Effect of Ra purity as a target for Ac production using a fast reactor

Sasaki, Yuto ; Maeda, Shigetaka   

Researchers are seeking alternative Ac production methods because of the scarcity of Ac for targeted alpha therapy. Although Ra from waste sources has been considered, obtaining Ra is challenging. Therefore, the authors focused on the contamination of minerals with Th-derived Ra while investigating methods to recover Ra from uranium ores. The effect of 228Ra contamination on Ac production by Ra transmutation using fast reactors was evaluated. Consequently, toxic Ac contaminates Ac. However, using the different half-lives of Ac and Ac, pure Ac can be obtained from the chemical separation of actinium after cooling for 5-8 days.