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8087250 
Journal Article 
Reactor production of P-32 for medical applications: an assessment of S-32(n, p)P-32 and P-31(n,gamma)P-32 methods 
Vimalnath, KV; Shetty, P; Rajeswari, A; Chirayil, V; Chakraborty, S; Dash, A 
2014 
Yes 
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
ISSN: 0236-5731
EISSN: 1588-2780 
301 
2 
555-565 
English 
WOS:000340490600029 
The article describes a comparative study carried out on the reactor production of 32P by two different processes, namely, 32S(n,p)32P and 31P(n,γ)32P with a view to determine the merits and bottlenecks of each method and assess the usefulness of 32P obtained from each of the processes. In a typical batch, 250 g of elemental sulfur when irradiated at a fast neutron flux of ∼8 × 1011 n cm-2 s-1 for 60 days, after chemical processing provided about 150 GBq(4.05Ci) of 32P having specific activity of 200TBq(5500Ci)/mmole. On the other hand, irradiation of 0.35 g of red phosphorus at a fast neutron flux of ∼7.5 × 10 13 n cm-2 s-1 for a period of 60 days gave 75 GBq(2.02Ci) of 32P of specific activity 7 GBq(190mCi)/mol -1. While the specific activity of 32P obtained from 32S(n,p)32P is superior to that obtained from the 3lP(n,γ)32P process, the requirement of elaborate target processing steps involving distillation and purification emerged as a deterrent that limits its widespread adaptability. Both the production routes offer 32P of acceptable quality amenable for medical applications although their specific activity differs. © 2014 Akadémiai Kiadó. 
P-31(n,gamma)P-32; S-32(n,p)P-32; Distillation; Neutron irradiation; Red phosphorus