A novel method for the separation of 90 Sr from fuel dissolver solution and development of radionuclide generator for 90 Y

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Yttrium-90 is a radioactive isotope widely used in the treatment of various cancers, including liver cancer, through procedures such as selective internal radiation therapy, radiolabelled peptides or radioembolization. The present paper reports an efficient separation method for 90Sr from fuel dissolver solution and development of a radionuclide generator for obtaining therapeutically useful 90Y. Strontium was separated effectively with minimal impurities viz. 106Ru from dissolver solution of irradiated mixed carbide (0.3U0.7Pu)C fuel using 4, 4’ (5’)-di-tert-butyl-cyclohexano-18-Crown-6 in n-octanol diluent followed by its immobilization in a cation-exchange resin. Pure 90Y was milked from the radionuclide generator at regular intervals by eluting the column with tri-sodium tri-metaphosphate. The purified 90Y fraction was subjected to all the quality control tests and meets the therapeutically acceptable standards. The activity of 90Y that can be separated was found to be 7.7 GBq/g of the irradiated fuel and approximately 2 therapeutic doses can be obtained.