Production of 89Zr serves as a crucial preliminary step for exploring Zr-chelates, determining their stability constants, and advancing radiolabeling methodologies for monoclonal antibody based theranostics. 89Zr is typically produced by the irradiation of natural yttrium targets, a process extensively documented in scientific literature. Two primary methods are employed: the 89Y(p,n)89Zr...
Of great importance in the design of a nuclear power plant is the evaluation of shielding from the ionizing radiation produced in the core of the nuclear reactor. This requires simulation software to predict the dose rates in the areas of interest. Comparing the simulation of the same modeled system...
Accurately describing drag and virtual mass forces in two-phase flows is crucial for high fidelity modeling of nuclear thermal hydraulic safety systems. This study compares existing drag coefficient correlations commonly used in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications for air bubbles to experimental data collected for ellipsoidal air bubbles of varying...
The Ambrosia Lake West Site is a former uranium recovery facility located north of Grants, New Mexico. It currently serves as a uranium mill tailings site undergoing reclamation and decommissioning. High velocity winds are common in the area, causing soil erosion via aeolian processes. Strong winds may carry soil for...
The neutron flux-energy spectral characterization of a Thermo Fisher MP320 deuterium-tritium neutron generator was performed for two shielding configurations, one with substantial moderator between the source and the sample and one without such moderator. The STAYSL PNNL spectral adjustment code was utilized in conjunction with MCNP modelled reference spectra and...
Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common malignancy in Caucasian populations. One existing treatment modality for NMSCs is external radiotherapy delivered to the skin cancer tumor by a beta-emitter-containing radioactive skin patch. Alpha emitters, with their higher linear energy transfer than beta particles and shorter range in tissue, make...
The objective of this research is to design a portable neutron detector that is lightweight and responds to neutrons with energies of 20 MeV and greater. The instrument will be used as a ‘sniffer’ probe for identifying shielding weaknesses at high-energy particle accelerators and be paired with a plastic scintillator...
New delivery methods for radiotracers are constantly being proposed. Two key properties of the delivery method must be analyzed: dose to patient and effectiveness of delivery. In this work, the localized skin dose for intranasal administration of 18F was determined utilizing MCNP code. An anatomically accurate nasal cavity was constructed...
Current neutron dosimetry methods rely on the assumption that charged particle equilibrium (CPE) is established within the tissue medium. This maintains that the kinetic energy transferred to the medium (KERMA) is equivalent to absorbed dose. However, this assumption is only valid for large volumes such as the whole body. For...
A Level 1 probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) is applied to a plutonium button-making process, but in regards to the risk of diversion (or theft) of special nuclear material (SNM) rather than the risk of mechanical failure. The main objective of the project was to identify the relative vulnerability of areas...