New method of producing 99Mo in molten-salt fluoride fuel

The status and the problems of world ⁹⁹Mo production are presented. A comparative analysis is made of reactor methods of ⁹⁹Mo production. It is noted that the currently used technologies and research reactors are not satisfying the growing demand in medicine for this isotope. It is underscored that the role of alternative production technologies has grown. In the development of new ⁹⁹Mo production technologies, the experimental results obtained on the basis of research program conducted on the MSRE reactor with molten-salt fluoride fuel have been analyzed. The analysis revealed a special behavior of certain fission products including ⁹⁹Mo: they leave the melt spontaneously and enter the gas phase. The authors hypothesize that highly volatile fluorides of the indicated products are formed in the melt; this explains the effect indicated. The effect is used as a basis to propose a new reactor method of producing fissionproduced ⁹⁹Mo. Concrete examples of a way to implement the new method of producing fission-produced ⁹⁹Mo using molten-salt fluoride nuclear fuel are presented.