Cross-section measurement of the 169 Tm p,n reaction for the production of the therapeutic radionuclide 169 Yb and comparison with its reactor-based generation.

The radionuclide (169)Yb (T(1/2)=32.0 d) is potentially important for internal radiotherapy. It is generally produced using a nuclear reactor. In this work the possibility of its production at a cyclotron was investigated. A detailed determination of the excitation function of the (169)Tm(p,n)(169)Yb reaction was done over the proton energy range up to 45 MeV using the stacked-foil technique and high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry. The integral yield of (169)Yb was calculated. Over the optimum energy range E(P)=16-->7 MeV the yield amounts to 1.5 MBq/micro Ah and is thus rather low. A comparison of this production route with the established (168)Yb(n,gamma)(169)Yb reaction at a nuclear reactor is given. The (169)Yb yield via the reactor route is by several orders of magnitude higher than by the cyclotron method. The latter procedure, however, leads to "no-carrier-added" product.