Excitation function for deuteron induced nuclear reactions on natural ytterbium for production of high specific activity Lu-177g in no-carrier-added form for metabolic radiotherapy

Deuteron-induced nuclear reactions for generation of no-carrier-added Lu radionuclides were investigated using the stacked-foil activation technique on natural Yb targets at energies up to E-d=18 18 MeV Excitation functions of the reactions Yb-nat(d xn)(169) (170) (171) (172) (173) (174g) (174m) (176m) Lu-177g and Yb-nat(d pxn)(169) (175) Yb-177 have been measured among them three (Lu-169 Lu-174m and Lu-176m) are reported for the first time The upper limit of the contamination from the long-lived metastable level Lu-177m was evaluated too Thick-target yields for all investigated radionuclides are calculated.