EXCITATION-FUNCTIONS OF PROTON-INDUCED NUCLEAR-REACTIONS ON ENRICHED NI-61 AND NI-64 - POSSIBILITY OF PRODUCTION OF NO-CARRIER-ADDED CU-61 AND CU-64 AT A SMALL CYCLOTRON

Excitation functions were measured by the stacked-foil technique for (Ni(p,n)Cu)-Ni-61-Cu-61 and (Ni(p,2n)Cu)-Ni-61-Cu-60 nuclear reactions using 88.84% enriched Ni-61 and for (Ni(p,n)Cu)-Ni-64-Cu-64 reaction using 95% enriched Ni-64 from threshold up to 18.6 MeV. The optimum energy range for the production of both Cu-61 and Cu-64 was found to be 12 --> 9 MeV. The calculated thick target yield of Cu-61 amounts to 17.5 mCi (647 MBq)/muAh. At the given enrichment the yield was 15.5 mCi (573 MBq)/muAh and the expected level of Cu-60 and Cu-64 impurities at EOB reached 14.59 and 0.086%, respectively. For production of Cu-64 the yield was 6.71 mCi (248 MBq)/muAh. At 95% enrichment of the target material the Cu-64 yield amounts to 6.38 mCi (236 MBq)/muAh and the Cu-60 and Cu-61 impurities at EOB are 10.01 and 0.41%, respectively. An anion-exchange chromatographic technique for the separation of radiocopper from activated Ni target was developed. The (Ni(p,n)Cu)-Ni-61-Cu-71 and (Ni(p,n)Cu)-Ni-64-Cu-64 processes are suited for the production of Cu-61 and Cu-64 at a small cyclotron. The common production routes for Cu-64 are briefly reviewed.