Process automation in radioactive environments

The process development of an automated production of a radiopharmaceutical (actinium-225) is subject of this paper focusing on the automation and control aspects. Discretization, similarity and diversity as development techniques are essential in the development of unknown processes with need for automation in an early stage of development. Also the applied control architecture is subject of this paper. Since radioactive materials are involved in the production processes and the product is a medical used isotope for cancer treatment, special care on safety as well as reliability of the control system and the automated equipment has been applied.