Production of Pb-203 from target manufacturing to chemical separation Tl/Pb

Thomas Sounalet (1) , Cyrille Alliot (2) , Nadia Audouin (2) , Nicolas Bozovic (3) , Fabien Brelet (2) , Rémy Dureau (3) , Lucas Granger (2) , Arnaud Guertin (1) , Ferid Haddad (1, 2) , Keerthana Kamalakannan (1) , Etienne Nigron (1) , Maryne Tarinas (2)

1 SUBATECH - Laboratoire de physique subatomique et des technologies associées
2 GIP ARRONAX [Nantes]
3 Orano

Lead 212 (t1/2 = 10.6 h) and lead 203 (t1/2 = 51.9 h), can be used as a theranostic pair of isotopes for theranostic applications in nuclear medicine. 212Pb is obtained by decay of 224Ra and is used for alpha targeted therapy whereas 203Pb is produced by proton irradiation of a thallium target and allows for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) thanks to its 279.2 keV (80.9%) photons. Current production of Pb-203 uses natTl bombarded by a proton beam. In this work, we consider alternative production routes using enriched 205Tl deuteron beams in order to limit the level of 201Pb (t1/2 = 9.33h) impurities. Starting from cross section measurements, we have defined optimal production parameters and yields. In parallel, we have developed a manufacturing process of the target by electroplating as well as a separation chemical process using a Pb resin provided by Triskem. This scheme will allow us to produce 203Pb in the near future.

Domaines: Physique des Hautes Energies - Expérience [hep-ex]

Thomas Sounalet, Cyrille Alliot, Nadia Audouin, Nicolas Bozovic, Fabien Brelet, et al.. Production of Pb-203 from target manufacturing to chemical separation Tl/Pb. 30th Conference of the International Nuclear target Development Society INTDS 2022, Sep 2022, Villigen, Switzerland. ⟨hal-03844903⟩