47Sc production development by cyclotron irradiation of 48Ca

The therapeutic radionuclide 47 Sc was produced through the 48 Ca(p,2n) channel on a proton beam accelerator. The obtained results show that the optimum proton energies are in the range of 24–17 MeV, giving the possibility to produce 47 Sc radionuclide containing 7.4% of 48 Sc. After activation, the powdery CaCO 3 target material was dissolved in HCl and scandium isotopes were isolated from the targets. The performed separation experiments indicate that, due to the simplicity of the operations and the chemical purity of the obtained 47 Sc the best separation process is when scandium radioisotopes are separated on the 0.2 µm filter.