Perspective on production of radioisotopes via nuclear fusion reactors.

Abstract

Introducing a radioactive nuclide into the appropriate targeting vector allows to diagnose the biochemical correlates of many diseases, or to selectively ablate tumor cells; such capability is steadily growing its impact in clinical practices. However, many of the medically useful radionuclides are produced within fission reactors, followed by complex and costly processing, limiting accessibility and increasing cost of such treatments. In this work we investigate the potential of using the highly energetic neutrons (14.06 MeV) from nuclear fusion reactions to promote the production of known, prospected or novel radionuclides of medical interest. We interrogated nuclear reaction databases to filter the most efficient neutron reactions, and obtained a list of potential products, from which we further selected the ones with the greatest potential medical relevance. A subset of 43 radionuclides was identified, for both imaging and therapy, and with differing carrier status. Among them, we identified ⁴⁷Sc, ⁶⁷Cu, ⁹⁹Mo, and alpha emitters ²¹²Pb and ²²⁵Ac, as some of the current isotopes that could be produced efficiently from fusion neutrons. We also highlight some promising novel radionuclides, such as ¹⁸⁹Ir and ⁸⁴Rb for imaging, and 114mIn, ¹⁶¹Ho, ¹⁶⁵Er and ¹⁶⁹Er for therapy. In addition, we estimate that D-T nuclear fusion reactors can also provide access to energetic protons or moderated neutrons, thus providing backup options to cyclotrons and fission reactors. Our findings pave the way to introducing a greener, safer, possibly cheaper, radionuclide production pathway using fusion reactors.