Among prospective a-emitters, 225Ac (t1/2 = 10.0 d) is of major interest for Targeted Alpha Therapy, where 225Ac is the decay product of long-lived 229Th (t1/2 = 7880 y). Currently, 228Ra (t1/2= 5.75 y, first a-decay of 232Th) is being considered as target for production of 229Th via 228Ra[n,?]229Ra(t1/2=4.0 m, �-)229Ac(t1/2=62.7m, �-)229Th nuclear reaction. The goal of this project is to recover ~2 �g of 228Ra from 5 kg of 30-y old 232Th, purify and prepare 228Ra target for irradiation at the ORNL-HFIR for measurement of the effective cross-section for the above reaction. Based on a 36 barn reported thermal neutron cross-section of 228Ra, the predicated 229Th yield is ~0.04 mCi per mg of 228Ra for a 50-d irradiation at a thermal neutron flux of 2x1015 n.s-1.cm-2. A comparison of the experimental and theoretical data will be presented.

Radium-228 as a target for production of thorium-229 in a nuclear reactor

245th National Meeting (2013)

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