PRODUCTION AND USE OF SHORT-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES FROM REACTORS t g p ) INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA 1963 PRODUCTION AND USE OF SHORT-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES FROM REACTORS Since in many countries the new problems of producing, separating and applying short-lived radioisotopes are being faced for the first time, the IAEA convened an international Seminar on Practical Applications of Short-lived Radioisotopes produced in Small Research Reactors at its Vienna headquarters in November, 1962. More than 150 participants included reactor engineers and physicists, radiation chemists, industrial scientists, hydrologiste, physicians and agriculturists from 29 Member States. The present pro­ ceedings contain all the scientific papers submitted and the discussions which followed them. PRODUCTION ET EMPLOI DES RADIOISOTOPES DE COURTE PÉRIODE OBTENUS DANS DES RÉACTEURS Beaucoup de pays ont à résoudre, pour la première fois, les nouveaux problèmes que posent la production, la séparation et l'application des radioisotopes de courte période. C'est pourquoi l'AIEA a organisé à son siège, à Vienne, en novembre 1962, des journées d'études sur les appli­ cations dee radioisotopes de courte période obtenus dans de petits réacteurs de recherche. Les partici­ pants, qui étaient plus de 150, comprenaient des spécialistes du génie et de la physique des réacteurs, des radiochimistes, des ingénieurs, des hydrologistes, des médecins et des agronomes, venant de 29 Etats Membres. Le présent ouvrage contient tous les mémoires scientifiques pré­ sentés et les discussions auxquelles ils ont donné lieu. ПОЛУЧЕНИЕ КОРОТКОЖИВУЩИХ РАДИОИЗОТОПОВ В РЕАКТОРАХ И ИХ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ Ввиду того, что во многих странах новые проблемы получения, разде­ ления и применения короткоживущих радиоизотопов возникли впервые, Международное агентство по атом­ ной энергии созвало в Центральных учреждениях в Вене в ноябре 1962 го­ да международный семинар по практическому использованию ко­ роткоживущих радиоизотопов, полу­ чаемых в небольших исследователь­ ских реакторах. В семинаре приняли участие свыше 150 специалистов из 29 государств-членов, среди которых были инженеры и физики-специали­ сты по реакторам, радиохимики, ученые, работающие в промышлен­ ности, гидрологи, врачи и агрономы. Настоящие труды содержат все представленные научные доклады и дискуссии по этим докладам. APLICACIÓN DE LOS RADIOISÓTOPOS DE PERÍODO CORTO PRODUCIDOS EN REACTORES Teniendo en cuenta que son muchos los países en que se plantean por primera vez los problemas de la preparación, separación y utilización de los radioisótopos de periodo corto, el OIEA reunió en su Sede de Viena en el mes de noviembre de 1962 un seminario internacional sobre las aplicaciones prácticas de los radio­ isótopos de periodo corto, producidos en pequeños reactores de investiga­ ción. Hubo más de 150 participantes, entre ellos ingenieros y físicos nucleares, químicos especializados en los efectos de las radiaciones, técnicos industriales, hidrólogos, médicos y agrónomos, procedentes de 29 Estados Miembros. En el presente volumen se reproducen todos los documentos científicos que se pre­ sentaron y se reseñan los debates a que dio lugar su examen. PRODUCTION AND USE OF SHORT-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES FROM REACTORS VOL. II The following States are Members of die International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN ITALY ALBANIA JAPAN ARGENTINA REPUBLIC OF KOREA AUSTRALIA LEBANON AUSTRIA LIBERIA BELGIUM LUXEMBOURG BRAZIL MALI BULGARIA MEXICO BURMA MONACO BYELORUSSIAN SOVIET SOCIALIST MOROCCO REPUBLIC NETHERLANDS CAMBODIA NEW ZEALAND CANADA NICARAGUA CEYLON NORWAY CHILE PAKISTAN CHINA PARAGUAY COLOMBIA PERU CONGO (LÉOPOLDVILLE) PHILIPPINES CUBA POLAND CZECHOSLOVAK SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PORTUGAL DENMARK ROMANIA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SAUDI ARABIA ECUADOR SENEGAL EL SALVADOR SOUTH AFRICA ETHIOPIA SPAIN FINLAND SUDAN FRANCE SWEDEN FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY SWITZERLAND GHANA THAILAND GREECE TUNISIA GUATEMALA TURKEY HAITI UKRAINIAN SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLIC HOLY SEE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS HONDURAS UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC HUNGARY UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND ICELAND NORTHERN IRELAND INDIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA INDONESIA URUGUAY IRAN VENEZUELA IRAQ VIET- NAM ISRAEL YUGOSLAVIA The Agency's Statute was approved on 26 October 1956 at an international conference held at United Nations headquarters, New York, and the Agency came into being when the Statute entered into force on 29 July 1957. The first session of the General Conference was held in Vienna, Austria, the permanent seat of the Agency, in October, 1957. The main objective of the Agency is "to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world". Printed by the IAEA in Austria March 1963 PROCEEDINGS SERIES PRODUCTION AND USE OF SHORT-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES FROM REACTORS VOL. II PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEMINAR ON THE PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF SHORT-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES PRODUCED IN SMALL RESEARCH REACTORS HELD BY THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY AT VIENNA, 5 -9 NOVEMBER 1962 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA 1963 PRODUCTION AND USE OF SHORT-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES . FROM REACTORS, IAEA, VIENNA, 1963 S T I/P U B /6 4 FOREWORD There are many radioisotope applications in which it is important that the radiation should rapidly fall to an insignificant level once the initial intense activity has served its purpose. Such applications include diagnostic tests in medicine, where it is essential to reduce the radiation dose to the patient to a minimum, non-destructive testing methods which must be applied without contaminating the material or product concer.ned, and repeated routine tests which are possible only if the residual activity from the previous test is negligible. All these applications call for radionuclides whose half- lives are measured in hours or even minutes. Similarly, in the new but increasingly important technique of activation analysis, whereby the quantities of elements present in a material can be determined by irradiating the m aterial in a reactor and assaying the radionuclides produced, the latter are mainly short-lived and must be measured immediately. While the production of long-lived radionuclides can most economically be left to the large reactors at the main radioisotope centres, short-lived isotopes must be produced, or m aterials activation performed, in a reactor at or near the place of intended use or analysis; this, then, represents one of the most important uses for the large number of small reactors which have been installed in recent years, or will come into operation in the near future, in many parts of the world. Since in many countries the new problems of producing, separating and applying short-lived radioisotopes are being faced for the first time, the International Atomic Energy Agency believed it would be valuable to survey the state of the art by convening an international Seminar on Practical Applications of Short-lived Radioisotopes produced in Small Research Reactors at its Vienna headquarters in November, 1962. This Seminar provided an opportunity for the producers and users of short-lived radio­ isotopes from many countries to meet and discuss the pr.oblems presented by these new research tools. The more than 150 participants included reactor engineers and physicists, radiation chemists, industrial scientists, hydrologiste, physicians and agriculturalists from 29 Member States. The present proceedings contain all the scientific papers submitted and the discussions which followed them. The wide coverage of the Seminar in both the physical and the life sciences is indicative of the manifold uses of short-lived radioisotopes. Their potentialities are only just beginning to be realized, and the material in these proceedings represents little more than, an introduction to what promises to become a very big subject. It is hoped that it will be found a valuable introduction. SIGVARD EKLUND M a rc h 1963 Director General EDITORIAL NOTE The papers and discussions incorporated in the proceedings published by the International Atomic Energy Agency are edited by the Agency's edi­ torial staff to the extent considered necessary for the reader's assistance. The views expressed and the general style adopted remain, however, the responsibility of the na m e d authors or participants. For the sake of speed of publication the present Proceedings have been printed by composition typing and photo-offset lithography. Within the limi­ tations imposed by this method, every effort has been m a d e to maintain a high editorial standard; in particular, the units and symbols employed are to the fullest practicable extent those standardized or recommended by the competent international scientific bodies. The affiliations of authors are those given at the time of nomination. The use in these Proceedings of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgment by the Agency as to the legal statue of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of specific companies or of their products or brand-names does not imply any endorsement or recommendation on the part of the Inter­ national Atomic Energy Agency. CONTENTS OF VOL. И IV. ACTIVATION ANALYSIS R eactor-produced short-lived radioisotopes used in neutron activ atio n analysis ........................ 3 V .P . G uinn Dosage de traces d'impuretés dans le béryllium par des méthodes non destructives __ . ____ -29 J. Petit et Ch. Engelmann Some techniques