Molybdenum-99-producing 37-element fuel bundle neutronically and thermal-hydraulically equivalent to a standard CANDU fuel bundle

The new molybdenum-producing bundle is analyzed using the lattice transport code DRAGON and the diffusion code DONJON. The proposed design is shown to produce 4081 six-day Curies of 99Mo activity per bundle when irradiated in the peak-power channel of a CANDU core, while maintaining the necessary reactivity and power rating limits. The calculated 99Mo yield corresponds to approximately one third of the world weekly demand. A production rate of ∼3 bundles per week can meet the global demand of 99Mo.