Effect of 226Ra purity as a target for 225Ac production using a fast reactor.

Researchers are seeking alternative 225Ac production methods because of the scarcity of 225Ac for targeted alpha therapy. Although 226Ra from waste sources has been considered, obtaining 226Ra is challenging. Therefore, the authors focused on the contamination of minerals with 232Th-derived 228Ra while investigating methods to recover 226Ra from uranium ores. The effect of 228Ra contamination on 225Ac production by 226Ra transmutation using fast reactors was evaluated. Consequently, toxic 228Ac contaminates 225Ac. However, using the different half-lives of 225Ac and 228Ac, pure 225Ac can be obtained from the chemical separation of actinium after cooling for 5–8 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]