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The CERN-MEDICIS (MEDical Isotopes Collected from ISolde) facility has delivered its first radioactive ion beam at CERN (Switzerland) in December 2017 to support the research and development in nuclear medicine using non-conventional radionuclides. Since then, fourteen institutes, including CERN, have joined the collaboration to drive the scientific program of this unique installation and evaluate the needs of the community to improve the research in imaging, diagnostics, radiation therapy and personalized medicine. The facility has been built as an extension of the ISOLDE (Isotope Separator On Line DEvice) facility at CERN. Handling of open radioisotope sources is made possible thanks to its Radiological Controlled Area and laboratory. Targets are being irradiated by the 1.4 GeV proton beam delivered by the CERN Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB) on a station placed between the High Resolution Separator (HRS) ISOLDE target station and its beam dump. Irradiated target materials are also received from external institutes to undergo mass separation at CERN-MEDICIS. All targets are handled via a remote handling system and exploited on a dedicated isotope separator beamline. To allow for the release and collection of a specific radionuclide of medical interest, each target is heated to temperatures of up to 2,300°C. The created ions are extracted and accelerated to an energy up to 60 kV, and the beam steered through an off-line sector field magnet mass separator. This is followed by the extraction of the radionuclide of interest through mass separation and its subsequent implantation into a collection foil. In addition, the MELISSA (MEDICIS Laser Ion Source Setup At CERN) laser laboratory, in service since April 2019, helps to increase the separation efficiency and the selectivity. After collection, the implanted radionuclides are dispatched to the biomedical research centers, participating in the CERN-MEDICIS collaboration, for Research & Development in imaging or treatment. Since its commissioning, the CERN-MEDICIS facility has provided its partner institutes with non-conventional medical radionuclides such as Tb-149, Tb-152, Tb-155, Sm-153, Tm-165, Tm-167, Er-169, Yb-175, and Ac-225 with a high specific activity. This article provides a review of the achievements and milestones of CERN-MEDICIS since it has produced its first radioactive isotope in December 2017, with a special focus on its most recent operation in 2020.

The HIE-ISOLDE project aims at expanding the physics programme of the ISOLDE facility at CERN. In particular, the addition of a superconducting linac will allow the post-acceleration of radioactive ion beams up to 10 MeV/u. However, because of field emission in the superconducting cavities and the possibility of neutron production for ion interactions above the Coulomb barrier, new radiological hazards need to be mitigated. Measurements of dose rate levels close to cavity prototypes were used to determine the intensity of the source of X ray due to field emission for a single cavity. The results were extrapolated to the operation of the 32 cavities that will be installed, and a detailed FLUKA calculation was performed to determine the required shielding to minimise the exposure of personnel present in the ISOLDE experimental hall during operation. FLUKA was also used to determine the maximum ambient dose equivalent rate levels in the accessible part of the hall due to ion beam losses for the envelope energies and intensities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ISOLDE facility at CERN is one of the first facilities in the world dedicated to the production of the radioactive ion beams (RIB) and during all its working time underwent several upgrades. The goal of the latest proposed upgrade, ‘The High Intensity and Energy ISOLDE’ (HIE-ISOLDE), is to provide a higher performance facility in order to approximate it to the level of the next generation ISOL facilities, like EURISOL. The HIE-ISOLDE aims to improve significantly the quality of the produced RIB and for this reason the increasing of the primary beam power is one of the main objectives of the project. An increase in the nominal beam current (from 2 to 6 μA proton beam intensity) and energy (from 1.4 GeV to 2 GeV) of the primary proton beam will be possible due to the upgrade of CERN’s accelerator infrastructure. The current upgrade means reassessment of the radiation protection and the radiation safety of the facility. However, an evaluation of the existing shielding configuration and access restrictions to the experimental and supply areas must be carried out. Monte Carlo calculations were performed in order to evaluate the radiation protection of the facility as well as radiation shielding assessment and design. The FLUKA—Monte Carlo code was used in this study to calculate the ambient dose rate distribution and particle fluxes in the most important areas, such as the experimental hall of the facility. The results indicate a significant increase in the ambient dose equivalent rate in some areas of the experimental hall when an upgrade configuration of the primary proton beam is considered. Special attention is required for the shielding of the target area once it is the main and very intensive radiation source, especially under the upgrade conditions. In this study, the access points to the beam extraction and beam maintenance areas, such as the mass separator rooms and the high voltage room, are identified as the most sensitive for the experimental hall from the radiation protection point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high intensity and energy ISOLDE (HIE-ISOLDE) project is an upgrade to the existing ISOLDE facility at CERN. The foreseen increase in the nominal intensity and the energy of the primary proton beam of the existing ISOLDE facility aims at increasing the intensity of the produced radioactive ion beams (RIBs). The currently existing ISOLDE facility uses the proton beam from the proton-synchrotron booster with an energy of 1.4 GeV and an intensity up to 2 μA. After upgrade (final stage), the HIE-ISOLDE facility is supposed to run at an energy up to 2 GeV and an intensity up to 4 μA. The foreseen upgrade imposes constrains, from the radiation protection and the radiation safety point of view, to the existing experimental and supply areas. Taking into account the upgraded energy and intensity of the primary proton beam, a new assessment of the radiation protection and radiation safety of the HIE-ISOLDE facility is necessary. Special attention must be devoted to the shielding assessment of the beam dumps and of the experimental areas. In this work the state-of-the-art Monte Carlo particle transport simulation program FLUKA was used to perform the computation of the ambient dose equivalent rate distribution and of the particle fluxes in the projected HIE-ISOLDE facility (taking into account the upgrade nominal primary proton beam energy and intensity) and the shielding assessment of the facility, with the aim of identifying in the existing facility (ISOLDE) the critical areas and locations where new or reinforced shielding may be necessary. The consequences of the upgraded proton beam parameters on the operational radiation protection of the facility were studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ISOLDE facility has undergone numerous changes over the last 17 years driven by both the physics and technical community with a common goal to improve on beam variety, beam quality and safety. Improvements have been made in civil engineering and operational equipment while continuing developments aim to ensure operations following a potential increase in primary beam intensity and energy. This paper outlines the principal technical changes incurred at ISOLDE by building on a similar publication of the facility upgrades by Kugler (2000 Hyperfine Interact.129 23–42). It also provides an insight into future perspectives through a brief summary issues addressed in the HIE-ISOLDE design study Catherall et al (2013 Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B 317 204–207). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CERN-MEDICIS (MEDical Isotopes Collected from ISolde) facility has delivered its first radioactive ion beam at CERN (Switzerland) in December 2017 to support the research and development in nuclear medicine using non-conventional radionuclides. Since then, fourteen institutes, including CERN, have joined the collaboration to drive the scientific program of this unique installation and evaluate the needs of the community to improve the research in imaging, diagnostics, radiation therapy and personalized medicine. The facility has been built as an extension of the ISOLDE (Isotope Separator On Line DEvice) facility at CERN. Handling of open radioisotope sources is made possible thanks to its Radiological Controlled Area and laboratory. Targets are being irradiated by the 1.4 GeV proton beam delivered by the CERN Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB) on a station placed between the High Resolution Separator (HRS) ISOLDE target station and its beam dump. Irradiated target materials are also received from external institutes to undergo mass separation at CERN-MEDICIS. All targets are handled via a remote handling system and exploited on a dedicated isotope separator beamline. To allow for the release and collection of a specific radionuclide of medical interest, each target is heated to temperatures of up to 2,300°C. The created ions are extracted and accelerated to an energy up to 60 kV, and the beam steered through an off-line sector field magnet mass separator. This is followed by the extraction of the radionuclide of interest through mass separation and its subsequent implantation into a collection foil. In addition, the MELISSA (MEDICIS Laser Ion Source Setup At CERN) laser laboratory, in service since April 2019, helps to increase the separation efficiency and the selectivity. After collection, the implanted radionuclides are dispatched to the biomedical research centers, participating in the CERN-MEDICIS collaboration, for Research & Development in imaging or treatment. Since its commissioning, the CERN-MEDICIS facility has provided its partner institutes with non-conventional medical radionuclides such as Tb-149, Tb-152, Tb-155, Sm-153, Tm-165, Tm-167, Er-169, Yb-175, and Ac-225 with a high specific activity. This article provides a review of the achievements and milestones of CERN-MEDICIS since it has produced its first radioactive isotope in December 2017, with a special focus on its most recent operation in 2020., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Duchemin, Ramos, Stora, Ahmed, Aubert, Audouin, Barbero, Barozier, Bernardes, Bertreix, Boscher, Bruchertseifer, Catherall, Chevallay, Christodoulou, Chrysalidis, Cocolios, Comte, Crepieux, Deschamps, Dockx, Dorsival, Fedosseev, Fernier, Formento-Cavaier, El Idrissi, Ivanov, Gadelshin, Gilardoni, Grenard, Haddad, Heinke, Juif, Khalid, Khan, Köster, Lambert, Lilli, Lunghi, Marsh, Palenzuela, Martins, Marzari, Menaa, Michel, Munos, Pozzi, Riccardi, Riegert, Riggaz, Rinchet, Rothe, Russell, Saury, Schneider, Stegemann, Talip, Theis, Thiboud, van der Meulen, van Stenis, Vincke, Vollaire, Vuong, Webster, Wendt, Wilkins and the CERN-MEDICIS collaboration.)

We report on the measurement of the ^{7}Be(n,p)^{7}Li cross section from thermal to approximately 325 keV neutron energy, performed in the high-flux experimental area (EAR2) of the n_TOF facility at CERN. This reaction plays a key role in the lithium yield of the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) for standard cosmology. The only two previous time-of-flight measurements performed on this reaction did not cover the energy window of interest for BBN, and they showed a large discrepancy between each other. The measurement was performed with a Si telescope and a high-purity sample produced by implantation of a ^{7}Be ion beam at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. While a significantly higher cross section is found at low energy, relative to current evaluations, in the region of BBN interest, the present results are consistent with the values inferred from the time-reversal ^{7}Li(p,n)^{7}Be reaction, thus yielding only a relatively minor improvement on the so-called cosmological lithium problem. The relevance of these results on the near-threshold neutron production in the p+^{7}Li reaction is also discussed.