Radioisotopes Production Facility (RPF), is a facility for the production of

radioisotopes A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...

from irradiation of

Low enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238U ...

(LEU) in the Egyptian Second Research Reactor (

ETRR-2 ETRR-2 or ET-RR-2 (''Experimental Training Research Reactor Number two''), (''Egypt Test and Research Reactor Number two'') or (''Multi-Purpose Reactor'') is the second nuclear reactor in Egypt supplied by the Argentine company Investigacion Apl ...

) Complex. The RPF was supplied by the Argentine company Investigacion Aplicada (INVAP) and was commissioned during October and November 2011. The produced radioisotopes are used in medicine, industry and research activities for domestic market. The RPF is owned and operated by the

Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority The Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) has been established in 1955. It leads the national research and development in the basic and applied peaceful nuclear research. Egypt was the second in the African Continent, after South Africa, to build ...

(EAEA) at the

Nuclear Research Center Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

Inshas Inshas () is a village located in Bilbeis, Sharqia Governorate, 60 kilometers east of Cairo, Egypt. It holds the first experimental nuclear reactor to be operated in Egypt ETRR-1 as well as the second experimental reactor ETRR-2, the ''Egyptian At ...

, 60 kilometers northeast of Cairo.

History

Radioisotopes Production Facility (RPF) was initially highlighted during the 2004/2005 investigation by the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

(IAEA), as Egypt declared the new facility which was under construction to the agency. Egypt should have reported the decision to construct the new facility no later than 1997 and it was considered failure to report. Egypt took a corrective actions and provided a modified design information for the RPF. RPF was officially inaugurated by the former Prime Minister,

Ibrahim Mahlab Ibrahim Roshdy Mahlab (, ; born 8 May 1949) is an Egyptian engineer and politician who was the Prime Minister of Egypt from 1 March 2014 until 19 September 2015. Previously he served as Minister of Housing. Career Mahlab joined the Arab Cont ...

on 15 August 2015 and the ceremony was attended by Conrado Assenza, the Associate Ambassador of Argentina in Egypt; Mohamed Shaker, the Minister of Electricity and Energy of Egypt; Sherif Hamad, the Minister of Scientific Research of Egypt; Atef Abdel Fattah, the President of the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) and Yasser Tawfik, the project director.

Overview

Radioisotopes Production Facility (RPF) is located at the

, near

research reactor and

Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant The Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant (FMPP), also known as Fuel Element Fabrication Plant, is a nuclear fuel fabrication facility supplied by the Argentine company INVAP in 1998. The FMPP is considered a Material Testing Reactor (MTR)-type fuel el ...

(FMPP) as the three facilities share the same auxiliary services with high degree of integration between ETRR-2 and RPF to ensure safe transfer of the irradiated targets for radioisotope production. RPF is a

(LEU) based facility using 19.75%

enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (23 ...

, as the targets prepared at RPF laboratory then manually transferred to the ETRR2 reactor, where the targets are loaded into the irradiation device. The device is installed in the irradiation position in grid or core from the pool head. The molybdenum targets are irradiated in the core position while non-molybdenum targets, placed in aluminium cans to be irradiated in the grid around the core. The produced

high-level waste High-level waste (HLW) is a type of nuclear waste created by the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. It exists in two main forms: * First and second cycle raffinate and other waste streams created by nuclear reprocessing. * Waste formed by vitr ...

from the RPF, stored near the ETRR-2 reactor waiting for final disposal in deep geological formations.

Layout

RPF divided into free, supervised and controlled areas. The free area where no radioactive material is handled, contain offices, dressing rooms and common services. The supervised area with minimum radioactivity level, contain quality control laboratories and cell-front operation areas. The controlled area with highest radioactivity, consist of

hot cell A hot cell is a name given to a containment chamber that is shielded against nuclear radiation. The word ''hot'' refers to radioactivity. Hot cells are used in both the nuclear-energy and the nuclear-medicines industries. They are required to ...

s, cell ventilation filters and management areas of gas, liquid, and solid. RPF provided with 12 hot cells as the following: *

Molybdenum-99 Molybdenum (42Mo) has 39 known isotopes, ranging in atomic mass from 81 to 119, as well as four metastable nuclear isomers. Seven isotopes occur naturally, with atomic masses of 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, and 100. All unstable isotopes of molybdenum ...

Production Hot Cells - four hot cells. *

Iodine-131 Iodine-131 (131I, I-131) is an important radioisotope of iodine discovered by Glenn Seaborg and John Livingood in 1938 at the University of California, Berkeley. It has a radioactive decay half-life of about eight days. It is associated with nu ...

Production Hot Cell - one hot cell. *

Iodine-125 Iodine-125 (125I) is a radioisotope of iodine which has uses in biological assays, nuclear medicine imaging and in radiation therapy as brachytherapy to treat a number of conditions, including prostate cancer, uveal melanomas, and brain tumor ...

Production Hot Cell - one hot cell. *

Chromium-51 Naturally occurring chromium (24Cr) is composed of four stable isotopes; 50Cr, 52Cr, 53Cr, and 54Cr with 52Cr being the most abundant (83.789% natural abundance). 50Cr is suspected of decaying by β+β+ to 50Ti with a half-life of (more than) 1.8 ...

Production Hot Cell - one hot cell. *

Iridium-192 Iridium-192 (symbol 192Ir) is a radioactive isotope of iridium, with a half-life of 73.827 days. It decays by emitting beta (β) particles and gamma (γ) radiation. About 96% of 192Ir decays occur via emission of β and γ radiation, leading to ...

Production Hot Cells - two hot cells. *

Technetium-99m generator A technetium-99m generator, or colloquially a technetium cow or moly cow, is a device used to extract the metastable isotope 99mTc of technetium from a decaying sample of molybdenum-99. 99Mo has a half-life of 66 hours and can be easily tran ...

Loading Hot Cell - one hot cell. * Multi-Purpose Production hot cell - one hot cell (for compound labeling and production of other radioisotopes). * Activity Control Hot Cell - one hot cell (radioisotope calibration and activity control prior to dispatch).

Products

Radioisotopes Production Facility is capable of producing the following: *Chromium-51, through the irradiation of

potassium chromate Potassium chromate is the inorganic compound with the formula Potassium, K2Chromate ion, CrO4. This yellow solid is the potassium salt of the Chromate ion, chromate anion. It is a common laboratory chemical, whereas sodium chromate is important ...

targets (0.5 Ci per week), used as injectable medical product. *Iodine 125, through the irradiation of

xenon gas Xenon is a chemical element; it has symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

(5 Ci per week), used for

nuclear medicine Nuclear medicine (nuclear radiology, nucleology), is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactivity, radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging is, in a sense, ''radiology done inside out'', ...

. *Iodine-131, through the fission of LEU (10 Ci per week), which used for nuclear medicine. *Iridium-192, through the irradiation of natural iridium sheets (100 Ci per month), used for industrial gamma radiography. *Iridium-192 wire, through the irradiation of iridium-platinum-alloy targets for

brachytherapy Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a sealed radiation, radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment. The word "brachytherapy" comes from the Ancient Greek, Greek word , meaning "short-distance" or "s ...

. *Molybdenum-99, through the fission of LEU plate targets (1000 Ci per week), which used for medical diagnosis. The obtained Molybdenum-99, Iodine 125, Iridium 192 and Iodine 131 batches have outperformed the contracted values with molybdenum batches exceeded contractual values by 5 to 10% and the quality of the product has been higher than the technical requirements and at least equal to the product obtained by

CNEA The National Atomic Energy Commission (, CNEA) is the Argentine government agency in charge of nuclear energy research and development. The agency was created on 31 May 1950, with the mission of developing and controlling nuclear energy for pea ...

in Argentina.

References

{{Nuclear Fuel Cycle Activities in Egypt Isotope separation facilities Nuclear technology in Egypt Nuclear program of Egypt 2011 establishments in Egypt Argentina–Egypt relations

History

Overview

Layout

Products

See also

References