XA0101160 International Atomic Energy Agency INDC(NDS)-423 Distr. G+L I N DC INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR DATA COMMITTEE LONG TERM NEEDS FOR NUCLEAR DATA DEVELOPMENT Summary Report of the Advisory Group Meeting IAEA Headquarters Vienna, Austria 28 November - 1 December 2000 Prepared by D.W. Muir and M. Herman IAEA Nuclear Data Section Vienna, Austria May 2001 IAEA NUCLEAR DATA SECTION, WAGRAMERSTRASSE 5. A-1400 VIENNA 32/ 24 PLEASE BE AWARE THAT ALL OF THE MISSING PAGES IN THIS DOCUMENT WERE ORIGINALLY BLANK INDC(NDS)-423 Distr. G+L LONG TERM NEEDS FOR NUCLEAR DATA DEVELOPMENT Summary Report of the Advisory Group Meeting IAEA Headquarters Vienna, Austria 28 November - 1 December 2000 Prepared by D.W. Muir and M. Herman IAEA Nuclear Data Section Vienna, Austria Abstract The Advisory Group Meeting on Long Term Needs for Nuclear Data Development, was held from 28 November - 1 December 2000 at IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria. The goal of this meeting was to develop a vision of the work needed over the next decades (2000-2020) on the measurement, calculation and evaluation of improved nuclear data for emerging applications. Of particular interest were data improvement activities that could be coordinated by the IAEA. The following areas of nuclear data applications were selected for discussion during the Meeting: Medical Applications; Ion Beam Analysis and Related Techniques; Nuclear Astrophysics; Nuclear Safeguards and Related Applications; Critical Reactors, including Closed Fuel Cycles; Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactors; ADS Target Design and High-Energy Radiation Shielding. May 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 7 Medical Applications 8 Ion Beam Analysis and Related Techniques 12 Nuclear Astrophysics 15 Nuclear Safeguards and Other Related Applications 17 Critical Reactors Including Closed Fuel Cycles 20 Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactors 21 ADS Target Design and High-Energy Radiation Shielding 24 General recommendations 26 APPENDIX 1: Agenda 27 APPENDIX 2: List of participants 29 Summary Report of the Advisory Group Meeting on LONG TERM NEEDS FOR NUCLEAR DATA DEVELOPMENT IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria 28 November - 1 December 2000 Introduction The Advisory Group Meeting on Long Term Needs for Nuclear Data Development, was held from 28 November - 1 December 2000 at IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria. The goal of this meeting was to develop a vision of the work needed over the next decades (2000-2020) on the measurement, calculation and evaluation of improved nuclear data for emerging applications. Of particular interest were data improvement activities that could be coordinated by the IAEA. The following areas of nuclear data applications were selected for discussion during the Meeting: 1. Medical Applications 2. Ion Beam Analysis and Related Techniques 3. Nuclear Astrophysics 4. Nuclear Safeguards and Related Applications 5. Critical Reactors, including Closed Fuel Cycles 6. Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactors 7. ADS Target Design and High-Energy Radiation Shielding Regarding the topical areas emphasized in the meeting, it was assumed that the nuclear data needs for nuclear fusion have already been well covered by a long series of Agency meetings convened in the period from 1978-1999 (the FENDL project), so this topic was not addressed at this meeting. Another application that was not treated is reactor core physics based on conventional fuels. This topic is covered by the NEA Working Party on International Evaluation Cooperation (and in any case can not be considered as an "emerging" application). In their presentations, participants were asked to keep in mind that the "need for data development" in a given application area depends on the following factors: - the importance of data in determining the success or failure of the application, the extent to which there are important gaps remaining in the data, and - the feasibility of filling those gaps with a modest research effort. Clearly, the first two points define the benefits of data research and the third one relates to the cost. Sufficient information was to sought on each of the mentioned items to judge the need for data development work in the area under discussion. The Meeting was attended by 23 participants and 2 observers from 14 countries. It was opened by the Head of the IAEA Nuclear Data Section D.W. Muir. Welcoming addresses were presented by the Head of the IAEA Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications W. Burkart and by the Head of the IAEA Department of Nuclear Energy V. Murogov. J. Boldeman (Australia) was elected chairman, with D.W. Muir and M. Herman (IAEA) serving as scientific secretaries. During the course of the meeting, half- day sessions were dedicated to each area of application. The meeting concluded with a round-table discussion. -7- In the following, the main conclusions and recommendations of each session are summarized. More details, including contributed presentations, will be published in a separate report. Medical Applications Speakers: S.M. Qaim, T.W. Burrows, D. Jones The session chairman (S.M. Qaim) opened the session by giving a brief introduction to the importance of nuclear data in medicine. Radioactivity is a unique phenomenon which finds application both in diagnosis and therapy, and hence nuclear data are of great significance in the medical field. Diagnostic nuclear medicine makes extensive use of radioisotopes, the imaging from outside the body being done by y-cameras, single photon emission tomographs (SPECT) or positron emission tomographs (PET). The choice of the radioisotope is determined by the nuclear structure and decay data, and its production by the excitation functions of the chosen nuclear processes. The final use of the radioisotope is dependent on the chemical form in which it is attached to a biomolecule prior to administration to a patient. The underlying principle of diagnostic studies is that the radiation dose to the patient should be as low as possible. This calls upon a stringent control of the radioactive impurities. In radiation therapy the interactions of radiation with matter are of direct relevance. Besides photons, electrons and neutrons, high-energy charged particles like protons, He and heavy ions have been finding increasing applications. Evidently, several types of reaction cross section data are relevant. Besides emphasizing the necessity of accurate data for proper use, the danger of using inaccurate data was also pointed out. In the literature, for example, a report existed which claimed that medium-sized cyclotrons could partly or wholly replace reactors, as far as the production of 99Mo/99mTc is concerned. This claim was based on the exceptionally high 98Mo(p,Y)99mTc and 100Mo(p,2n)99mTc reaction cross sections found by the authors of that report. Since this report caused considerable excitement, an IAEA-sponsored study was undertaken at Jiilich. Some key measurements were done using highly enriched 98Mo and 100Mo as targets and several cyclotrons. The cross section of the 8Mo(p,y)99mTc reaction was found to be negligibly small (< 0.2 mb) and that of the 100Mo(p,2n)9 "Tc reaction about 200 mb at the peak position. That study led to the conclusion that ™Tc can be produced at a cyclotron in small amounts for local use only. The amount of 99Mo produced is small. There is thus no substitute for reactor produced "Mo/99™^ generators (for details cf. Scholten, Lambrecht, Cogneau, Vera Ruiz and Qaim, Appl. Radiat. Isot. 51, 69 (1999)). Over the last 5 years the IAEA has paid considerable attention to the field of nuclear data for medical applications. Several consultants' meetings were held on the topic of nuclear data for medical radioisotope production as well for hadron therapy. Two Co-ordinated Research Projects (CRPs) in these two areas have also been recently completed. The results of therapy related CRP were published a few years ago and those of the isotope related CRP are in preparation as a TECDOC. The latter entitled: "Charged Particle Cross Section Database for Medical Radioisotope Production" is a milestone and describes the first evaluation effort on data for cyclotron production of diagnostic radioisotopes. The -8- recommended data for all the commonly used SPECT and PET radioisotopes should prove to be very useful for all Member States, including those establishing new cyclotron facilities, such as Egypt, Syria, Indonesia, Argentina, etc. Therapy related data have also been recently given strong consideration by the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements. The published report (ICRU Report 63) entitled: "Nuclear Data for Neutron and Proton Radiotherapy and for Radiation Protection" gives comprehensive information on reaction cross sections and kerma coefficients. Another landmark in the field of nuclear data for medical applications was the organization of an autumn college in 1999 at the Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste, which was attended by about 50 participants from about 25 countries. Selected lecturers were asked to write special review papers, and a special issue of the international journal Radiochimica Ada incorporating those review articles will be published early in 2001. Thus, for the present, the data needs relevant to the production of diagnostic radioisotopes as well as for radiation therapy appear to be well covered. There are, however, still a few areas which need strong attention. Furthermore, developments in both diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine are occurring very fast, and the data needs will also certainly increase. In subsequent talks some of those areas were discussed. S.M. Qaim (Jtilich) reported on the production of new diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides. The need for new diagnostic radionuclides refers mainly to longer-lived p+ emitters. The motivations here are to study slow biochemical processes or to quantify biodistribution of SPECT-radiopharmaceuticals using an analogue P+ emitter and PET. As expected, considerable amounts of nuclear data work is necessary to develop suitable production methods of potentially interesting radionuclides. The production of therapeutic radionuclides is done both at reactors and cyclotrons and the status of the available data calls for careful consideration.