Abstract: Radionuclides are produced with a pulsed neutron flux from a multiple repetition rate staged Z-pinch machine, the pulsed neutron flux is moderated, an activatable radionuclide precursor is exposed to the moderated pulsed neutron flux, and a corresponding radionuclide from the activatable radionuclide precursor is produced. High current pulses are passed through a target plasma of fusible material enclosed in a cylindrical liner plasma composed of a high-Z plasma to generate a magnetic field that compresses the liner plasma, and generates shock waves. The shock implodes the target plasma. The shock front propagates between an outer shock front and an axis of the target plasma so it is heated through shock dissipation and by adiabatic compression due to an imploding shock front produced in the outer liner plasma to fuse light nuclei and generate alpha particles and neutrons. Alpha particles trapped within the magnetic field further heat the target plasma.

Abstract: A method for distillation of sulfur for preparing radioactive phosphorous nuclide includes the steps of: charging powdered sulfur into a target tube designed to have an upper and a bottom neck; degassing the target tube to form a vacuum therein, followed by heating the upper neck to seal the target tube; irradiating neutrons into the sealed target tube to produce radioactive phosphorous nuclide; heating the distillation zone to distill the remaining unreacted sulfur; and cleaving the target tube at the bottom neck to separate the distillation and the cooling zone from each other, the separated zones containing the radioactive phosphorous nuclide and the unreacted sulfur, respectively, whereby the radioactive phosphorous nuclide of high purity can be prepared while the sulfur can be recovered at high efficiency.