Evaluation of excitation functions of 3He- and α-particle induced reactions on antimony isotopes with special relevance to the production of iodine-124

Cross section data were evaluated for the production of the medically important positron emitter 124I (T1/2=4.18 d) via 3He‐ and α‐particle induced reactions on Sb isotopes. The consistency in the measured data available in the literature was checked against the cross section calculations of three nuclear model codes (i.e. STAPRE, EMPIRE and TALYS). The recommended excitation functions obtained by a statistical procedure were used to derive the integral yields. An assessment of the 124I yields and associated radioisotopic impurities suggests that the 123Sb(α,3n)124I process over the energy range of Eα=45→32 MeV could be of potential interest for the production of 124I.