Photonuclear production of medical radioisotopes 161Tb and 155Tb

The production possibility of 161Tb and 155Tb by irradiating of natural dysprosium with gamma rays obtained by decelerating an electron beam with an energy of 55 MeV has been demonstrated experimentally. The yield of 161Tb was 14.4 × 103 Bq × μA−1 × h−1 × cm2 × gDy2O3−1. Simultaneously, upon irradiation, 155Dy is formed with the yield of 25 × 103 Bq × μA−1 × h−1 × cm2 × gDy2O3−1, which leads to the formation of 1.6 × 103 Bq × μA−1 × h−1 × cm2 × gDy2O3−1 of 155Tb. It has been shown that the isolation of terbium radioisotopes from tens of mg of dysprosium target can be achieved by extraction chromatography, and final separation yield was 39%. The impurity of 160Tb is 7.3% of the 161Tb activity at EOB. •Production of 161Tb and 155Tb from natural dysprosium by photonuclear method.•Yield calculation of the nuclides 161Tb, 155Tb, 160,163Tb, 155,157Dy.•Isolation of terbium isotopes by extraction chromatography.•For the production of 161Tb the use of the target enriched with 162Dy will increase the radioisotopic purity of the product.