Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A hybrid reactor operable to produce a medical isotope, the reactor comprising:an ion source operable to produce an ion beam from a gas;a target chamber including a target that interacts with the ion beam to produce neutrons via a fusion reaction, wherein the target comprises deuterium, tritium, or helium, or a combination thereof; andan annular activation cell positioned proximate the target chamber and including a parent material that interacts with the neutrons to produce the medical isotope via a fission reaction, wherein the parent material is in an aqueous solution, wherein the water of the aqueous solution acts as a moderator, and wherein the fission reaction is maintained at a subcritical level with neutron multiplication. 2. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, wherein RF resonance is used to produce the ion beam. 3. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, further comprising an accelerator positioned between the ion source and the target chamber and operable to accelerate the ions of the ion beam. 4. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, wherein the gas includes one of deuterium and tritium and the target includes the other of deuterium and tritium. 5. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, wherein the target chamber defines a long target path that is substantially linear. 6. The hybrid reactor of claim 5, further comprising at least one magnet positioned to define a magnetic field that collimates the ion beam within at least a portion of the long target path. 7. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, wherein the target chamber defines a long target path that is substantially helical. 8. The hybrid reactor of claim 7, further comprising at least one magnet positioned to define a magnetic field that directs the ion beam along the helical path. 9. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, wherein the ion source and the target chamber together at least partially define one of a plurality of fusion reactors. 10. The hybrid reactor of claim 9, wherein the target chamber of each of the plurality of fusion reactors cooperate to substantially surround a cylindrical space. 11. The hybrid reactor of claim 10, wherein the activation cell is substantially annular and is positioned within the cylindrical space. 12. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, further comprising a reflector positioned proximate the target chamber and selected to reflect neutrons toward the activation cell. 13. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, wherein the parent material comprises uranium enriched to 20% or less of 235U and the medical isotope is 99Mo. 14. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, further comprising an attenuator positioned proximate the activation cell and selected to maintain the fission reaction at a subcritical level. 15. The hybrid reactor of claim 12, wherein the attenuator is positioned inside of the annular activation cell and the reflector substantially surrounds the plurality of target chambers. 16. A hybrid reactor operable to produce a medical isotope, the reactor comprising:an ion source operable to produce an ion beam from a gas;a target chamber including a target that interacts with the ion beam to produce neutrons via a fusion reaction, wherein the target comprises deuterium, tritium, or helium, or a combination thereof; andan annular activation cell positioned proximate the target chamber and including an aqueous solution comprising a parent material that interacts with the neutrons to produce the medical isotope via a fission reaction, wherein the water of the aqueous solution acts as a moderator, and wherein the fission reaction is maintained at a subcritical level with neutron multiplication. 17. The hybrid reactor of claim 1, further comprising an additional moderator substantially surrounding the activation cell.