Abstract Title of dissertation: NEUTRONIC EFFECTS ON TUNGSTEN-186 DOUBLE

Rhenium-188, a daughter product of tungsten-188, is an isotope of great interest in therapeutic nuclear medicine, being used in dozens of laboratory and clinical investigations worldwide. Applications include various cancer therapy strategies, treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, prevention of restenosis following coronary artery angioplasty, and palliation of bone pain associated with cancer metastases. With its half-life of 17 hours, 2.12 MeV (maximum) beta-particle emission, chemical similarity to technetium-99m (the most widely used diagnostic radioisotope), and its availability in a convenient tungsten-188/rhenium-188 generator system, rhenium-188 is a superb candidate for a broad range of applications. Production of 188W is typically via double neutron capture by 186W in a high flux nuclear reactor, predominantly the High Flux Isotope Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Experience at HFIR has shown that production yields (measured in Ci of 188W produced per g of 186W target) decrease considerably as target size increases. While the phenomenon of neutron resonance self-shielding would be expected to produce such an effect, temperature effects on neutron flux distribution an