The need for radioisotopes in cancer therapy is very well established. With a view to providing standardised data for the production of relevant radioisotopes an IAEA Coordinated Research Project on "Nuclear Data for the Production of Therapeutic Radionuclides" was started in 2003, and is now close to completion. Experimental data compilations, theoretical calculations and evaluations were carried out for each of the reactions. The recommendations for both established and emerging radionuclides are discussed. Examples of the analyses carried out to produce the recommended data for some radionuclides are also presented. The improved quality of the nuclear data will make reactor and accelerator production of therapeutic radionuclides much more efficient and effective, and should also enhance their quality through improved purity.

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IAEA coordinated research programme: nuclear data for the production of therapeutic radionuclides

Cross sections of proton induced nuclear reactions on enriched 111Cd and 112Cd for the production of 111In for use in nuclear medicine.

An upgrade and validation test of the recommended cross-section database for production of gamma emitter radioisotopes by charged particle induced reactions, published by the IAEA in 2001, was performed. Experimental microscopic cross-section data published earlier or measured recently and not yet included in the evaluation work were collected and added to the primary database in order to improve the quality of the recommended data. The newly compiled experimental data in general supported the previous recommended data, but in a few cases they influenced the decision and resulted in different selected cross-section data sets. A Spline fitting method was used to calculate the recommended data from the selected data sets. Integral thick target yields were deduced from the newly calculated recommended cross-sections and were critically compared with the available experimental yield data.

Validation and upgrading of the recommended cross-section data of charged particle reactions: Gamma emitter radioisotopes

Radionuclide candidates for β+γ coincidence PET: An overview

Pre-equilibrium process in 3He-induced reactions on 59Co, 109Ag, 181Ta and 209Bi

Excitation functions of the reactions109Ag(3He,xn) and111Cd(p, xn) have been measured with stacked foil techniques for projectile energies E≦45 MeV and multiplicitiesx≦4 populating ground and spin isomeric states in112−x
In. Preequilibrium (PE) contributions are more pronounced for thep than for the3He entrance channel and for low multiplicitiesx and can be reproduced with the (geometry dependent) hybrid model. The observed isomeric cross section ratios require a reduced population for the high spin state (as compared with the expectation for equilibrated systems) whenever PE emission contributes significantly. Calculations for a full statistical model with a PE decay mode and approximate angular momentum conservation indicate PE neutron emission to be stretched in angular momentum space. For the (p, xn) reactions a more detailed coupling scheme is imperative whereas the (3He,xn) data suggest the competitive PE emission of complex particles.

A. Schüring

Papers

Preequilibrium neutron emission in 109 Ag( 3 He, xn ) and 111 Cd( p, xn ) reactions