Production of Actinium-225 via High Energy Proton Induced Spallation of Thorium-232

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Abstract

The science of cancer research is currently expanding its use of alpha particle emitting radioisotopes. Coupled with the discovery and proliferation of molecular species that seek out and attach to tumors, new therapy and diagnostics are being developed to enhance the treatment of cancer and other diseases. This latest technology is commonly referred to as Alpha Immunotherapy (AIT). Actinium-225/Bismuth-213 is a parent/daughter alpha-emitting radioisotope pair that is highly sought after because of the potential for treating numerous diseases and its ability to be chemically compatible with many known and widely used carrier molecules (such as monoclonal antibodies and proteins/peptides). Unfortunately, the worldwide supply of actinium-225 is limited to about 1,000mCi annually and most of that is currently spoken for, thus limiting the ability of this radioisotope pair to enter into research and subsequently clinical trials. The route proposed herein utilizes high energy protons to produce actinium-225 via spallation of a thorium-232 target. As part of previous R and D efforts carried out at Argonne National Laboratory recently in support of the proposed US FRIB facility, it was shown that a very effective production mechanism for actinium-225 is spallation of thorium-232 by high energy proton beams. The base-line simulation for the production rate of actinium-225 by this reaction mechanism is 8E12 atoms per second at 200 MeV proton beam energy with 50 g/cm2 thorium target and 100 kW beam power. An irradiation of one actinium-225 half-life (10 days) produces {approx}100 Ci of actinium-225. For a given beam current the reaction cross section increases slightly with energy to about 400 MeV and then decreases slightly for beam energies in the several GeV regime. The object of this effort is to refine the simulations at proton beam energies of 400 MeV and above up to about 8 GeV. Once completed, the simulations will be experimentally verified using 400 MeV and 8 GeV protons available at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Targets will be processed at Argonne National Laboratory to separate and purify the actinium-225 that will subsequently be transferred to NorthStar laboratory facilities for product quality testing and comparison to the product quality of ORNL produced actinium-225, which is currently the industry standard. The test irradiations at FNAL will produce 1-20 mCi per day which is more than sufficient for quantitative evaluation of the proposed production process. The beneficial outcome of this effort will be a new production route for actinium-225 that does not use or require any uranium-233 materials owned by DOE or use any radium-226 as an irradiation target but can supply the medical community's needs for actinium-225 now and in the future.

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