Formation cross-sections and chromatographic separation of protactinium isotopes formed in proton-irradiated thorium metal

Abstract

Abstract Targeted alpha therapy (TAT) is a treatment method of increasing interest to the clinical oncology community that utilizes α-emitting radionuclides conjugated to biomolecules for the selective killing of tumor cells. Proton irradiation of thorium generates a number of α-emitting radionuclides with therapeutic potential for application via TAT. In particular, the radionuclide 230Pa is formed via the 232Th(p, 3n) nuclear reaction and partially decays to 230U, an α emitter which has recently received attention as a possible therapy nuclide. In this study, we estimate production yields for 230Pa and other Pa isotopes from proton-irradiated thorium based on cross section measurements. We adopt existing methods for the chromatographic separation of protactinium isotopes from proton irradiated thorium matrices to combine and optimize them for effective fission product decontamination.