Feasibility Analysis of Radioisotope 63Ni Produced in China Experimental Fast Reactor

Abstract

Based on the principle of 62Ni (n，γ) 63Ni preparing radioactive isotope 63Ni，using the China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) as an irradiation platform and design a high enrichment 62Ni target. Using MCNP and SCALE6.1 calculation codes，study and analyze the feasibility of producing isotope 63Ni on CEFR. The calculation results show that by using position 2 on the reflection side of the core as the irradiation position and designing the target as a ZrH moderator with good moderating performance，and operating at full power for more than 8 years，CEFR theoretically has the feasibility of producing high specific activity 63Ni isotopes. However，considering the practical factors of CEFR，it is believed that CEFR’s production of 63Ni isotopes does not have good economic，timeliness，and practical feasibility.

Keywords

• enriched 62ni
• irradiation
• cefr
• specific activity