89Zr production with electron accelerators by irradiating molybdenum

Abstract

89Zr is a promising radionuclide for high-resolution PET imaging with radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies. In the present study, the possibility of 89Zr production from molybdenum targets was investigated using electron accelerators. The 89Zr activity yields were determined experimentally for bremsstrahlung with endpoint energies of 20 and 55 MeV. The amount of radioactive impurities and stable zirconium isotopes associated with the 89Zr produced was estimated using experimental results and the TALYS 1.96 code. The conditions for achieving a minimum level of zirconium by-product isotopes to meet the expected clinical requirements are discussed in the article. The reaction 92Mo(γ, p2n)89Nb→89Zr was found to be the most promising for photonuclear production. It can provide the highest purity of zirconium radionuclide and the lowest amount of zirconium stable isotopes. A major advantage of the proposed method will be the ability to use natural molybdenum targets.