710038A Tokamak Neutron Source for Medical and other ApplicationsClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKThe business opportunity that this project addresses has been summarised in the editorial and main feature article in The Engineer published on 11 April 2011. In the words of the Editor: “The medical industry relies on nuclear fission for the production of radioactive isotopes – which are essential for a range of scanning techniques and cancer treatments. With the experimental reactors that produce these isotopes coming to the end of their lives and plans to prolong their lives or replace them suddenly not looking so straightforward [due to events at Fukushima], there are genuine fears that we’re heading for a worldwide shortage of nuclear medicine. But where one technology falters, another spies an opportunity and [as Appendix A explains], an impending radioisotope shortage could give nuclear fusion – the energy industry’s holy grail – a more immediate opportunity to prove its worth. Indeed, nuclear medicine is just one application that could drive the development of fusion, its usefulness as a source of neutrons could also see it being used to clean up nuclear waste and even to trigger fission reactions in new, safe, hybrid fusion-fission reactors… Despite its considerable promise, the commercial case for fusion is far from certain and, in an economic climate where investment is increasingly limited to dead-certs, its progress has been stuttering at best. But by providing genuine solutions to short-term problems its credibility will be improved, funding should be more forthcoming and, perhaps most importantly, engineers will continue to advance the technology to the point where it can be used for commercial energy generation.” The opportunity is for Tokamak Solutions UK Ltd (TSUK) to be first to secure valuable IP (patents and designs), first to market with a Compact Fusion Neutron Source (CFNS) and first to form collaborative partnerships with larger businesses capable of addressing each of the major markets for a CFNS. The opportunity arises from the UK’s world lead in fusion research at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE), TSUK’s invention of a CFNS based on a novel combination of existing technologies and recent developments in high temperature superconducting magnets. This project will set TSUK on course to seize the opportunity. The medical applications of a CFNS are of particular interest. As well as producing isotopes, our CFNS has the potential to produce neutron beams, initially for imaging research and then for clinical use. Fusion neutron beams may also be useful for neutron capture therapy (based on B, Ga and other elements) or for fast neutron therapy. Both of these therapies offer promising approaches to treatment of certain cancers. However, both are held back by the limitations of neutron sources, particularly by the lack of high flux sources suitable for a clinical environment. Appendix A, published in The Engineer on 11 April 2011, gives a good summary of our overall business proposition.