Study of activation cross sections of proton induced reactions on barium: Production of 131Ba→131Cs

In the frame of a systematic study of charged particle production routes of the therapeutic radioisotope 131Cs, excitation functions of the natBa(p,x)135,132mgLa, ind135m,cum133m,cum133mg,cum131mgBa and 136mg,134mg,132,cum129Cs reactions were measured in the 30−70 MeV energy range using stacked foil irradiation technique, activation method and gamma spectroscopy. Comparisons with new results of the ALICE-IPPE and EMPIRE-II codes and with existing data obtained with TALYS code are shown. From the measured cross section data integral yields were calculated and compared with experimental integral yield data reported in the literature. Potential use of proton induced reactions on Ba for production of 131Cs is discussed.