Journalism, security and the public interest : best practices for reporting in unpredictable times/ Clymer

xiii, 48 hal.; 21 cm

Journalism, security and the public interest : best practices for reporting in unpredictable times/ Clymer

xiii, 48 hal.; 21 cm

Journalism, security and the public interest : best practices for reporting in unpredictable times/ Clymer

xiii, 48 hal.; 21 cm

Production of 13N for Radiotracer Synthesis

13N has been produced using a 400KeV Van de Graaff particle accelerator housed in MSU-Mankato‘s Applied Nuclear Science Lab. A custom target system, designed and built in this lab, contains a graphite target connected to an external power supply via insulated feed-throughs. Once 13N has been produced in the 12C(d,n)13N reaction the target is ohmically heated, under an atmosphere of hydrogen or carbon dioxide, with a large supplied current releasing the radioisotope from the carbon matrix. The ensuing reaction with either hydrogen or carbon dioxide forms 13NH3 or HC13N and 13NO2 respectively. Radiolabeled 13N compounds are used for physiological imaging, in both plants and animals, via a technique known as Positron Emission Tomography (PET). While the energies attainable with our accelerator are slightly above threshold resulting in a low yield of 13N, the techniques and procedures developed during this research can be implemented on higher energy accelerator systems

Measuring Low Levels of 14 N Using the 14 N(d,n)15 O Reaction

MNSU’s Applied Nuclear Science Laboratory has restored and is now operating a Van de Graaf particle accelerator. Since the project started in 2007, we have successfully rebuilt the accelerator and continue to optimize its performance. We have successfully in repaired the stabilization controls and have calibrated the machines energy using the characteristic resonances at 340 keV from the 19F(p,α)16O* reaction. This year’s research has expanded the range of particle beams the machine can produce. The accelerator has been equipped with a tank of deuterium allowing the production of a deuteron beam. We report on the production of a confirmed deuteron beam using the 14N(d,n)O15 reaction and beam dynamic analysis. The nuclear reaction creates 15O from the deuterons colliding with 14N. As the 15O then decays into 15N, positrons are emitted, the annihilation creates measurable gamma ray emissions. Due to the efficiency of detecting counts of decay products (1 in 1016 atoms) this method can detect very low amounts of nitrogen in a given sample. This added capability will allow for further research and experiments including investigation of other deuteron reactions and neutron production from deuteron breakup – which allows for a range of neutron physics including material science experiments

Production of ^13N Using a 400keV Van de Graaff Positive Ion Accelerator

A target system has been developed to study the production and extraction of ^13N, a short-lived radioisotope of nitrogen (t1/2 9.6 minutes), formed via the ^12C(d,n)^13N reaction. The target is comprised of a graphite rod positioned in a custom-built target chamber where it is irradiated by a deuteron beam. Post irradiation, the target is flushed with H2 or CO2 gas, and heated via a large applied current producing ^13NH3 or HC^13N and ^13NO2 respectively. Radiolabeled ^13N compounds are used for physiological imaging using Positron Emission Tomography (PET). The production system used the 400keV Van de Graaff Positive Ion Accelerator housed in the Applied Nuclear Science Lab at Minnesota State University, Mankato. While this energy, slightly above threshold, is too low to make sufficient amounts of ^13N for imaging work, the system and procedure can be implemented on higher energy machines. Preliminary system results will be presented as well as accelerator calibration and reaction data