At 13:48 on April 20th, with a command, the staff successfully extracted the carbon-14 irradiation production target from the Qinshan Nuclear Heavy Water Reactor unit. This is the first time in China that nuclear commercial reactors have been used to mass produce carbon-14 isotopes, completely solving the problem of domestic dependence on imports of carbon-14 isotopes. Different nuclides of the same element with the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons are isotopes of each other. There are two types of isotopes: radioactive isotopes and stable isotopes. Unlike stable isotopes, radioactive isotopes undergo decay silently, and the radiation produced by their decay can be used to detect or treat tissues in the human body, achieving the goal of treating diseases and saving lives. At present, the production methods of medical isotopes include reactor production, accelerator production, extraction of high-level radioactive waste, and generator preparation. Among them, reactor production is the most important production method. Previously, China's research and development of medical isotopes mainly relied on research reactors. However, due to the fact that these engineering research reactors also shoulder other tasks, the production capacity of medical isotopes is very limited. Medical isotopes with large amounts, such as molybdenum-99, iodine-125, and lutetium-177, rely on imports. Although some isotopes such as carbon-14 have been domestically produced, they cannot meet the domestic market demand. Carbon-14 isotopes have extremely high medical and scientific value, mainly used for the detection of Helicobacter pylori, pharmacokinetic research β Radiation environment monitoring system, etc. The core advantage of Qinshan Nuclear Power's ability to shoulder heavy responsibilities comes from two commercial heavy water reactors. At present, about 70% of the operating nuclear power plants are pressurized water reactors and light water reactors. Unlike pressurized water reactors, heavy water reactors have a higher thermal neutron flux in the core and a larger irradiation space inside the reactor. They can maintain stable high-power operation for a long time, ensuring stable supply of radioactive isotopes and safe production, without affecting the power generation capacity and safe operation of the unit, and have lower production costs. To achieve mass production of carbon-14 isotopes, Qinshan Nuclear Power has collaborated with Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd., CNNC North Nuclear Fuel Element Co., Ltd. and other units to carry out research and development. After the completion of the carbon-14 target, it is planned to start supplying the market by the end of 2024, which will effectively drive the development of China's isotope application industry chain, further establish and improve the research and development system for commercial reactor irradiation production isotopes through industry university research cooperation, promote the research and development of new nuclear drugs, drive the development of the nuclear medical industry, and provide strong support for the development of China's isotope application industry. In addition, during the release of the carbon-14 target, Qinshan Nuclear Power also carried out the installation and commissioning of the top irradiation production isotope device simultaneously. After the device is put into use, it will have the ability to produce isotopes such as luteti-177 and yttrium-90 on a large scale through irradiation. (Lai Xin She)
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