Investigation of the impurity concentrations and product activities of some targets used in radioisotope production. A neutron activation analysis study

Neutron activation analysis using the k0 standardization method (k0-NAA) and fast neutron activation analysis using reactor fission neutrons, were used to determine the impurity concentrations in WO3, MoO3, SnO2 and TeO2 targets. The radioimpurities 124Sb, 134Cs, 60Co, 87Rb, 182Ta, 233Pa, 65Zn, 59Fe, 110mAg, 51Cr, 95Zr, 75Se and 114mIn were found in the irradiated targets and their origin either neutron capture reactions, or threshold reactions or both were identified. The specific activities of 187W, 188Re, 99mTc, 113mIn, 117mSn and 131I radioisotopes were determined. It is shown that the epithermal neutron flux significantly contributes to the isotopes characterized with high Q0 values. It is shown that the 117mSn isotope can be produced with a high specific activity using the fast neutron component of the reactor neutron spectrum. (author)