Investigation of excitation functions of alpha induced reactions on natXe: Production of the therapeutic radioisotope 131Cs

Abstract Excitation functions were measured for alpha-particle induced nuclear reactions on natural xenon leading to the formation of the radionuclides 129m(rel),129g,131m,131mg,133m,135m,137m,139cum Ba and 129cum,130mg,132,134m,135m,136mg,138mg Cs from the respective thresholds up to 40 MeV. No earlier experimental cross section data were found in the literature. The experimental data were compared to and analyzed with the results of the theoretical model code ALICE-IPPE. The feasibility of the production of the therapeutic radioisotope 131 Cs by using gas target technology was investigated. Comparison of reactor and cyclotron production routes of 131 Cs was given.