Radioactive lanthanides are an important tool in the medical field. For example, the samarium isotope of 153Sm has been proven to have desirable characteristics for treatment of bone cancer. However, for medical purposes, the radioactive isotopes must be produced at high specific activity, i.e. low concentration of inactive carrier, so they are beneficial for the therapy but the concentration of the metal ions does not exceed the maximum sustainable by the human body. The objective of our research is to produce radioactive lanthanides with high specific activity in a small-scale research reactor using the Szilard-Chalmers method. At the start of his career Michael Welch was a �Hot Atom Chemist� relying on the Szilard�Chalmers effects, and he definitely followed this extensively throughout his career. We will present methods for preparation of the material used for irradiations and the results of enrichment factors and extraction yields in radioactive lanthanide solutions.

Producing high specific activity radiolanthanides for medical purposes

245th National Meeting (2013)

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