Evaluation of promethium-147 production by irradiating natural neodymium using medium-flux Tehran research reactor

Promethium-147 (¹⁴⁷Pm) has numerous applications in the manufacturing of unique devices for monitoring production processes. Previous studies have focused on the production of ¹⁴⁷Pm using high-flux reactors. Moreover, the applied separation method is often based on extraction chromatography. In this study, the production of ¹⁴⁷Pm is evaluated by the irradiation of a neodymium (Nd) target in a medium-flux reactor, and ¹⁴⁷Pm is separated from the Nd-target material using Ln resin. Theoretical calculations and practical experiments have been performed, and an acceptable level of compliance between the predicted results and the obtained practical activity was observed. Furthermore, ¹⁴⁷Pm with sufficient activity and minimal impurities was produced using the developed process.