Status of the Ra nuclear data library and its impact on the production amount of Ac via the Ra (n,2n) reaction

Sasaki, Yuto ; Iwamoto, Nobuyuki  ; Takaki, Naoyuki*; Maeda, Shigetaka   

Ac is a promising alpha emitter for targeted alpha therapy. However, the current capability of Ac supply is limited to approximately 63 GBq/y, primarily relying on the natural source of Th stocked at a few institutes. Therefore, alternative Ac production methods are highly desired. The research and development of Ac and its parent nuclide production methods using accelerators and reactors to target Ra and Th are actively pursued worldwide. Hence, the authors focused on the Ra(n,2n) Ra method using fast neutron spectra as an application of the experimental fast reactor Joyo. This study investigated the status of nuclear data libraries for Ra, an essential target for Ac production, and evaluated the impact of different nuclear data libraries on the amount of Ac produced. Consequently, cross-sections with covariance data were stored in TENDL-2021, JEFF-3.3, and EAF-2010 but not in ENDF or JENDL, the major nuclear data libraries. Furthermore, no consistency occurred among the respective nuclear data, and the Ra production amount varied.