Nuclear Cross-Section of Proton-Induced Reactions on Enriched Ti Targets for the Production of Theranostic Sc Radionuclide, Sc, Sc, Sc, Sc, and V.

The cross-sections of the Ti(p,x)Sc, Sc, Sc, Sc, Sc, and V nuclear reactions were measured from 18 to 70 MeV, with particular attention to Sc production. Enriched Ti powder was deposited on an aluminum backing and the obtained targets were characterized via elastic backscattering spectroscopy at the INFN-LNL. Targets were exposed to low-intensity proton irradiation using the stacked-foils technique at the ARRONAX facility.

Adsorption of radon on silver exchanged zeolites at ambient temperatures.

Since more than 100 years, the adsorption of the radioactive noble gas radon (Rn) is performed on activated charcoal at cryogenic temperatures. There is little-if any-progress in the field of radon adsorption at ambient conditions to facilitate the development of simple and compact radon adsorption systems. We report here on the truly remarkable property of the synthetic silver-exchanged zeolites Ag-ETS-10 and Ag-ZSM-5 to strongly adsorb radon gas at room temperature.

Resonant laser ionization and mass separation of Ac.

[Formula: see text]Ac is a radio-isotope that can be linked to biological vector molecules to treat certain distributed cancers using targeted alpha therapy. However, developing [Formula: see text]Ac-labelled radiopharmaceuticals remains a challenge due to the supply shortage of pure [Formula: see text]Ac itself. Several techniques to obtain pure [Formula: see text]Ac are being investigated, amongst which is the high-energy proton spallation of thorium or uranium combined with resonant laser ionization and mass separation.

Innovative Target for Production of Technetium-99m by Biomedical Cyclotron.

Technetium-99m (Tc) is the most used radionuclide worldwide in nuclear medicine for diagnostic imaging procedures. Tc is typically extracted from portable generators containing Mo, which is produced normally in nuclear reactors as a fission product of highly enriched Uranium material. Due to unexpected outages or planned and unplanned reactor shutdown, significant Tc shortages appeared as a problem since 2008 The alternative cyclotron-based approach through the Mo(p,2n)Tc reaction is considered one of the most promising routes for direct Tc production in order to mitigate potential Mo shortages.

LARAMED: A Laboratory for Radioisotopes of Medical Interest.

The widespread availability of novel radioactive isotopes showing nuclear characteristics suitable for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in nuclear medicine (NM) has experienced a great development in the last years, particularly as a result of key advancements of cyclotron-based radioisotope production technologies. At Legnaro National Laboratories of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (LNL-INFN), Italy, a 70-MeV high current cyclotron has been recently installed. This cyclotron will be dedicated not only to pursuing fundamental nuclear physics studies, but also to research related to other scientific fields with an emphasis on medical applications.

In-house cyclotron production of high-purity Tc-99m and Tc-99m radiopharmaceuticals.

In the last years, the technology for producing the important medical radionuclide technetium-99m by cyclotrons has become sufficiently mature to justify its introduction as an alternative source of the starting precursor [Tc][TcO] ubiquitously employed for the production of Tc-radiopharmaceuticals in hospitals. These technologies make use almost exclusively of the nuclear reaction Mo(p,2n)Tc that allows direct production of Tc-99m. In this study, it is conjectured that this alternative production route will not replace the current supply chain based on the distribution of Mo/Tc generators, but could become a convenient emergency source of Tc-99m only for in-house hospitals equipped with a conventional, low-energy, medical cyclotron.