LLNL scientists prepared targets for irradiation at CAMS, as part of their efforts to produce novel radioactive tracers.

LLNL researchers study novel nuclear data by producing radionuclides for use in radiotracer studies and nuclear forensics research. In order to produce radiotracers that are formed in high-flux neutron environments following a nuclear explosion, researchers produce radiotracers using light-ion irradiations of stable materials. As a substitute for neutron-induced reactions, researchers can use protons, deuterons, and helium beams at CAMS to produce the same radionuclides. In lieu of a nuclear reactor, we can fission actinide targets and study the fidelity of this surrogate approach.

Following an irradiation, researchers characterize the sample using nuclear spectroscopy to study the physics of nuclear reactions. Teams analyze irradiated targets during post-processing to support nuclear data measurements, such as cross sections and production yield, as well as chemical recovery yields for separations chemistry.

The use of charged-particle irradiations allows for the production of carrier-free radionuclide sources. Researchers use these carrier-free radionuclides to produce surrogate debris samples. These samples can be used as calibration tools or enable validation of radiochemical measurement methods used in post-detonation nuclear forensic analyses. For example, long-lived radionuclides produced at CAMS can be used to benchmark recovery yields of shorter-lived nuclides produced during a NIF shot. These experimental approaches ensure that the nuclear data measurements made at NIF are accurate and precise.

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Producing and measuring high-purity beryllium-7

A researcher working on an instrument. — LLNL scientists use a CAMS instrument to produce high-purity beryllium-7 and other isotopes.

Researchers at LLNL developed a new experimental capability that enables scientists to use the CAMS accelerator to measure beryllium-7 via AMS. By coupling this analytical capability with the Lab’s ability to produce high-purity beryllium-7 that is essentially free of beryllium-10, they can conduct low-level measurements of both isotopes on the same target after a brief system reconfiguration.

Researchers can use the new capability to rapidly measure small quantities of beryllium-7 that are two orders of magnitude more sensitive than standard decay counting techniques. It enables a significant downscaling of the sample size, while substantially increasing sample throughput.

The ability to produce high-purity beryllium-7 and measure its presence in samples provides scientists with high-resolution datasets to analyze, even when processing small samples. The new capability supports a range of research areas, including post-detonation nuclear forensics, as well as astrophysics, cosmochemistry, and atmospheric science research. Nuclear data efforts include studying ternary fission yields from various fissile isotopes. Additionally, beryllium-7 can be used as a beryllium chemistry radiotracer for studying novel separations chemistry. New sample matrices or sample preparation timelines can be tracked in real time using standard decay spectroscopy.