Evaluation of nuclear reaction cross sections for optimization of production of the non-standard positron emitting radionuclide Nb using proton induced reactions on Zr target.

Niobium-90 radionuclide is one of the promising candidates for the positron emission tomography (PET) technique. In this study, Nb excitation functions via Zr(p,n) and Zr(p,xn) reactions were computed using the TALYS-1.95 code based on phenomenological and microscopic level density models. The MCNPX simulation code was used for each case. Moreover, the target thicknesses were obtained using the SRIM-2013 code and the theoretical and simulation-based production yields of the Nb were evaluated. The experimental production yield amounts of about 72.68 and 126.7 (both in MBq/μAh) for Zr(p,n) and Zr(p,xn) reactions in the corresponding optimal energy windows were attained by our experiments respectively.