Breeding 10{sup 10}/s Radioactive Nuclei in a Compact Plasma Focus Device

In the early 90's, it was discovered that a Plasma Focus (PF) system self-creates a plasma-tarp in which high energy-threshold nuclear-reactions occur at high reaction rates. Short life radioisotopes (SLR)s such as {sup 18}F, {sup 17}F, {sup 15}O, {sup 14}O, {sup 13}N have been generated (10{sup 6} - 10{sup 8} per pulse) with a PF-machine using 7 kJ energy storage to produce the plasmas. {beta}{sup -} radioactivity from the SLRs is measured with rugged, Geiger counters inserted into the PF-chamber, and a specific SLR is identified by its half-life. The PF chamber (before discharge) is filled with a mixture of gases that constitutes the latter plasma-target--beam system, e.g., the elements required to produce specific SLRs through nuclear reactions. In this paper, arguments are presented showing that a modest sized PF-machine, using a 50-75 kJ fast capacitor-bank, when operated at pulse frequencies of 1-10 Hz can produce {ge} 10{sup 9} SLRs/pulse. This paper reports the result s of testing a PF as a breeder of SLRs with dual applications for: (1) Secondary Radioactive Nuclear Beams ion-sources (Z < 35), and (2) as a breeder of radioisotopes for biomedicine (Z {le} 10) and/or PET imaging.