Measurement of the Yield of Protactinium Radioisotopes 230,232,233Pa on Irradiation of ThO2 Targets by 1,2H AND 3,4He Nuclei

This article reports the first measurements of the yield of the radioisotopes 230,232,233 Pa on irradiation of thick ThO 2 targets by 1,2 H and 3.4 He. The experimental yield was compared with the computed yield using constants from the TENDL-2019 library and the SRIM computer code was used to calculate the travel distance. Most experimental values differ from the computed values. It is shown that the highest yield of 230 Pa – 3.47 MBq/(μA∙h) – can be obtained by irradiating with a proton beam a thorium dioxide target in the U-150 cyclotron at the NRC Kurchatov Institute. It is concluded that 230 U with activity sufficient for clinical use can be produced using the cyclotron.