EcoAtom has developed a new technology for the production of stable isotopes that is qualitatively superior than any other today- Electro-Magneto-Diffusive Isotope (EMDIS) Separation. At present, separating isotopes by various methods is the main field of EcoAtom’s research activities. Indeed, we provide extensive cooperation to the scientific and engineering communities seeking to develop novel isotope related technologies in basic and applied sciences, medicine, and various industries.
This method is based on the enhancement of differences of transport properties of particles with various masses in liquid phase.
It is worthwhile to emphasis that the new approach is highly effective from technological as well as commercial perspective.
Effective isotope production technologies can be widely applied in various areas: covering science, engineering, energy, health care etc. Among of the most advanced commercial directions are nuclear medicine and nuclear power.
Radioisotopes have been especially applied to combating prostate cancer since the mid-1990s. Twenty-five percent of men in the US who have early stage prostate cancer receive medical treatment by radioisotopes. More than 15 million nuclear medicine procedures take place in Europe annually, of which 14 million are diagnostic. About one million therapeutic procedures take place as well: Germany – 40%; France – 15%; Great Britain – 8%; Spain – 8%; other countries – 18%.
In Australia, about 430,000 nuclear medicine procedures using isotopes occur annually and is expected to increase year after year.
Technetium-99m is the most widely used isotope. The industry is organizing production worldwide of molybden-99, which is used in special constructions of generators for obtaining Technetium-99m. The major supplier of generators for Technetium-99m is MDS Nordion. MDS Nordion recently constructed two new reactors and a processing plant, thus establishing the capacity to provide molybden-99 worldwide.
ELECTRO-MAGNETO-DIFFUSIVE ISOTOPE SEPARATION METHOD.
EcoAtom’s EMDIS is a novel method for isotope separation. It permits the extraction and separation of HTO and D2O from electrolytes, using unique hydro-chemical and electrochemical techniques as outlined below.
The primary advantage of the newly conceived EMDIS, compared to the existing Laser Isotope Separation (LIS), Plasma Isotope Separation (PIS), Centrifugal Isotope Separation (CIS), Magnetic Isotope Separation (MIS), and, the most common, Gas Diffusion Isotope Separation (GDIS) methods, is that its lowest consumption of energy among all other techniques. This also includes the Ultrasonic Extraction (UE) of heavy metals that is used to retrieve samples from liquid wastes and may have isotopic separation properties.
Moreover, compared to laser, plasma and magnetic isotope separation technologies, where the elements and isotopes must first be ionized then separated, EMDIS does not require the high investment of energy to ionize the atoms that facilitates mass separation. Indeed, EMDIS will have a broader application, as it can be used readily to separate deuterium and tritium from hydrogen, as well as an extension of the proposed approach to separate the isotopes from much heavier
elements.
EMDIS is based on the oscillation of artificially created three-dimensional net-like structures in liquids. This is induced by using permanent and oscillating magnetic field components that act on magnetized nano-materials introduced into the liquids containing the isotopes to be separated.