Radioisotope and Radiation Technology

A. Introduction
1.
A large variety of nuclear techniques are available for industrial, environmental, medical and
research applications. Radiation and isotopic technology, such as gamma irradiation, electron beam or
ion beam, as well as nucleonic gauges, radiotracers and sealed sources, non-destructive testing and
nuclear analytical techniques are used for process control, material modifications, to reduce harmful
industrial emissions, to reprocess waste streams and for sterilization of medical products and
wastewater treatment. Non-destructive evaluation of welds, castings, assembled machinery and
ceramics help to make industrial processes safer and more cost-effective. Radiotracers, sealed sources
and nucleonic gauges are used for natural resource exploration in the oil industry, in mineral
processing and waste water treatment plants. The application of these nuclear techniques has
considerable economic and environmental impact as they are introduced in developing countries.

B. Radioisotopes
2.
Radioisotopes make important contributions in several sectors of economic significance
including medicine, food processing, industry, agriculture, structural safety and research. They are
generally produced in research reactors or cyclotrons. More than 150 different radioisotopes in
different forms are in use for various applications.
3.
It has been observed that the consumption of isotopes in a country depends on the level of its
economic development and industrialization: the more advanced, the more the consumption. However,
the pattern of use is similar in all countries. The medical field accounts for the majority of the
applications, followed by industry and research. The potential for expansion of radioisotope
applications is, however, very large.

B.1. Current Status of Radioisotope Production

B.1.1. Radioisotopes for medicine
4.
Radioisotopes in medicine are used either in liquid form, called radiopharmaceuticals, for
diagnosis and therapy or as a solid sealed source for therapy, mainly for cancer. Radioisotopes also
find extensive applications in in vitro diagnosis, the most important being in immunoassays.
5.
Radiopharmaceuticals are used mainly for diagnostic imaging studies. However, therapeutic
applications have shown a substantial growth in the last few years. The radioisotope 99mTc is used in
more than 70% of the diagnostic imaging studies for assessing the dynamic functions of the various
organs of the body as well as for the localization of infections. About 20% of medical applications use
radioisotopes such as 201Tl, 111In, 67Ga, 123I, 81mKr, 131I and 133Xe. The use of the cyclotron-produced
long-lived isotope 201Tl for cardiac studies is also widespread.
6.
The use of radioisotopes for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) studies is showing a faster
growth rate. 18F-fluoro deoxy glucose (18FDG) accounts for more than 90% of PET imaging with the
09 Radioisotopes

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remaining 10% being accounted for by 11C, 13N and 15O based radiopharmaceuticals. Interest in setting
up medical cyclotrons and PET facilities has grown in many developing countries in recent years.
7.
Radiopharmaceuticals based on 131I have a primary role in the treatment of hyperthyroidism and
thyroid cancer. The treatments of certain other cancers, arthritis and palliation of bone pain due to
secondary cancer using radioisotopes show a substantial growth. 131I, 32P, 153Sm, 90Y and 186Re are the
major isotopes used in therapy. The annual turnover in this area is more than $30 million and is
growing at the rate of 10% per annum.
8.
Radioactive sealed sources are widely used for teletherapy and brachytherapy of cancer. About
1500 teletherapy machines using the radioisotope 60Co are estimated to be in use worldwide. The main
radioisotopes used in brachytherapy are 192Ir, 137Cs, 125I, 198Au, 106Ru and 103Pd. About
3000 brachytherapy centres are estimated to be in operation worldwide. High dose rate sources using
192
Ir are becoming increasingly popular. These use high specific activity 192Ir sources, which are
encapsulated by precision technology using advanced laser welding machines. The implantation of
tiny sources of 125I for ocular and prostate cancer is also being tried. The treatment of prostate cancer
using 103Pd has become very successful. The production of these sources requires remote fabrication
including encapsulation by remote welding procedures.

B.1.2. Radioisotopes for industry

9.
Radioisotopes are used for nucleonic control systems, radiation processing, non-destructive
testing (NDT) and in radiotracer studies. Sealed sources of 137Cs, 60Co, 241Am, 85Kr, 147Pm, 90Sr/90Y,
204
Tl, 252Cf, 63Ni, 55Fe, 109Cd, 57Co and 241Am-Be neutron source are used in nucleonic control systems.
60
Co in the form of high intensity sources is the main isotope used for radiation processing.
192
Ir sources are used in more than 90% of gamma radiography devices. 169Yb and 75Se sources are
other radioisotopes used in NDT. A large number of isotopes in various chemical forms are used as
tracers in industry.

B.2. Future Trends

10. Radioisotopes will continue to play an important role in national development. With many
techniques having an important bearing on either industrial activity or health care, the sustainability of
radioisotope supply or isotope security continues to be a major cause of concern in view of the
decrease in the number of operating research reactors worldwide and the difficulties in transporting
radioisotopes worldwide because of security concerns.
11. The radionuclides in demand in regular medical diagnosis will continue to be 99mTc, 131I, 201Tl,
111
In, 123I and 18F. A substantial part of the use of 201Tl for cardiac studies is likely to be carried out
with 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals because of cost advantage and ready availability. The use of
99m
Tc generators, the technology of which is well standardized, is expected to increase significantly
due to the establishment of an increased number of nuclear medicine centres in both developing and
developed countries. Cold kits for the formulation of 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals for different imaging
studies will be expanded, and new 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals based on peptides and other
bio-molecules will be added.
12. The use of 18FDG will increase because of better refined chemistry, starting from the production
of the radioisotope through to the preparation of the radiopharmaceuticals and final quality assurance
before product delivery. With ready availability of 18F in several centres, further research and
development of 18F labelled molecules for various applications is expected to increase. Long-lived
PET tracers i.e. 124I and 76Br are under development for studying slow processes such as monitoring
gene therapy. 123I production via 123Xe gas target would become more widespread and economical, and

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may emerge as another widely used diagnostic isotope. 68Ge-68Ga generators are likely to see an
increase in demand for use in PET where cyclotrons are not available.
13. Centralized production and distribution of 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals and 18FDG are expected
to evolve from current, predominantly hospital-based production because of increased regulatory
concerns and good manufacturing practice requirements. Even though 99Mo production might continue
to be dominated by two or three large producers, widespread use of 99mTc coupled with the logistics of
supplies and the reluctance of airlines to carry radioactive material could generate a need for many
small-scale producers of fission 99Mo serving regional needs.
14. There will be considerable interest in therapy using radiopharmaceuticals, and the range of
isotopes and their products in regular use are expected to expand significantly. Refined technologies
for both 90Y and 188Re generators will be available. Because of the similarity in the chemistry of 99mTc
and 188Re, research is being vigorously pursued into the development of new radiopharmaceuticals,
based on peptides, and into other target specific biomolecules labelled with them, for diagnosis
followed by therapy. The availability of 188Re in sufficient quantities will be a major problem due to
the limited availability of high flux reactors for its production.
15. The use of 90Y radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer has shown a considerable
increase. The use of 90Y is advantageous because the parent radionuclide 90Sr is available in large
quantities from nuclear waste in fuel reprocessing programmes. The recovery of 90Sr followed by
large-scale centralized separation of 90Y or preparation of ready-to-use radionuclide generators could
become a major radiochemistry programme in other countries that have fuel reprocessing facilities.
Several 90Y based radiopharmaceuticals for cancer therapy and treatment of arthritis are at present in
the clinical trial stage but their widespread application in the near future is envisaged.
16. The use of many beta particle emitting isotopes, including 177Lu, 166Ho, 153Sm, 165Dy and 186Re,
for therapy could increase by taking advantage of local reactor production. 177Lu offers a particular
advantage, as this isotope can be prepared with very high specific activity and in large quantities, even
in reactors having moderate flux. The near future could see large-scale deployment of 177Lu in cancer
therapy. 124I and 103Pd from cyclotrons will also be increasingly used for therapy. 125I and 103Pd seed
production technology for brachytherapy applications will be in demand in many countries.

C. Radiation Technology for Clean and Safe Industry

C.1. Radiation Processing
17. As well as economic factors, radiation and radioisotope applications have great impact on
different aspects of social and industrial development, for example:

Human health (radiation sterilization of medical products, blood and

transplanting grafts irradiation);
Environment protection (electron beam flue gas and wastewater treatment,
gamma rays sludge hygienization);
Clean and safe industry (radiotracer leakage testing and Non Destructive
Testing (NDT) of installations, pipes, tanks);
Quality system enhancement (nuclear analytical techniques, NDT);
Process optimization (radiotracers and Nucleonic Control Systems);

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Raw materials exploration and exploitation (on-line processing, borehole

logging); and
Homeland security (cargo inspections, governmental mail irradiation).

18. Radiation and radioisotope applications make a large contribution to economies. The
economical scale of industrial applications of radiation and isotopes in the USA and Japan, based on
earlier studies, is given in Table 1.

TABLE 1
ITEM

ECONOMIC SCALE (billions$)

USA

JAPAN

1. Sterilized medical supplies

4.8

2.3

2. Semiconductors

37.2

28.4

3. Radiographic testing (NDT)

0.65

0.26

4. Radiation cured radial tyres

13.5

8.4

Total

56.15

39.36

19. The number of industrial gamma irradiators, working on a service basis or installed on-line
worldwide exceeds 160, of which 65 units are operational in developing countries. More than 20% of
these gamma irradiators have activities over 1 MCi of 60Co.
20. The total number of electron beam accelerators installed exceeds 13 000, with close to 1200
units being used for radiation processing. New environmental applications demand the development of
high power, reliable accelerators. The most powerful radiation processing facility, applying electron
accelerators over 1 MW total power, has been constructed for power-plant-emitted flue-gases
purification in Poland.
21. The concept of electron beam to X-ray conversion is a new technological approach for
constructing powerful X-ray machines, with R&D under way in some pilot units. A breakthrough in
the technology is expected after work on a high energy unit (up to 700 kW), which is already under
test in Belgium.
22. Chemical or material engineering mostly applies high temperature and/or high pressure
processes for material synthesis/modification. Often a catalyst is required to speed up the reaction.
Radiation, however, is a unique source of energy that can initiate chemical reactions at any
temperature, including ambient, under any pressure and in any phase (gas, liquid or solid) without use
of catalysts.
23. Polymers are often irradiated, either for modification or as components of radiation sterilized
medical products. Therefore, changes in their structure may be beneficial or undesirable. Polymer
R&D is broad and most developments are foreseen in this area.
24. Another possible application is the processing of natural polymers. Cellulose materials for the
pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry have already been fabricated.
25. Radiation sterilization is a well-established technique, and multi-technique services employing
radiation and heat have emerged recently. A new application of these techniques is decontamination of
mail against biological contaminants, such as anthrax.

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26. Some radiation processes have promising applications for environment conservation. The plant
for liquid sludge hygienization using a 60Co gamma source has been in operation in India since 1991.
27. A pilot plant for dye factory wastewater treatment equipped with an electron accelerator has
been constructed in South Korea, and an industrial project aiming to treat 10 000 cubic meters of
effluent per day is in progress.
28. Electron beam flue gas treatment plants are operating in coal-fired plants in China and Poland
purifying flue gases from 100 MW(e) units). High efficiency of SOx and NOx removal has been
achieved with a by-product of high quality fertilizer. The other possible application of the technology
is Volatile Organic Compound and Polycyclic Hydrocarbon treatment, e.g. in municipal waste
incinerator plants and flue gas purification units. The advantage of this technology over conventional
ones has been clearly demonstrated, both from a technical and economic point of view.
29. Conservation of archaeological artefacts and art objects by radiation (gamma rays or electron
beam) appears to have prospects. Ongoing studies on the application of radiation for consolidation
revealed that lacquer, textiles, paper, objects made of wood, stone and gypsum can be considered for
conservation purposes.

C.2. Radiotracers and Sealed Source Applications

30. Radioisotopes (3H, 82Br, 99m Tc, 140La, 24Na, 131I) are applied as radiotracers in industry and the
environment. Oil fields and refineries, chemical and metallurgical industries and wastewater
purification installations are the particular users.
31. Radioisotope techniques (radiotracers, gamma scanning, tomography and single particle
tracking) are extensively used to identify and quantify multiphase reactors (phase hold-up
distributions, velocity and mixing patterns). Multiphase reactor technology is the basis for petroleum
refining, synthesis gas conversion to fuels and chemicals, bulk commodity chemicals production,
manufacture of special chemicals and polymers, and the conversion of undesired products into
recyclable materials. Quantification of the reactor performance requires a description of: (i) kinetics on
a molecular scale; (ii) the effect of transport on kinetics on a single eddy or single catalyst particle
scale; and (iii) the phase distribution, flow pattern and mixing in the reactor on the reactor scale. It is
critical to understand and predict at what rates each reactant can be supplied to the micro scale and
how changes in reactor size or operating conditions affect these rates of supply. While progress has
been made in understanding fundamental reaction mechanisms and in computing from first principles
the effect of mass transfer on the reaction rate locally, the description of the reactor scale flow pattern
and mixing is in general primitive and rests on the assumption of ideal flow patterns. Radioisotope
techniques help optimizing multiphase reactors saving hundreds of million of US dollars annually
worldwide.
32. Information gained from interwell use of tracers in oil fields is indispensable for the evaluation
and optimization of oil field performance. It is possible to make qualitative or semi-quantitative
evaluations, as was the case of a reservoir in Colombia, which is naturally heavily compartmentalized.
Information about fluid flow across faults, and therefore the effect of water injection could only be
studied by the use of tracers. Several wells were uniquely labelled, and the exercise showed that there
was an unexpectedly good communication across a fault that originally was a suspected barrier.

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D. Nuclear Analytical Techniques

33. Nuclear analytical techniques play an important role in the certification of element content in a
variety of materials. Particularly in international trade, for example in food, legal limits have to be
observed and analytical results need to be based on mutual recognition, which is obtained if
laboratories work according to internationally accepted quality standards such as the ISO 17025.
National accreditation following the installation of a concise quality system assures nuclear analytical
laboratories superior performance compared to conventional analysis.
34. New trends in nuclear applications can be seen in the development of robust, automated and
portable instruments, which can be used under laboratory as well as under field conditions. Flexible
X-Ray fluorescence instruments have been used for non-destructive analysis of art objects. Portable
neutron sources of variable strength are developed for field applications of prompt gamma neutron
activation analysis enabling fast and non-destructive element screening of, e.g., unknown packages
suspected of illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. There are different nuclear analytical techniques
applied for package inspection depending on the size and content of the packages. Dual energy
X-ray absorption analysers are most familiar in their use as on-line security devices screening baggage
at airports.
35. Long lived radionuclides and stable isotopes are increasingly used to study metabolic effects of
essential and toxic elements in plants, animals and the human body. Monte Carlo simulations of
neutrons and gamma rays enable the design of new irradiation and counting devices optimized for a
particular application.
36. Nuclear techniques also serve in preserving human cultural heritage. Neutron Activation
Analysis is very sensitive multi-elemental analysis that allows identification of art objects. Coins and
other metallic artefacts, stones, pottery and ceramics have all been subjected to trace element
fingerprinting to distinguish originals from fakes. Neutron activation analysis has been successfully
demonstrated as a technique to add valuable information to the interpretation of archaeological
problems.

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