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The Isotope Production Facility (IPF) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is used to produce an array of isotopes for medical, global security, and research applications with an intense beam of protons supplied by the linear accelerator at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). An Accelerator Improvement Project (AIP) was recently conducted at IPF to improve facility reliability and reduce programmatic risk while increasing general isotope production capacity and flexibility. This was accomplished through the installation of an improved beam window assembly, more robust beam diagnostics, an active and adjustable collimator , and a new beam rastering system. This paper will highlight the four exciting innovations and how they were designed, validated, and installed in parallel as well as the significant operational advantages they provide to IPF. Key experiments and the increased currents achieved in routine production runs demonstrating the enhanced capability from the AIP will be presented. The most notable capability enhancements include irradiations with beam currents ranging from 100 nA experimental runs up to 300 μ A on routine production targets and utilization of a range of cylindrical target diameters.

Radioactive 82Sr/82Rb produced at Los Alamos National Laboratory is routinely used in generators for hospitals and medical laboratories to support cardiac imaging. The proper quantification of strontium radioisotopes in a sample is important to ensure quality and regulatory compliance. However, the quantification of the impurity 85Sr is difficult, because its primary gamma-ray at 514 keV interferes with the annihilation peak at 511 keV from 82Rb. Synthetic spectra were created as a quality test of several gamma-ray spectral analysis tools’ ability to resolve peaks in the 511/514 keV multiplet. The peak fitting results from the spectroscopy tools (RAYGUN, SPECANAL, GammaVision, UNISAMPO, and GAMANAL) are presented. These spectra can also be useful for other programs to test their annihilation peak analysis procedures.

A simple instrument is described which may be used either as a viscometer with a range from 200 to 15000 poise, or as a gelation timer. The 4 ml sample is contained within a disposable measuring element, the temperature of which can be controlled accurately. For viscosity measurements of Newtonian liquids an accuracy to 5% or better should be obtainable. The instrument will automatically register gelation time, and the viscosity-time relationship during cure can also be obtained.

A simple instrument is described which may be used either as a viscometer with a range from 200 to 15000 poise, or as a gelation timer. The 4 ml sample is contained within a disposable measuring element, the temperature of which can be controlled accurately. For viscosity measurements of Newtonian liquids an accuracy to 5% or better should be obtainable. The instrument will automatically register gelation time, and the viscosity-time relationship during cure can also be obtained.