Nickel-63 is routinely produced at the ORNL HFIR with a specific activity (SA) of ~15 Ci/g by irradiating 86.31 % enriched 62Ni for 2 years.  Project goal is to examine the effect of neutron depletion on 63Ni SA. Because of rather high neutron capture cross-section of 62Ni (sth= 14.5 b, I0=6.6 b), it is thought that 63Ni of higher SA can be produced using thinner target. To verify, three sets of 62Ni targets (83% enriched) with different thicknesses; solid pellets (O.D. ~6 mm) and two in form of rings (6 mm O.D., 2 and 4 mm I.D.), were prepared and irradiated at center position of flux trap of HFIR for 2 h.  Results indicated a slight increase in SA, ranging from 9.3 mCi/g for solid target to 9.6 and 9.9 for 2 and 4 mm I.D. rings.   Detailed data will be presented, along with model calculations of neutron depletion.

Effect of pellet geometry on specific activity of nickel-63

245th National Meeting (2013)

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