Production of high specific activity <Superscript>68</Superscript>Ge at Brookhaven National Laboratory

Summary

Germanium-68 is produced at the Brookhaven Linac Isotope Producer (BLIP) by irradiating ^natGa targets with ~45 MeV protons. Typical irradiation yields are 17.4 GBq (470 mCi) from a 4 week irradiation (0.52 MBq/µAh). Germanium-68 is recovered from the target by extraction into 4N HCl and 30% H₂O₂. Further purification is achieved by extraction into carbon tetrachloride and back-extraction into H₂O. Recovery yields are greater than 85%, with greater than 99% radiopurity, and activity concentrations are greater than 3.15 GBq/ml (85 mCi/ml). The final pH of the product solution, which is 0.03M diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (DTPA), can now be adjusted to user specifications.