Possibilities for the production of radioisotopes for nuclear-medicine problems by means of photonuclear reactions

Measured bremsstrahlung photonuclear production of 99Mo (99mTc) with 34 MeV to 1.7 GeV electrons

“…Any evaluation of the merits of a production strategy must include both evaluation of the available accelerator technology, and the subsequent techniques for efficient and high purity 99m Tc extraction and conversion to labeled compounds of medical utility. Photonuclear production has been demonstrated as a viable option, with source photons from Bremsstrahlung (Avagyan 2014, Bennett 1999, Dzhilavyan 2011, Dovbnya 2011, Sabel'nikov 2006, Starovoitova 2014 or Compton sources (Habs 2011). This method would provide a source of 99m Tc (half life 6 hours, the primary decay product from 99 Mo) without the security concerns surrounding high enrichment uranium (HEU) targets, or the need for dedicated nuclear reactor facilities.…”

Formation of medical radioisotopes 111In, 117m Sn, 124Sb, and 177Lu in photonuclear reactions

“…For example, the possibility of 111 In and 117m Sn production in photonuclear reactions was considered in [2][3][4]. The specific activity (that is, the activity normalized to the irradiated mass, beam current, and irradiation time) was analyzed there.…”

Study of the possibility of the production and separation of the 18F radioisotope at electron accelerators

“…The production of 18 F in photonuclear reactions was studied earlier in [18][19][20][21][22] within the framework of evaluation of the possibility of radioisotope produc tion at electron accelerators. The authors of [20] obtained encouraging results with respect to the total activity levels of 18 F (in comparison with the demands of nuclear medicine) experimenting with the 23 Na(γ, αn) 18 F reaction in metallic sodium targets.…”