Discussions on liquid bismuth target use as an alternative for astatine-211 production

Abstract

Astatine-211 is an alpha emitter that has been identified as a good candidate for targeted alpha therapy. There is an increasing demand on this radionuclide. Very intense beam from linac being put in operation nowadays could be used to meet this demand. This document presents the design exploration of concepts of liquid bismuth targets dedicated to astatine-211 production. Three concepts are presented and analyzed: a capsule, a fluid loop and a windowless fluid loop. Structural and thermal sizing were performed using mechanical Finite Element models (ANSYS Workbench) and Computational Fluid Dynamic models (FLUENT). Production rates were assessed accordingly. Feasibility and expected performances are discussed in conclusion.