[ RadSafe ] I125 production

[Dale Boyce]

Hi all,

I125 is best produced by Xe124(n,gamma)Xe125 ec-> I125 in a reactor. While 
there are ways to make it from either Xe or Te targets it really isn't 
economically practical.

All of the I125 used by International Isotopes in Texas was made in 
reactors.

I123 cannot be made in a reactor and so accelerator production is the only 
way to get it. Accelerators are poor at producing long-lived or therapeutic 
quantities of isotopes.  Fortunately, I123 is quite short-lived, and only 
used in diagnostic applications.

One caveat to my blanket statements above is that one in principle could 
irradiate fissionable material in an accelerator, and make anything that a 
reactor makes. Without going into a dissertation on this, there are a _lot_ 
of reasons from nuclear physics, thermal physics, and health physics point 
of view that make this less desirable than using a reactor.

For those of you that may have known Lon Morgan, and were not aware of it, 
he passed away at the end of June.

Dale



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <BLHamrick at aol.com>
To: <wesvanpelt at att.net>; <alstonchris at netscape.net>; 
<Perrero at iema.state.il.us>; <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 1:01 AM
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] RE: IRF - NUREG 4884


>
> <<In a message dated 8/19/2005 2:10:04 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
> wesvanpelt at att.net writes:
>
> Good  guess, but I-125 is not accelerator produced. It comes from a
> reactor.>>
>
>
>
>
> Actually, DOE says it may be accelerator produced
> (_http://web.em.doe.gov/idb96/tab71.html_ 
> (http://web.em.doe.gov/idb96/tab71.html) ).
>
> And, from a press release from company called International Isotopes in
> Texas:
>
> "These major advances position the Company to initiate production and 
> sale
> of products from the LINAC beginning early in the fourth quarter of 
> 1998",
> according to Ira Lon Morgan, Ph.D., Chairman and Treasurer of 
> International
> Isotopes Inc.  The radioisotopes that are initially  planned for 
> production
> include I-125, Tl-201, I-123, Pd-103, Co-57, Co-60,  Ir-192, Sr-89, Y-90, 
> I-
> 131, In-111, Ga-67 and F-18."
>
> But, as I said, the issue is reasonably moot at this point, since this
> material is now under the umbrella of the AEA.
>
> Barbara
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