Studies on optimization of production and radiochemical preparation of ⁴⁵Ca using Dhruva research reactor

The objective is to assess reactor production of ⁴⁵Ca by neutron irradiation of CaCO₃ and enriched CaO targets in Dhruva research reactor and radiochemical preparation of medically useful ⁴⁵Ca envisaged for palliative treatment of metastatic bone pain in patients suffering from skeletal metastases. This paper describes the production of ⁴⁵Ca, processing and radiochemical separation using liquid-liquid extraction (LLX) technique for nuclear medicine applications. ⁴⁵Ca was produced with specific activity 4.3 MBq ⁴⁵Ca and 381 MBq ⁴⁵Ca per mg Ca from targets of natural and enriched isotopic compositions respectively. 99.9% radionuclidic purity for ⁴⁵Ca was achieved in case of enriched targets and is deemed suitable for biomedical applications. (author)