Reactor production of [sup.32]P for medical applications: an assessment of [sup.32]S[sup.32]P methods

• Published in: Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry 2014-08, Vol.301 (2), p.555
• Main Authors: Vimalnath, K.V, Shetty, Priyalata, Rajeswari, A, Chirayil, Viju, Chakraborty, Sudipta, Dash, Ashutosh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Methods; Sulfur compounds
• ISSN: 0236-5731
• DOI: 10.1007/s10967-014-3115-0

The article describes a comparative study carried out on the reactor production of [sup.32]P by two different processes, namely, [sup.32]S(n,p) P and P(n, γ) P with a view to determine the merits and bottlenecks of each method and assess the usefulness of [sup.32]P obtained from each of the processes. In a typical batch, 250 g of elemental sulfur when irradiated at a fast neutron flux of ~ 8 x [10.sup.11] n [cm.sup.-2] [s.sup.-1] for 60 days, after chemical processing provided about 150 GBq(4.05Ci) of [sup.32]P having specific activity of 200TBq(5500Ci)/mmole. On the other hand, irradiation of 0.35 g of red phosphorus at a fast neutron flux of ~ 7.5 x [10.sup.13] n [cm.sup.-2] [s.sup.-1] for a period of 60 days gave 75 GBq(2.02Ci) of [sup.32]P of specific activity 7 GBq(190mCi)/ [mol.sup.-1]. While the specific activity of [sup.32]P obtained from 32S(n,p)[sup.32]P is superior to that obtained from the [sup.3l]P(n, γ)[sup.32]P process, the requirement of elaborate target processing steps involving distillation and purification emerged as a deterrent that limits its widespread adaptability. Both the production routes offer [sup.32]P of acceptable quality amenable for medical applications although their specific activity differs. Keywords [sup.31]P(n, γ)[sup.32]P * [sup.32]S(n,p)[sup.32]P * Distillation * Neutron irradiation * Red phosphorus