Carrier-free production of 95Tc at an electron accelerator

We report on the results of studies of the 95Tc isotope production conditions in a poorly investigated 96Ru(γ,N)95Tc reaction at a relatively inexpensive electron accelerator. Based on the analytical model it is demonstrated the possibility for estimating the effective and peak cross-sections and the isotope yield for a given reaction in a thick production target without preliminary determination of its excitation function. For this purpose we compared specific activities of two small samples that were activated under the same conditions using the reference reaction 68Zn(γ,p)67Cu and the one under investigation. The experiment on simultaneous photo-activation of natural zinc and ruthenium targets was performed followed by the investigation of their isotope composition. The specific activity of the radionuclide was measured and cross-sections for the 96Ru(γ,N)95g,mTc reactions were determined. The yields of desired isomers and admixtures in the natural ruthenium targets of different size were estimated. It is shown, in particular, that the operating conditions of the NSC KIPT accelerator KUT-30 can provide 95gTc yields up to 120 mCi/h.