232Th(d,4n) 230Pa cross-section measurements at ARRONAX facility for the production of 230U

Introduction: Th-226 (T-1/2 = 31 min) is a promising therapeutic radionuclide since results, published in 2009, showed that it induces leukemia cells death and activates apoptosis pathways with higher efficiencies than Bi-213. Th-226 can be obtained via the U-230 a decay. This study focuses on the U-230 production using the Th-232(d,4n)Pa-230(beta-)U-230 reaction. Methods: Experimental cross sections for deuteron-induced reactions on Th-232 were measured from 30 down to 19 MeV using the stacked-foil technique with beams provided by the ARRONAX cyclotron. After irradiation, all foils (targets as well as monitors) were measured using a high-purity germanium detector. Results: Our new Pa-230 cross-section values, as well as those of Pa-232 and Pa-233 contaminants created during the irradiation, were compared with previous measurements and with results given by the TALYS code. Experimentally, same trends were observed with slight differences in orders of magnitude mainly due to the nuclear data change. Improvements are ongoing about the TALYS code to better reproduce the data for deuteron-induced reactions on Th-232. Conclusions: Using our cross-section data points from the Th-232(d,4n)Pa-230 reaction, we have calculated the thick-target yield of U-230, in Bq/mu A.h. This value allows now to a full comparison between the different production routes, showing that the proton routes must be preferred. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.