METHOD OF PRODUCING RADIOISOTOPE I-161 Russian patent published in 2023 - IPC G21G1/10 

FIELD: nuclear medicine.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to reactor technology for producing radioisotopes for nuclear medicine and can be used to produce the radioisotope ¹⁶¹Tb in quantities sufficient for therapy in research reactors with a thermal neutron flux of 10¹⁴ s^-1 cm^-2. The method is based on irradiation of enriched gadolinium-160 in a reactor with a neutron flux with an intensity of up to 10¹⁴ s^-1 cm^-2 through the intermediate formation of the short-lived isotope¹⁶¹ Gd according to the reaction¹⁶⁰ Gd(n,γ) ¹⁶¹Gd→ ¹⁶¹Tb followed by dissolving the target material in 7 M HNO₃ and sequentially passing through columns filled with sorbent: (1) based on N,N,N',N'-tetra-n-octyldiglycolamide, (2) di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid, (3) N,N,N',N'-tetra-n-octyldiglycolamide and (4) an acrylic ester polymer. The first column is used to concentrate ¹⁶¹Tb and reduce the acidity of the medium to 0.01 M HNO₃. The second column is used for the main separation of Gd and Tb. Elution of Gd is carried out with 0.58 M HNO₃, ¹⁶¹Tb — 0.7 M HNO₃. The third column is used to concentrate ¹⁶¹Tb and remove traces of nitric acid. Elution of ¹⁶¹Tb is carried out with 0.05 M HCl. The fourth column is used to remove traces of organic matter.

EFFECT: technical result is to increase the yield and radionuclide purity of 161Tb without a carrier in research reactors with a thermal neutron flux up to 1,014 s^-1 cm^-2.

3 cl, 3 dwg