¹⁵⁵Tb from natural targets: Reaction modeling of ^natTb(p, x) and ^natGd(α, x)

¹ Department of Physics – University of Pavia, Italy
² INFN – Pavia Unit, Italy

^* e-mail: alessandro.colombi@pv.infn.it

Published online: 14 March 2024

Abstract

Four terbium radionuclides (¹⁴⁹Tb, ¹⁵²Tb, ¹⁵⁵Tb and ¹⁶¹Tb) are promising key players in the field of radiopharmaceutical production: in particular ¹⁵⁵Tb emits Auger-electrons and γ rays suitable respectively for therapy and for SPECT imaging. In this work we investigate and compare two ¹⁵⁵Tb generators by considering reactions of protons on ^natTb and of alpha particles on ^natGd for energies E<70 MeV. Both routes can be studied using intermediate energy cyclotrons for the production of ¹⁵⁵Dy, the precursor of ¹⁵⁵Tb. The two production routes are analyzed with the nuclear reaction code TALYS by varying the parameters of the models to improve the agreement between the calculated cross sections and the available experimental data. Realistic theoretical simulations for the production of ¹⁵⁵Tb are performed by optimizing the activity and the purity of the final product, with a full simulation of the radiochemical separation procedure.