Production of medical radionuclides with triton-particle beams

We started an original and exploratory simulation study of radionuclide production by irradiation through triton-particle beams. We considered the production of Copper-67 for innovative medical applications as a case study. We found two promising production avenues via triton irradiation of pure Zinc-67 and Zinc-68 target samples. The modern nuclear-reaction code TALYS was used to estimate cross-section and yields. The results have been compared with a recent study on Copper-67 production with intermediate-energy proton irradiation on enriched zinc targets. The study has demonstrated that nuclear-reaction models predict, with triton beams, a tenfold increase in yields, a higher radionuclidic purity and a smaller contamination from stable Copper isotopes. In addition, the use of triton beams would require minor quantities of enriched (i.e. expensive) material in the target samples and would render unnecessary the employment of the very expensive Zinc-70 isotope, which has to be considered with proton beams.