Photonuclear production of medically relevant radionuclide 47Sc.

Formation of Sc radioisotopes under the irradiation of titanium of natural isotopic composition by bremsstrahlung photons with energies up to 55 MeV was studied. The yield of ⁴⁷Sc is 5·10⁵ Bq/μA h (g/cm²). Inevitable impurities are ⁴⁶Sc and ⁴⁸Sc (1.5% and 9.1% of ⁴⁷Sc radioactivity at EOB, respectively). ⁴⁷Sc was separated by extraction chromatography on a DGA resin in HNO₃ and HCl media. The separation procedure takes about 2 h, the radiochemical efficiency was > 97%. The result was compared with other photonuclear experiments on titanium nuclei. It is shown that the photonuclear method can be used for the production of therapeutic amounts of ⁴⁷Sc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]